The long process of compiling, translating, reinterpreting and reorganizing Scripture over the centuries has introduced a host of errors into the Bible as we know it today. No version or edition, no matter how valiant the effort, seems to get everything back to the original message that Christ and the Holy Spirit spoke to the prophets and apostles. The WOTA is the result of 11 years of study and prayer, seeking to right the most basic fundamentals as well as restore the deep wisdom of God in the written history and spiritual truth he has given us for our edification.

Taking advantage of the scholarly efforts made to produce the World English Bible and Young’s Literal Translation, the Word of the Ages bible employs these public domain bibles as a basis for restoring what man has lost. God still has his finger on the truth, even in the midst of corruption. Taking to heart the Proverb, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the glory of kings to search a matter out,” the WOTA tests what is of God and what is not.

The WEB restores the name Yahweh (יהוה) where Jewish tradition imposed Adonai (אֲדֹנָי) on the Hebrew Scriptures and Kyrios (Κύριος) on the Greek. It also prints monogenes (μονογενής) as “only born Son” rather than the traditional “only-begotten.”

Young’s Literal Translation makes a valiant attempt to restore the core meanings of words in the Hebrew and Greek languages, like olam (עוֹלָם) and aion (αἰών), although it is a little too literal and stiff for modern English at times and a bit liberal at others. The WOTA checks the accuracy of these translations against the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (MorphHB) and the SBL Greek New Testament, with Strong’s, Brown-Driver-Briggs, and Thayer as supporting lexicons. All revisions are noted.

It is through much prayer and study that the WOTA has come to fruition. May it bless you with joy, peace and an understanding of God’s Way as his truth is spoken in love as he intended it to be.

The wording is revised from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. This revision is not the World English Bible. “World English Bible” is a trademark of eBible.org.

The divine name in the Old Testament is Yahweh. Yahshua stands where this text’s base had Jesus, and where Joshua or Jeshua is that same Hebrew name. The sixth book is titled Yahshua.

Where the Greek New Testament has Ἰάκωβος, James is printed Jacob, and that book is titled Jacob. The verses are listed below.

The name Jacob has been restored over James in Matthew 4:21, 10:2, 10:3, 13:55, 17:1, 27:56; Mark 1:19, 1:29, 3:17, 3:18, 5:37, 6:3, 9:2, 10:35, 10:41, 13:3, 14:33, 15:40, 16:1; Luke 5:10, 6:14, 6:15, 6:16, 8:51, 9:28, 9:54, 24:10; Acts 1:13, 12:2, 12:17, 15:13, 21:18; 1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 1:19, 2:9, 2:12; Jacob 1:1; Jude 1:1. The patriarch’s name is Greek Ἰακώβ, already printed Jacob, and those verses are unchanged.

In Hebrew a construct chain (A of B) often marks kind, material, or character—not ownership. English may keep “of” or shift to a descriptive word. הַר הַקֹּדֶשׁ is mountain of holiness or holy mountain; אַנְשֵׁי דָמִים is men of blood or bloody / violent men; שִׂמְחַת עוֹלָם is joy of an age or lasting joy. The same habit guides wording such as age-long salvation (Isaiah 45:17) and Enduring Father (Isaiah 9:6). Rock of ages (Isaiah 26:4) is an exception: צוּר עוֹלָמִים keeps “of ages,” because all the ages are in view of the Rock who created them.

Genesis 1:2. “The earth was formless and empty” is printed “But the earth became formless and void,” and “was hovering” is printed “was fluttering.”

The creation-week day formulas follow the Hebrew: “day one,” then “a second day” through “a fifth day,” then “the sixth day” and “the seventh day.” WEB’s “the first day” and “a sixth day” are corrected to that pattern.

John 1:11. “He came to his own” is printed “He came into what was his own,” for εἰς τὰ ἴδια, the neuter possession he entered, before οἱ ἴδιοι, those who were his own.

John 1:15. “John testified… has surpassed me” is printed “John testifies about him and has cried out… ‘He who comes after me has come before me, for he was before me.’” The Greek has μαρτυρεῖ in the present, κέκραγεν in the perfect, and ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν with πρῶτός μου ἦν, after me / before me / before me, not “surpassed.” John 1:30 uses the same Greek and reads “has come before me,” not “preferred before me.” John 1:27 drops “who is preferred before me,” which is not in the SBL Greek New Testament.

αἰών / αἰώνιος . Where the Greek New Testament has αἰών or αἰώνιος, the English follows Young’s literal age language, and Young’s “age-during” is printed “age-long” (and “age-longly” where Young has “age-duringly”).

