would you use the gen z bible as a witness tool

[Ghostdog]

i just found out about this bible after watching a tiktok vid on it. in the comments i read, young people understood this version better than kjv.

heres genesis chapter 1 from the gen z bible

1. In the very start, God made the sky and the earth.

2. So basically, at first, the earth was a hot mess. It didn't have any structure or anything, just emptiness and darkness all around. But then, the Spirit of God started doing its thing, cruising over the oceans.

3. Then God was like, 'Yo, let there be light,' and boom, there was light.

4. And God was like, 'Yo, this light is lit!' So, God separated the light from the darkness. Like, He made sure they don't mix, you know?

5. So, like, God named the light as Day and the darkness as Night. And, you know, that whole cycle of evening and morning, it marked the first day. It's like, just to clarify, the evening came, and then the morning came, and that's how the first day went down.

6. And God was like, yo, there should be, like, this cool layer between the water, separating it from more water. And like, this layer is actually called the 'expansion'.

7. And then God created, like, this super cool, massive sky thing, and He split up the water below it from the water above it. And guess what? It totally happened, just like that!

8. So God named the sky Heaven. And it became the second day after the evening and morning passed. {And the evening...: Hebrew text clarifies that the evening came and the morning came, marking a new day.}

9. And God was like, yo, let's bring all the water together in one place and make some solid ground, and just like that, it happened.

10. And God was like, 'Yo, let's name that solid ground Earth,' and the whole watery party He called Seas. And you know what? God thought it was all pretty lit.

11. And God was all like, yo, let the earth do its thing and grow some sick grass, and some dope herbs that bring forth seeds, and also some lit fruit trees that produce fruit after their kind, with seeds in themselves, all up in the earth. And guess what? Boom! It happened, just like that. (By the way, 'grass' in Hebrew means some really fresh and tender grass, just FYI.)

12. And then, like, the earth totally grew some awesome grass and plants that had seeds of their own. Oh, and there were these cool trees that grew yummy fruits with seeds too! And God was like, 'Yo, that's super good!'

13. So, like, the third day came to an end and a new day began. It's like, you know, the evening turned into morning. Just to clarify, when I say 'evening' I mean the start of the day and when I say 'morning' I mean the end of the day, you feel me?

14. And God was like, 'Yo, we need some lights up in the sky to separate the day from the night. They'll be there as signs and to mark the seasons, days, and years, ya know? It's like the perfect balance between day and night!

15. And, like, God made these things called stars and stuff in the sky to, like, give light to the earth. And, bro, it totally happened. No lie.

16. And God created two awesome sources of light: one super bright light to be in charge of the day, and another not-so-bright light to be in charge of the night. Oh, and He also made all those cool stars! #dayandnightvibes

17. Yo, God placed those celestial bodies up in the sky to illuminate the earth.

18. And like, to have power over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God was like, 'Yo, that's lit!'

19. And then there was the fourth day, with its evening and morning. You know, like when the sun sets and then rises again. Pretty cool, right? (By the way, the Hebrew version says basically the same thing but in a different way, just so you know)

20. And God was like, yo, it's time for the waters to be filled with all sorts of dope creatures that have life, and birds that can soar high up in the sky, in that wide-open space above the earth. By the way, when I say 'moving creatures,' I mean the ones that crawl or whatever. And when I say life ,' I mean those creatures with souls. And when I say 'birds,' I mean the ones that are good at flying. And when I say 'wide-open space,' I mean the face of that cool firmament in the sky.

21. And yo, God made these dope whales and every livin' creature that be movin', which be poppin' outta the waters in mad numbers, each one accord'n to its kind, and all them flyin' birds accord'n to their kind too: and God peeped that it was all good, ya heard?

22. And God was like, yo fam, I got you! Blessing all of y'all, He was like, go forth and prosper, make yourselves fruitful and multiply like crazy, dominate the oceans with all kinds of fish, and let the birds go wild and multiply all over the land.

23. And like, the evening and the morning vibes were totally on point, it was the lit fifth day. {And the evening...: Heb. And the evening was, and the morning was etc.}

24. And God was like, 'Yo, earth! Time to bring out the living creatures, like, each one according to their own kind: cattle, creepy crawlies, and all the beasts of the land.' And guess what? It totally happened, just like that.

25. And God created all the animals on the earth, like, totally each according to its own kind, you know? The wild beasts, the farm animals, and even all the creeping things, all unique and special in their own way. And when God looked at everything He made, He was like, 'That's good, man!'

26. Yo, God was like, 'Check it, let's make humans look and act like us, and let them be in charge of the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, all the animals on land, and everything that crawls on the ground.'

