A New Bible Translation

God Called; I Answered—And I Need Your Help

My name is Larry Harper. I have been working on an English translation of the Bible for the past 42 years, and I have finally realized the time left for me to finish it is running out. I have completed the New Testament and much of the Old, but I can see I need your financial support to finish the rest. Here’s what has happened so far:

In 1974, while writing a Master’s Thesis for a Master’s Degree in Old Testament Studies, I realized from reading the original Hebrew text of the Bible that the Old Testament Prophets were obviously quoting things that Moses wrote in the Pentateuch. But I could also see it was impossible for those who are reading an English translation to see where they had done that. That is because every available English translation has been produced by a committee of translators and no two translators have translated the same Hebrew word or phrase that Moses used the same way every time.

In 1979, while studying for my PhD Exams, I set out to do what others have emphatically told me cannot be done: Produce a “standardized” English translation of the entire Bible using only one English word or phrase to translate each Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek word in the original text and never using the same English word or phrase to translate any other word in the original text.

As I said, I have already completed a “standardized” translation of the New Testament; but I need the donations of others to speed up the completion of my translation of the Old Testament. I am now several years past the age of retirement; nevertheless, I am still working 80+ hours every week trying to complete what I firmly believe the Lord called me to do. Now I am asking anyone who has an interest in serious Bible Study to pitch in and help me finish what remains to be done before I pass on. The truth is, I need to pay others to assist me and to free up my time so that I can translate.

 

Who Will Benefit?

Serious Bible students who:

• Want to understand the message of the Scriptures.
• Cannot read the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek text of the Scriptures.
• Want to see how one verse is referring to another (which is hidden in other translations).
• Want to see where the Prophets of Israel are quoting Moses or the other Prophets.

 

Why Does It Need to Be Done?

Here's the problem: Every translation available today uses multiple English words to translate a single Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic word and then uses the same words to translate other Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic words as well. Therefore, English readers cannot tell which Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic word is in the original text from reading those translations.

Isaiah tells us God’s will for believers is that they understand the Truth and think the way He thinks (Is. 55:8). But how can anyone think the way God thinks if they cannot see what the Scriptures say? And how can they understand what the Scriptures say if they can’t rely on the same Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic word being translated into English the same way every time it occurs? The meaning has, quite literally, been “lost in translation.”

The New American Standard Bible is widely recognized as the best “word-for-word” translation available today. This is how the Hebrew word nakah has been translated in that translation:

This is the way I have currently translated the Hebrew word nakah in its active (Qal), intensive active (Hiphil), and intensive passive (Hophal) forms in my "standardized" translation of the Old Testament:

As you can see, I still need to refine my translation so that I use only one English word (either attack or strike) to translate the original Hebrew word; or I could expand my translation of the term into a phrase that encompasses every occurrence of it.

Here is a comparison of my translation to other translations:

John 3:14–16

 

1 Timothy 6:10

 

What Has Already Been Completed

• 2015: I completed my “standardized” translation of the New Testament titled Harper’s Standardized Study Bible, New Testament (HSSB).
• 2016: I released the HSSB translation of the New Testament for distribution digitally in a desktop application (the HSSB App) for Microsoft Windows®.
• 2020: I published Harper’s Standardized Study Bible, New Testament, First Printing.

• Late 2020: I published Harper’s Standardized Study Bible, New Testament, Red Letter Edition.

 

How Your Donation Will Be Used

Every dollar you donate will go to pay others to:

• Edit.
• Proofread.
• Program.
• Verify Strong’s Numbers.
• Verify Cross-References.
• Free up my time to help me complete what remains to be translated.

 

What Remains to Be Completed

• A Cross-Reference Edition of the HSSB New Testament
• A “standardized” translation of the Old Testament

 

My Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree (in Classical Greek), William Jennings Bryan College, 1972
• Master’s Degree (in Biblical Hebrew), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1974
• PhD Candidate Degree in Near Eastern Studies (Akkadian Cuneiform), University of California, Berkeley, 1980

 

In Conclusion

I realize your time is valuable; therefore, I thank you for taking the time to read this far and even considering donating. If the Lord leads you to do so, I have already asked Him to bless you many times over. If you are not able to donate, please consider supporting my efforts by clicking the share button to share this campaign with others on social media.

My calling has proven to be a monumental task, and I must get back to it, but I thank you again for your interest. May the Lord bless and protect you and those dear to you.