Taken directly from Young’s Literal Translation (with Yahshua where this Bible’s base had Jesus): the doxology Young places at Romans 16:25–27 stands here at Romans 14:24–26. “To the ages”: Romans 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 2 Corinthians 11:31; Hebrews 13:8; 13:21. “To the ages of the ages”: Galatians 1:5; Philippians 4:20; 1 Timothy 1:17; 2 Timothy 4:18; 1 Peter 4:11; 5:11; Revelation 1:6; 1:18; 4:9; 4:10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5. “To ages of ages”: Revelation 14:11. “To all the ages”: Jude 1:25. “To the age of the age”: Hebrews 1:8. “Of the age of the ages”: Ephesians 3:21. “Before the times of the ages” / “before times of ages”: 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2. “Purpose of the ages”: Ephesians 3:11. “Age of this world”: Ephesians 2:2. “The ages” framed: Hebrews 11:3. “To the day of the age”: 2 Peter 3:18. Luke 1:70 reads “from the age,” as in Young, without a separate “who have been.”

Matthew 21:19, Mark 3:29, and Luke 1:55 read “for the age.” Luke 1:33 reads “for the ages.” Mark 11:14 reads “May no one eat fruit from you any longer, for the age,” so that μηκέτι is “any longer” and εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα is “for the age.”

Where εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα marks lasting duration with a positive verb, this Bible also reads “for the age”: John 6:51 and 6:58 “will live for the age”; John 8:35 and 12:34 “remains for the age” (and in 8:35 “live in the house for the age”); John 14:16 “with you for the age”; 1 John 2:17 “remains for the age”; 2 John 1:2 “with us for the age”; 1 Peter 1:25 “endures for the age.”

Where WEB folds οὐ μὴ … εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα into “never,” this Bible keeps one clause with “for the age” and no comma: John 4:14 “will not thirst again for the age”; John 8:51 “will not see death for the age”; John 8:52 “will not taste of death for the age”; John 10:28 “will not perish for the age”; John 11:26 “will not die for the age”; John 13:8 “will not wash my feet for the age.”

Hebrews 5:6, 6:20, 7:17, and 7:21 read “priest for the age” (and 6:20 “high priest for the age”). Hebrews 7:24 reads “lives for the age.” Hebrews 7:28 reads “a Son for the age.” 1 Corinthians 8:13 reads “no meat for the age.” Jude 1:13 reads “reserved for the age.” 2 Corinthians 9:9 reads “remains for the age.”

ἀΐδιος . Romans 1:20. Where the Greek is ἀΐδιος of God’s power, “everlasting” is printed “unfailing.” Jude 1:6. Where the same adjective qualifies bonds, “everlasting” is printed “unbreakable.” The bonds are for the judgment (εἰς κρίσιν), not until it. The two verses are treated together under ἀΐδιος.

ἀσύνετος . Where the Greek is ἀσύνετος, this Bible prints “undiscerning.” Mark 7:18 keeps οὕτως as “so”; Matthew 15:16 keeps ἀκμήν as “still.” Romans 1:21 reads “their undiscerning heart”; 1:31 opens the list with “undiscerning”; 10:19 reads “an undiscerning nation.”

צָבָא . Where the base text prints “Yahweh of Armies,” “God of Armies,” or “Lord of Armies,” this Bible prints “hosts.” The Hebrew is צְבָאוֹת, a company mustered under command. The title is too frequent to list.

Examples: 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 17:45; Isaiah 6:3; Romans 9:29; Jacob 5:4. In 1 Samuel 17:45 the battle lines of Israel remain “armies,” a different Hebrew word. “Lord Almighty” in 2 Corinthians 6:18 and Revelation 4:8 stays as it is, following the Greek παντοκράτωρ.

זֶרַע / σπέρμα . Where the Hebrew is זֶרַע, or the Aramaic זְרַע, and the base text printed offspring, descendant, or descendants, this Bible prints seed. The noun is singular, including where it names many people. Where the Greek is σπέρμα, the same English is restored. The plural σπέρμασιν in Galatians 3:16 is seeds.

Galatians 3:16 reads “To seeds”, as of many, and “To your seed”, as of one, which is Christ. Galatians 3:19 and 3:29 read seed. Genesis 12:7, 13:15–16, 15:5, and 22:18 read seed in the promise to Abraham. The same restoration runs through the Old and New Testaments wherever the base text had turned this word into offspring or descendants. Offspring of vipers, “we are also his offspring” in Acts 17:28–29, and “the offspring of David” in Revelation 22:16 keep the base wording, because those lines are a different Greek word. The Hebrew noun צֶאֱצָאִים keeps the base wording too.

Romans 9:8 reads “counted as seed,” where the base had “heirs.” Mark 12:21–22 and Luke 20:28 read seed in the levirate sayings. Hebrews 11:11 reads “power to conceive seed.” Psalm 22:30 reads “A seed shall serve him.” Psalm 21:10 keeps the Hebrew parallel: “their fruit from the earth” and “their seed from among the sons of men.” Esther 6:13 reads “Jewish seed.”