Welcome to the fifth in a series of posts comparing the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible and the Revised New Jerusalem Bible for one of the readings at each Sunday’s Mass. At Jim’s suggestion, I’ve also included the English Standard Version (ESV) for comparison. I do not have a copy of the ESV-CE from ATC Publishers, so this is from the 2016 edition of the ESV published in the United States. For today, the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, I’ve chosen the first reading (from the book of Amos).
Sunday, September 22nd, 2019 — 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
First Reading: Amos 8:4-7
Jerusalem Bible
Listen to this, you who trample on the needy
and try to suppress the poor people of the country,
you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over
so that we can sell our corn,
and sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?
Then by lowering the bushel, raising the shekel,
by swindling and tampering with the scales,
we can buy up the poor for money,
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and get a price even for the sweepings of the wheat.’
Yahweh swears it by the pride of Jacob,
‘Never will I forget a single thing you have done.’
New Jerusalem Bible
Listen to this, you who crush the needy
and reduce the oppressed to nothing
you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over
so that we can sell our corn,
and Sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?
Then, we can make the bushel-measure smaller
and the shekel-weight bigger
by fraudulently tampering with the scales.
We can buy up the weak for silver
and the poor for a pair of sandals,
and even get a price for the sweepings of the wheat.’
Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob,
‘Never will I forget anything they have done.’
Revised New Jerusalem Bible
Listen to this, you who crush the needy
and reduce the oppressed to nothing
you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over
so that we can sell our corn,
and Sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?
Then we can make the bushel-measure smaller
and the shekel-weight bigger,
fraudulently tampering with the scales.
We can buy up the weak for silver
and the poor for a pair of sandals
and even get a price for the sweepings of the wheat.’
The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob,
‘Never will I forget anything that they have done.’
English Standard Version
Hear this, you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
saying, “When will the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
that we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
“Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
New American Bible Revised Edition
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and destroy the poor of the land:
“When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“that we may sell our grain,
And the sabbath,
that we may open the grain-bins?
We will diminish the ephah,
add to the shekel,
and fix our scales for cheating!
We will buy the destitute for silver,
and the poor for a pair of sandals;
even the worthless grain we will sell!”
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Never will I forget a thing they have done!
In all three versions of the Jerusalem Bible: “We can buy up the weak…”
I haven’t used this phrasing for a long time. Is it safe to say that everyone will still understand that this verse is still saying that the oppressed people are being bought as slaves?