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Similar street bible - the, The Liberator, Today's New Internatio, New Century Version, The Living Bible | ||
The Word on the Street (formerly The Street Bible) is a Bible-based book by Rob Lacey that paraphrases key Bible stories using modern language.
Contents
Publication
It is Lacey's first major book, and was originally published in 2003 as The Street Bible. It was republished in 2004 as the word on the street (promoted in small capitals). It tells major stories of the story of the Bible in less than 500 pages, paraphrasing the text in a distinctive, urban style inspired by Lacey's performances. Major biblical stories are recast as mini-blockbusters; individual psalms are rewritten as song lyrics; the Pauline epistles become emails to the fledgling "Jesus Liberation Movement" (aka the church). the word on the street is published by Zondervan.
At the same time the book was launched, Lacey partnered with musicians Bill Taylor-Beales and Rachel Taylor-Beales to produce an audio CD of his 75-minute performance of the Bible. The CD was nominated for an Audie Award by the Audio Publishers Association in 2004.
The book was first published in the United Kingdom in 2003 and was one of the bestselling religious books for the next two years, ultimately winning the Christian Booksellers Convention's Book of the Year award in 2004. In the US, Barnes & Noble recognized the word on the street as one of the ten best "religion & spirituality" books of 2004. Lacey Theatre Company toured shows based on this book in 2004-5 and 2005-6.
Lacey followed this book with The Liberator (2006), a retelling of the life of Jesus based on the gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke. Lacey Theatre Company toured shows based on this book in 2007 and 2008, and extracts from it were also performed in "St David’s Praise" (31 May 2008, St David’s Hall in Cardiff).
Analysis of the text
The author and Christian reviewers have described the book as the Bible as performance art. In the words of the author, "No way is this the Proper Bible. It’s a trailer for, an intro to, an overview of The Bible (capital 'B'). For those who’ve never read it, And those who’ve read it so much it’s gone stale on them".[1]
The following shows a comparison between the KJV and the word on the street:
This is the paraphrase used in the book not a literal translation of the Bible.