Hello, and welcome to you.  My name is Hal Dekker.

Why not start seeing the substantial difference between English translations and exactly what the ancient writers of the new testament actually wrote.  And why not begin seeing some of the startling differences by comparing John 1:1-3, Col. 1:1-20 and Heb. 1:1-14 in any translation to the LIT, right here at this web site?  The ancient writers say that the Word made flesh was the first thing the God produced (Gk. prōtotokos, Strong's # 4416) of the entire creation; and it was the first icon the God produced of all subsequent icons, and it was the first messenger the God produced of all of the heavenly messengers!  The Word, which became flesh, was a thing produced by God, the very first thing, as a matter of fact, according to the ancient holy scriptures, but not according to mortal-made theological theories forged into virtually all English "translations" to obliterate this great truth!

The LIT is a uniquely theologically pure and honest translation, since it quotes the ancient writers of the Biblical texts.  Thereby it is the only translation like it which you will ever see in your lifetime.  Another reason it is a pure and honest translation is because it is the only translation in the world designed absolutely not to make money for anyone through selling God's Word!  So far this translation has cost me about 1/3 of my life, which time I gladly give to find and then convey the truth of the evangelism of Christ Jesus.  God has blessed me with other talents and skills so I can make money with them, and not rely on the selling of the truth of God's Word, and the selling of any of the things of God as commodities, to make money off from them for a "paycheck". 

The Literal Idiomatic Translation (LIT) began about 20 years ago after I became baffled by the many differences between a dozen or so most popular translations.  I found this to be a situation like a house of distorted mirrors, wondering which "translation" is reflecting back a true rendering of exactly what the ancient biblical writers wrote.  After several years of comparing them, and then beginning to compare them to the ancient Greek texts of the Bible, I began discovering many liberal paraphrases and "synonyms" which seemed to me to be grave deviations from what the ancient writers wrote.

Ultimately, from comparing various most popular translations to the ancient Hebrew and Greek texts to substantiate and verify those translation's wording in many places, I began doubting the honesty and integrity of the producers of those translations.  I discovered, and still am discovering, passage after passage translated to say something more or less different than what is clearly stated in the copies of the ancient Greek texts. Subsequently those translators and translation committees have left me no more room to indulge them. 

I came to a conclusion: If I'm sitting in a church pew being spoon-fed something coming out of the pulpit, or from anywhere, how do I know if it really is what the ancient writers actually wrote, or mortal-made theological theories which people have invented in their own heads, whether it was invented today, last week, last decade, or hundreds of years ago?  "I'm being read to and told the theologically-opinionated paraphrases of some anonymous people somewhere, and exactly not, verbatim, quotes of the ancient writers"!  And, they are passing off their opinionated paraphrases as though they are exactly what the ancient writers wrote!  I call that lying, on a grand scale! 

I find many passages are more or less okay in many translations.  But I find also. that on account of precious, sacred cow mortal-made theologies, many, many passages of key doctrinal importance have been fudged, obliterated of the truth presented by the ancient writers, in virtually all "translations".  And so now, for me, I consider that all the passages in all of the books are now in need of substantiation and verification.  This is how my translation began, the LIT, which simply quotes the ancient writers of the copies of the Hebrew and Greek texts. 

I began looking for a straight translation, among the so-called "literal" translations, for one which simply quoted what the ancient writers wrote, using their exact words, in their exact grammatical forms, with no theologically-based word-smithing, paraphrasing, or "synonyming".  I first checked Young's Literal Translation, which seemed a little better in rendering specific verb morphologies.  But he too abandons the Greek texts in most all of the same theologically sensitive passages as the KJV to accommodate the preferred alternate wordings designed by mortal-made liberal theological theories over the years.  Then I checked George Ricker Berry's somewhat literal translation. Then I checked J. P. Green's "literal" translation. Then I checked Darby's translation. Then I checked Rotherham's translation, and on and on and on.  They all follow the same pattern, in most all of the same theologically sensitive passages, of adding, changing, deleting, or ignoring the wording of the ancient writers, ultimately theologically re-sculpting the meanings of those passages.