27. God was like, 'Yo, I'm gonna make humans just like me, you know? So he made them in his image. And get this, he made them both male and female. Double the awesomeness!

28. And God straight up blessed them, and He was all like, 'Yo, be productive and reproduce like crazy, and fill up the earth with your peeps. Oh, and you got the power to control the fish in the sea, birds in the sky, and basically any living thing that's roaming around. You got this!'

29. Yo, peep this: God's like, 'Check it, I hooked you up with all the plants that have seeds on the planet, and every tree with fruit that has seeds too. You can eat 'em all, they're your grub. For real!

30. And I made sure that all the animals on the earth, birds in the sky, and every living creature that crawls on the ground had plenty of green plants to eat. They all depended on it for survival, and that's exactly what happened. (By the way, when I say 'living creatures' I mean beings with a soul – pretty cool, huh?)

31. And God looked at everything he created, and wow, it was totally awesome! And then the day turned into night and then back to morning, completing the sixth day."}

Edited February 8 by Ghostdog

[FJK]

A Joke, right?

Please tell me it's a joke, please.

[NConly]

Gen z needs to repeat k-12. or at least 2-12.

[Marathoner]

Yo, is this, like, totally a joke?

[Sower]

          would you use the gen z bible as a witness tool

No I would not.    Baby talk and E-bonics.    Mocks the holiness of creator God.
  Nor this one;
 Ebonics bible

1. I’m God. Don’t play me. (I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have any other gods before me.)
2. Don’t be making any hood ornaments and charms outta me, or like me. (Thou shalt not! have any graven images)
3. Don’t be callin’ me for no reason (Thou shalt not use the name of the Lord thy God in vain)
4. Y’all betta be in church on Sunday, and not just the Sundays when it’s Mother’s Day, Easter, and Christmas (Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy)
5. Don’t diss or cuss out yo' momma….and if you know who ya daddy is, don't diss him either. (Honor thy father and mother).

 

[Ghostdog]

5 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Yo, is this, like, totally a joke?

 

8 hours ago, FJK said:

A Joke, right?

Please tell me it's a joke, please.

 nope there is a whole bible written in gen z language

[AnOrangeCat]

3 hours ago, Sower said:

No I would not.    Baby talk and E-bonics.    Mocks the holiness of creator God.
  Nor this one;
 Ebonics bible

I feel like this sort of thing warrants a check list.

1.) Is it respectful?

2.) Does it clearly convey the intended meaning?

3.) Does the group it's targeted at actually talk this way?

4.) Is their language or dialect sufficiently different from the dominant language of the area?

Based on what little I've seen since reading up a little I feel like the answers to all of these are "No" or "Debatable" at best. Another issue I have is that while technical jargon, slang, and generational slang exist and can be fine, they're usually combined with normal, plain language so you can get some clues as to the context of unfamiliar terminology. The Gen Z Bible seems to go out of its way to cram as much of its terminology into each sentence as possible. From what I gather the writer claims good intentions and respect. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with regards to their intention, but I'm not so sure that the finished product comes across that way.

[D. Adrien]

Is each page border a colorful rainbow of colors?

[Marathoner]

8 hours ago, AnOrangeCat said:

I feel like this sort of thing warrants a check list.

1.) Is it respectful?

2.) Does it clearly convey the intended meaning?

3.) Does the group it's targeted at actually talk this way?

4.) Is their language or dialect sufficiently different from the dominant language of the area?

Based on what little I've seen since reading up a little I feel like the answers to all of these are "No" or "Debatable" at best. Another issue I have is that while technical jargon, slang, and generational slang exist and can be fine, they're usually combined with normal, plain language so you can get some clues as to the context of unfamiliar terminology. The Gen Z Bible seems to go out of its way to cram as much of its terminology into each sentence as possible. From what I gather the writer claims good intentions and respect. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with regards to their intention, but I'm not so sure that the finished product comes across that way.

Paraphrases are unfortunately subject to distortion to varying degrees, which is what this "generation z" work is. It's surely not suitable for all readers. Myself? It's idiomatic to the extreme which is why the portion the OP shared cracked me up. I'm reminded of the first time I encountered a whippersnapper decades ago in California:

He called me "broseph." Fascinating... I maintained composure, refraining from cracking up until later on. Hehe... broseph. It was hilarious. 

The Generation Z paraphrase is pretty bad. I can't keep a straight face reading it. 

[Ghostdog]

this reminds me of when i first got saved. the pastor i got saved under only read kjv and i had never read or heard of that type of language so a lot of what he preached i didnt understand at first. one time when he was doing a home bible study i asked him about a story and he didnt know which one i meant so i got the bible i had which was a good news bible and showed him but he needed to read it in his kjv to explain what the story meant.