The following is an excerpt from Bibliotheca New Testament. It’s a featured Speakeasy selection, and there are still limited review copies available for qualified reviewers.
From The Good Tidings According to Mark
And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought to him a blind man, and beseeched him to touch him. And he took hold of the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see men, for as trees I behold them, walking.” Then again he laid his hands upon his eyes, and he looked steadfastly and was restored and saw all things clearly. And he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even enter into the village.”
And Jesus went forth, and his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?” And they told him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to him, “You are the Christ.” And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise up. And he spoke the saying openly. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him. But he, turning about and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Adversary, for you mind not the things of God but the things of men.” And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life shall lose it, and whoever shall lose his life for the sake of me and of the good tidings shall save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what should a man give in exchange for his life? For whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also shall be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he said to them, “Verily I say to you, there are some of those standing here who shall nowise taste of death till they see the kingdom of God come with power.”
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and brought them up into a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his garments became glistering, exceeding white, so as no fuller on earth can whiten them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles: one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to answer, for they became sore afraid. And there came a cloud overshadowing them. And there came a voice out of the cloud: “This is my beloved Son. Hear him.” And suddenly looking round about, they saw no one anymore, save Jesus only with themselves.
And as they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, save when the Son of Man should have risen up from the dead. And they kept the saying, questioning among themselves what the rising up from the dead should mean. And they asked him, saying, “How is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” And he said to them, “Elijah indeed, having come first, restores all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be set at naught? But I say to you that Elijah also has come, and they have done unto him whatever they wished, even as it is written of him.”
And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd about them, and scribes questioning with them. And straightway all the crowd when they saw him were greatly amazed and, running to him, saluted him. And he asked them, “What are you questioning with them?” And one of the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought to you my son, who has a mute spirit, and wherever it takes him, it dashes him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth, and pines away. And I spoke to your disciples that they should cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought him to him. And when he saw him, straightway the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming. And he asked his father, “How long a time is it since this has come to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And ofttimes it has cast him both into the fire and into the waters, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, be moved with compassion toward us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “If you can! All things are possible to him who believes.” Straightway the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief.” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: Come out of him, and enter no more into him.” And crying out and convulsing him much, it came out. And he became as one dead, so that the many said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him up, and he arose. And when he had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “How is it that we could not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.”
And they went forth from there and passed through Galilee, and he did not wish that anyone should know it. For he taught his disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is delivered up into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he shall rise up.” But they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask him.
And they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you reasoning on the way?” But they held their peace, for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greater. And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.” And he took a little child and set him in the midst of them, and, taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever shall receive one of such little children in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me.”
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw one casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Forbid him not. For there is no man who shall do a mighty work in my name and be able quickly to speak evil of me. For he who is not against us is for us. For whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink because in name you are Christ’s, verily I say to you, he shall nowise lose his reward. And whoever shall cause one of these little ones who believe on me to stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone were hung about his neck and he were cast into the sea. And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is good for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is good for you to enter into life lame, rather than having your two feet to be cast into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is good for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into Gehenna, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. For everyone shall be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes saltless, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another.”
And he rose up from there and came into the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan; and crowds came together to him again, and as he was wont, he taught them again.
Praise for Bibliotheca New Testament
“By presenting an unfamiliar translation in an unfamiliar format, Bibliotheca delivers an experience that is especially revelatory … Both the design and the translation frame the ancient in a way similar to how a museum might, balancing accessibility with awe.”
—J. Mark Bertrand, Lectio
“Bibliotheca’s volumes look, feel, and most importantly, read like books rather than like a giant compendium … Every element has been carefully considered to make reading a pleasurable experience.”
—The Verge
“The success of Bibliotheca’s original Kickstarter campaign catapulted multi-volume reader’s editions into the popular imagination. Many imitators have followed, but none are as pure an expression of the idea of the printed Bible as art object.”
—First Things
“This is designed to make the typographical layout roomier and more psychologically approachable … a Bible that wants to be read like a short story collection—even if its page-to-text proportions are based on the dimensions of the Ark of the Covenant (and they are!).”
—Fast Company
“While many modern translations … claim a high degree of literalness … [t]he ALV more consistently provides a truly literal rendering of the Greek and Hebrew source text.”
—Adam B.
“This began as a design project, and it is certainly magnificent in that regard alone. But the greatest feat here is the exquisitely poetic new translation.”
—Matt S.
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