I assume this is done to go along to get along, to continue to support and protect the "church's" adoption of so many mortal-made theological theories over the last two thousand years which have been surreptitiously injected in so many other's previous "translations", going back at least as far as English translations have been made, and further still.  Why does modern "Christianity", the "church", assert that supporting, protecting, and preserving in meticulous detail exactly what the ancient writers wrote into English translations is no longer important, since it was of the utmost importance to the ancient writers, to all of the ancient prophets, and to Jesus Christ and all of his apostles, not to mention God Himself?   

Is regularly ignoring the actual words in the ancient Greek texts, and the precise meanings those words portray, a legitimate part of an honest translation process? I don't believe so.  We were warned about this, the corruption of the communication of God's Word, and that the corruption of the communication of it would remain, by and large, the status quo in the world into the future, as it was in the days of Jesus' earthly ministry (See Mat. 15:9; Rom. 1:21-22; 2 Cor. 10:5-6; 11:13-15; Eph. 5:6-12; Col. 2:8; 2 Tim. 3:13; Tit. 1:10-14).

This is why I started the LIT. This was the only way I could discover exactly what did the ancient writers of the Bible exactly write, say, and mean.  Through the pains-taking and much time-consuming process of researching, for almost 20 years now, each and every word in the Greek texts, and many in the Hebrew texts, to discover its exact meaning, for almost 15,000 unique morphologies now, I have discovered, and am still learning how ego-maniacally chocked full of mortal-made theological inventions are most all popular English translations!  I thank God that many various institutions around the world are still protecting the existence of the remaining copies of the ancient Biblical texts.  People may not like my use of the word "ego-maniacal".  But when selected passages of holy scripture are hijacked and surreptitiously altered to reflect mortal-made theological opinions and theories, and then passed off as being what the ancient writers wrote, that's fudging, that's dishonest, and that's lying, to promote mortal-made philosophy over the truth of God's Word!  And those who do this must be egomaniacal!  This reflects no respect for the ancient writers, and especially God Himself!  I believe I know why they do this.  Please see these verses (Mat. 15:9; Rom. 1:21-22; 2 Cor. 10:5-6; 11:13-15; Eph. 5:6-12; Col. 2:8; 2 Tim. 3:13; Tit. 1:10-14)

I invite you, and anyone, to compare the LIT to your favorite "translation(s)".  If you do, and when you may see differences in wording and/or meanings between the two, then compare those verses to the UBS4/NA27 Greek texts, word for word, using study tools like analytical lexicons, and see for yourself which translation is true to the ancient writers through quoting them, and which ones push mortal-made theological theories at you, which have been paraphrased and "synonymed" into their translations.

I must often do subject matter studies in the verification and substantiation process of the meaning or meanings or words or phrases. I post some of those studies here at this site as well. I don't claim that either my studies, or the conclusions and beliefs that I have come to for myself are yet complete or thorough, since I have not yet exhausted the translation of all of the ancient texts of God's Word. And so therefore I'm still and always learning more, and my own opinions and beliefs change slightly day by day as I continue translating. I'm not to egomaniacal to question my own beliefs, or change them to be more pleasing to my heavenly Father, as I learn more of exactly what the ancient writers of God's Word actually wrote.

