The Message cover art

The Message

The New Testament in Contemporary Language

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The Message

By: Eugene H. Peterson
Narrated by: Kelly Ryan Dolan, Carol Nix
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About this listen

 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need to be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life."

Those familiar with any part of the Bible will recognize John 3:16, with a mind-altering difference. The words are fresh, new, and sound like the 21st century. That's because they are from The Message, a presentation of the Word of God crafted for a modern age. Eugene Peterson, translator and editor, learned from his years of teaching and pastoring that most people, through familiarity or frustration with the Bible, were missing the whole message of Scripture: the Word that God uses to create and save us, heal and bless us, judge and rule over us. So he set out to give us that word in language we use every day, a reading Bible that would enable the Word to penetrate our hearts and minds, transforming us day by day into the person God desires us to be.

©2003 Eugene Peterson (P)2003 Oasis Audio LLC, Under Arrangement With NavPress, Publisher Of The Original Book Version Bibles Bibles & Bible Study Christianity

Critic Reviews

"Acclaimed biblical language scholar Peterson has paraphrased the original Greek and Hebrew of these most popular books of the Bible into vibrant, easy-to-read modern English." (Ingram)
All stars
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Really easy to understand and the narrator is really enthusiastic. Sometimes a little too enthusiastic but it really paid off in the books by Saint Paul. I refer to this often when I can't figure something out in another version, and I'd recommend it for everyone.

Easy to understand

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The narrator has a pleasant easy to listen to voice and brings character and sense to every verse bring it alive to the listener. The book is beautifully brought together to submerge you into each location it describes. Each book is wonderfull setup with a preference to bring you into the time and period and set you up with and understanding that is both basic in its instruction on how you can lead your life here on earth and communicate in the spirit of things with your creator. You could almost say it's your 'Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth'.

Great book and easy to listen to

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Eugene Peterson’s Message version of the Bible is a delight. Well narrated.
However this version is segregated by meaningless chapters instead of the usual books. It makes navigating difficult and renders it almost useless. A pity. I’d be grateful if an update can be made to fix this.

Chapters instead of Books

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.