Pictured to the left is a copy of a version of the Holy Bible, known as THEMESSAGE//REMIX:PAUSE: A DAILY READING BIBLE ( THE MESSAGE ). The following two quotations are taken from this version of the Holy Bible:
". . . the Bible you hold in your hand is arranged by days. Every day you will read selections from both the Old and New Testaments. The 312 daily selections will take you through the Bible in one year. Every seventh day is a time for reflection with no assigned reading. If that pace feels too quick, look for pause marks within every selection . . . that effectively divide each reading in half." [ See THEMESSAGE//REMIX:PAUSE: A DAILY READING BIBLE, PETERSON, EUGENE H., NAVPRESS, THE MESSAGE//REMIX: The Bible in Contemporary Language, Copyright 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson, p. 5. ]
The second quotation is as follows:
"The Message is a reading Bible. It is not intended to replace the excellent study Bibles that are available. My intent here . . . is simply to get people reading it who don't know that the Bible is read-able [ sic ] at all, at least by them, and to get people who long ago lost interest in the Bible to read it again. But I haven't tried to make it easy-there is much in the Bible that is hard to understand. So at some point along the way, soon or late, it will be important to get a standard study Bible to facilitate further study." [ Ibid., p. 9. ]
Hebrews 4:12 reads as follows:
"God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey."
God's powerful word is able to lay us open, so to speak, with regard to our doubts or defenses. The wording in Hebrews 4:12 ( THE MESSAGE ) is similar, but brief, in comparison to Hebrews 4:12 ( KJV; with center-column references ), which reads as follows:
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Please study the Holy Bible ( see 2 Timothy 2:15, for example ).
If you have any questions about the Holy Bible, you can contact me by e-mail at:
<rewillis1_1@juno.com>
<Russell E. Willis>