The LIT's lexically, grammatically, and morphologically standardized wording, in an interlinear style translation, is based upon a strict formal equivalency translation methodology. This method allows any deviations in English translation from exactly what the ancient writers wrote to be relatively quickly and easily spotted by any readers, since I show the exact spelling of the Greek word next to the English word which represents it. This translation method and presentation style allows the meaning of any word or passage which is in non-correspondence with the original language Greek text to be quickly checked and substantiated by anyone using an analytical lexicon to the Greek New Testament, such as that of William D. Mounce, and with the use of any number of popular word study resources, such as those of AMG, Brown-Driver-Briggs, Robertson's, Strong's, Thayer's, Vincent's, Vines, Wuest's, and Zodhiates.  It is the LIT's adherence to these very tight formal equivalency translation guidelines and presentation style which allows me to produce a translation which quotes the ancient writers, and thereby a translation which exposes the abundance of mortal-made liberal theological bias "translated" into most all existing English translations.

I am making my translation for me, and absolutely not to satisfy or substantiate any denomination's traditional mortal-made theological theories of any kind. Whatever theological points are self-evident in the Greek texts (UBS4) of God's Word, those are the ones I shall eventually discover and learn as I continue to translate my way through it, word by word and line by line. God's big enough to make Himself clear and explicit. Whatever is in God's Word I am certain to discover it, about which I have His promise (John 6:45; 1 Thes. 4:9). I believe the eclectic UBS4 is a good text, but it's not the only textual resource, nor the last word in determining the authenticity of what the ancient writers actually wrote, since the copies of the Greek texts have been fudged in many places over the last two millenniums, very similar to and for the same reasons the English translations continue to be fudged in many places.

Some who are uninformed about translation issues, commenting on translation issues, claim that a literal translation cannot simultaneously be an idiomatic translation. They claim that language idioms/colloquialisms and figures of speech cannot be literally reproduced word for word into another language. Yes, they absolutely can, as I demonstrate throughout the Literal Idiomatic Translation, and explain them in its companion work, the Literal Idiomatic Translation Glossary!

As with any vocation, a disciplined study of all of its essential components must be done, and to some extent must remain an ongoing process, in order for one to first gain, and then keep on building, one's skill level and proficiency in it. Likewise, as a reader practices becoming familiar with the "feel" of the way the ancient writers of God's Word actually thought, and subsequently spoke, wrote and acted (as they were carried along under holy Spirit), a reader, through simply reading what the ancient writers wrote, will quickly learn to recognize and understand many of their common colloquialisms, idioms, and figures of speaking, on sight.

I believe the majority of occurrences of Koine Greek idioms can be immediately understood by most all readers whose native language is English. This is because many of our modern English colloquialisms, idioms, and figures of speech have come down to us from the Greek language; and not only millenniums ago, but in many cases millenniums ago before that!  Many modern language idioms, in English as well as other languages, come directly from ancient Greek idioms.

What is "literal" about my translation is I strive to reproduce in English a word for word rendering of the meanings of the words in the original language text, which is the United Bible Societies v4 eclectic Greek text, commonly known as the UBS4/NA27 text. My translation is literally a quote of both exactly WHAT the writers wrote, and exactly HOW they wrote it, i.e., HOW they said what they said, which has very much to do with exactly what they meant.

In the paraphrased translations (which is virtually all "translations") in which "synonyms" are heavily used, paraphrases literally disassociate various passages from one another when the same Greek word or words, phrases, and sentence structures are used in those passages. Because of the use of dissimilar "synonyms" and paraphrases, the identical points being made, or subjects being explained, across those various passages, many times no longer appear to be associated with or related to one another. A literal quote translation completely removes these blinds and subsequent obfuscation of what the ancient writers actually wrote. Literally quoting exactly what the writers wrote is a very strong guard against theological bias which is abundantly "translated" into virtually all English translations using paraphrases and creative "synonyming".

What is "idiomatic" about my translation is that I allow all of the colorful colloquialisms in the UBS4 text to flow through into the English, word for word, verbatim. This means I preserve in the English translation the peculiar idioms, colloquialisms and figures of speech in the original language text, so the reader not only sees the meaning of what the speaker said or the writer wrote, but exactly HOW they said or wrote it. HOW they expressed their minds, their thoughts, has almost everything to do with determining and understanding exactly WHAT they meant. In an English translation, this is exactly what must be made explicit for the reader. Because this is how is preserved for the reader the literal meanings of what the ancient writers actually wrote, which is exactly what the holy Spirit desired to be written (2 Pet. 1:20-21). This translation process preserves Sola Scriptura, so people can actually follow Sola Scriptura, and subsequently think, say and do Sola Scriptura!

