How important is the idea of covenant sanctions in the week’s readings? Well, I have recently began to read the King James Bible, and I must say, this is the most interesting version of the Bible I have ever heard of or read. The King James Bible was an early modern translation of the Bible for the church of England. The publishing of this book was commissioned in 1604 and it was published in 1611. It was sponsored by King James IV and I, hence the name, King James Bible. This book seems too be written by one person, but it was not. In fact, this book was a committee project. It was written by so much more people. This book was written by forty-seven people and six committees. This was a very poetic book.

Here is an exert from Deuteronomy 28:20 KJV: “The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

And here is that same exert from the ESV Bible: “The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.“

Here is another exert from the KJV, Matthew 5:13-16: ¹³ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. ¹⁴ Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

And here it is again in the ESV: ¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that^a] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Which translation do you think sounds more poetic? I think the KJV Bible sounds better.

How important is the idea of covenant sanctions in the week’s readings? This past week I read Deuteronomy 28-34, Ruth, Lamentations, and Matthew 5-7. In all of these readings, I found out that a broken covenant brings negative implications, and a kept oath promises inheritance in the future.