Emended Readings for the Assembly Available for Provisional Use

Subscribers to SundaysAndSeasons.com now have access to a provisional use resource: an emended version of Readings for the Assembly. Readings for the Assembly was first published in three volumes in the mid-1990s and presented the Revised Common Lectionary texts in a version emended from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

In December 2021, an updated edition of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSVue) was released by Friendship Press. The purpose of this updating was to make use of the current scholarly consensus concerning the best Hebrew and Greek manuscripts and to register recent changes in the English language. Questions about the NRSVue itself (what it is, what kinds of updates have been made, who oversaw the update, and more) are answered on Friendship Press’s NRSV Updated Edition Bible Question & Answer Series page.

Readings for the Assembly (Emended) continues the search for maintaining accurate biblical translation while attending to contemporary patterns of inclusive speech as proclaimed during assembly worship. Thus, attention has been paid to euphony as well as to linguistics, to how the text is heard in worship. Language for humans is approached with current gender concerns, and language for God in accord with orthodox Christian understanding, which since the earliest Christian theology has affirmed a God who is not sexually a male, regardless of ancient androcentrism. Readings for the Assembly (Emended) is a liturgical translation intended for use in worship, rather than as a text for historical biblical study.

Readings for the Assembly (Emended) introduces the new renderings in the NRSVue throughout all the lectionary texts that are appointed in the Revised Common Lectionary, beginning with the texts appointed for Advent through the Transfiguration of Our Lord in Year A. Content will be added in quarterly installments.

More background on this project as well as the principles used for the emendations are detailed here.

Following are three examples of texts from the NRSV/NRSVue and their renderings in Readings for the Assembly (Emended).

Example 1: Isaiah 52:9-10 (Christmas Day, Years A, B, C)

• NRSV: Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

• NRSV Updated Edition: Break forth; shout together for joy, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

• Readings for the Assembly (Emended): Break forth; shout together for joy, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted the chosen people, and has redeemed Jerusalem. The holy arm of the Lord is bared before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Example 2: 1 Corinthians 2:1 (Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A)

• NRSV: When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.

• NRSV Updated Edition: When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the testimony of God to you with superior speech or wisdom.

• Readings for the Assembly (Emended): When I came to you, my dear family, I did not come proclaiming the testimony of God to you with superior speech or wisdom.

Example 3: Matthew 5:21-24 (Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A)

• NRSV and NRSV Updated Edition: [Jesus said:] “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”

• Readings for the Assembly (Emended): [Jesus said:] “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with another person in the community, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult another person, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that someone in the community has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to that person, and then come and offer your gift.”

Subscribers to SundaysAndSeasons.com will find both Readings for the Assembly (1995–1997) and Readings for the Assembly (Emended) available as downloadable PDFs in the Library > Lectionary and Psalm Resources.

The NRSVue is available now on BibleGateway.com. Information available via Amazon.com indicates that Zondervan is releasing print NRSVue Bibles in August 2022, and the National Council of Churches (via Hendrickson Bibles) in November 2022. 1517 Media also plans to publish the NRSVue. In what formats and on what timeline is still under discussion, but it is very likely that a pew and/or gift Bible will be available between mid-2023 and mid-2024.