The: Knox Translation
Exodus 20:1-17

And now God spoke all these words which follow. I, the Lord, am thy God (he said); I, who rescued thee from the land of Egypt, where thou didst dwell in slavery.
  1. Thou shalt not defy me by making other gods thy own.
  2. Thou shalt not carve images, or fashion the likeness of anything in heaven above, or on earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth,
    to bow down and worship it. I, thy God, the Lord Almighty, am jealous in my love; be my enemy, and thy children, to the third and fourth generation, for thy guilt shall make amends; love me, keep my commandments, and mercy shall be thine a thousandfold.
  3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God lightly on thy lips; if a man uses that name lightly, the Lord will not acquit him of sin.
  4. Remember to keep the sabbath day holy. Six days for drudgery, for doing all the work thou hast to do; when the seventh day comes, it is a day of rest, consecrated to the Lord thy God. That day, all work shall be at an end, for thee and every son and daughter of thine, thy servants and serving-women, thy beasts, too, and the aliens that live within thy gates.

    It was six days the Lord spent in making heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them; on the seventh day he rested, and that is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
  5. Honour thy father and thy mother; so thou shalt live long to enjoy the land which the Lord thy God means to give thee.
  6. Thou shalt do no murder.
  7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
  8. Thou shalt not steal.
  9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
  10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, or set thy heart upon thy neighbour’s wife, or servant or hand-maid or ox or ass or anything else that is his.
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Known details

Ronald Knox
1945
1955

History

Ronald Knox was requested in 1936 by the hierarchy of England and Wales to undertake a completely new translation of the New Testament. This he produced single-handed in 1945. The Old Testamant was completed in 1955. The translation is from the Vulgate "in light of" the originals and with many textual notes. It has a style all of its own, perhaps more discussed than any other modern version. (New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2. Page 466.)

This translation passed rapidly into common use worldwide in the Catholic community. It has been commended for its freshness of approach, for its lively language, and for the ease with which it may be read. Its style has succeeded in giving meaning to passages which in earlier versions have been difficult to understand.

The purpose in preparing this translation was to give readers a greater knowledge and understanding of inspired Sacred Scripture. Prayer and the sacraments are a lay apostle's strength, the Bible, his armor. A knowledge of Holy Scripture is a valuable element in his participation in the Church's liturgy. The translation by Monsignor Knox was presented to meet the need of having in every home a Bible that is easy to read and a joy to handle.

Sheed and Ward (1956)

[Tyndale House, Cambridge, United Kingdom]