Paraphrasing, which simply pre-interprets for the reader the meaning of everything in the text, has no place in my translation. I believe the reader has the right, and according to God's Word, has the responsibility to interpret for himself, with God's Spirit working in him, what God's Word means to him or her, based upon exactly WHAT and HOW the ancient writers spoke and wrote their thoughts. I believe God's Word is not meant by God to be simply read, but TO BE STUDIED as a vocation, the vital vocation of disciples of Jesus Christ.

As you may have guessed, allowing the idioms and figures of speech to pass through into the English sometimes produces phrases, clauses and sentences which sound a bit strange to our English ears which have been trained to the sounds of English language sentence structures as they relate to our Western patterns of thinking and communicating thoughts as dictated by Hollywood. And so reading a "literal idiomatic" translation is a bit like listening to a Middle Easterner speaking English with a Middle Eastern accent. But when reading the LIT you'll see that the meanings in it are much more accurate to the original language texts than is possible to be for paraphrased and "synonymic translations".

I present my Biblical studies and ongoing Literal Interlinear Translation (LIT) here, along with its companion the Literal Idiomatic Translation Glossary (LITG), which is a glossary of idiomatic terms used by the ancient writers of the texts of the new covenant writings. In the LIT I show the exact UBS4 Greek text word morphology in parentheses, ( ), following the English word into which it has been translated. In this way any reader can check the accuracy of the LIT translation (if they wish) using their own language reference resources such as Smyth, Mounce, S. Zodhiates’ CWD, B. Newman, T. Robertson, K. Wuest, BDB, Strong’s, Vine’s, etc., and most importantly through thoroughly studying the various and sometimes very numerous contexts in which a word is used, which is by far much more difficult, and usually neglected by students who say they "study" the Bible. Of course, doing this with virtually all English "translations" is impossible. This can only be done based upon the actual Greek word morphologies given in the ancient texts.

This website puts both the LIT and the LITG on the table openly and honestly for all to see, the LIT being based upon the exact Greek text morphologies and their equivalent English wording and meaning. In this way other English translations can be compared to it for the possible insertion into them of more modern mortal-made theological ideas and opinions by way of the awesome abundance of paraphrases and "synonyms". Dozens if not hundreds of somewhat popular modern theological ideas and opinions have been invented over the last 2,000 years, especially the mortal-made theological invention conjured up in the 4th century by a religious cartel, many of, or parts of which , have found their ways into virtually all English translations.

I take a firm position against the modern liberal practice of doing post-history revision of the meanings the ancient writers conveyed in the ancient texts, which is shamelessly done through modern "translation process". Using the translation process to inject into English "translations" various mortal-made theological inventions which came along hundreds of years after the completion of the writings of the ancient Biblical writers, to sculpt an English translation which makes it appear as though those theological inventions were already in the minds of the ancient Biblical writers at the time they wrote, must be viewed as being dishonest to say the very least. I believe everyone should have the chance to see for themselves, first-hand, in English, exactly what the ancient writers of the Biblical texts wrote, without the injection of any subsequent mortal-made theological inventions.

Two thousand years ago in Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost, about 3,000 believers in the precious name of JESUS, the CHRIST, received salvation; a baptism from Christ Jesus (Mat. 3:11) in God’s promised gift of holy Spirit, which gave them a new birth above (Acts 2). The fact that it happened THEN, BEFORE and ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT THE SUBSEQUENT NEED FOR any mortal-made theological inventions and addendums to what Jesus Christ and his apostles taught, and what the hearers heard, and believed, and practiced, speaks volumes!