2. Wycliffe's Bible with Modern Spelling

Wycliffe's Bible with Modern Spelling. John Wycliffe and John Purvey. 1395. 1000 pages estimate only. [Source: YouVersion]

First sentence: In the beginning God made of nought heaven and earth. Forsooth the earth was idle and void, and darknesses were on the face of depth; and the Spirit of the Lord was borne on the waters [or the Spirit of God was borne upon the waters]. And God said, Light be made, and the light was made. And God saw the light, that it was good, and he parted the light from darknesses; and he called the light, day, and the darknesses, night. And the eventide and the morrowtide was made, one day.

I read a modern spelling version of Wycliffe's New Testament several years ago. The person doing the updating/modernizing was different. I loved, loved, loved this little book. 

I read this "modern spelling" Wycliffe Bible (both testaments) on YouVersion. I could not find further information on WHO did the updating/modernizing. Just the dates of the modernizing--2017 for the whole Bible, earlier years for the Old Testament and New Testament. 

I started this translation in November 2021. I read Genesis through Psalm 89 in 2021. I was using the Bible in 90 Days plan. I ended up getting ahead of myself and finishing the plan early. 

The translation was from the Latin Vulgate. The initial translation was done in the fourteenth century. It has been "updated" into "modern" spelling starting around 2001-2017. 

Psalm 23

1 The psalm of David. The Lord governeth me, and nothing shall fail to me;

2 in the place of pasture there he hath set me. He nourished me on the water of refreshing;

3 he converted my soul. He led me forth on the paths of rightfulness [or rightwiseness]; for his name.

4 For why though I shall go in the midst of shadow of death; I shall not dread evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff; those have comforted me.

5 Thou hast made ready a board in my sight; against them that trouble me. Thou hast made fat mine head with oil; and my cup, that filleth greatly, is full clear.

6 And thy mercy shall follow me; in all the days of my life. And that I dwell in the house of the Lord; into the length of days.

Isaiah 9:6

6 Forsooth a little child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and prince-hood is made [up]on his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, A counsellor, God, Strong, Father of the world to coming, A prince of peace, [or Marvellous, Counsellor, God, Strong, Father of the world to come, Prince of peace].

I do think that 99.9% of people will need a modernized version if they want to benefit from this translation. 

Here are the first five verses of Genesis in the original spelling:

In the bigynnyng God made of nouyt heuene and erthe. Forsothe the erthe was idel and voide, and derknessis weren on the face of depthe; and the Spiryt of the Lord was borun on the watris. And God seide, Liyt be maad, and liyt was maad. And God seiy the liyt, that it was good, and he departide the liyt fro derknessis; and he clepide the liyt, dai, and the derknessis, nyyt. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, o daie.

Even so, I found that it was tricky to read. Not every verse, every chapter. But there were some true puzzlers that even modern updates couldn't "save." In other words, I didn't find it as edifying as I was hoping. I wanted to find it an engaging read. Something "new" (or new to me) and unique and special. Sometimes--and I'm being 100% honest--I found myself skimming instead of taking the time to unwind the text fully. (Imagine the text being barbed wire.) Again, not every verse of every chapter of every verse. But enough that I felt a disconnect. This is NOT how I read the King James Version or even the King James Version in the 1611 spelling. How does one measure how much one actually reads when there is skimming involved???

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible