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You can speak a sentence in many different ways. The same words can be expressed to have different meanings. Many times, a word is emphasized in order to distinguish it from an alternate word. Consider the following sentence:

He walked down the street.

When spoken aloud, the sentence might convey different meanings. “HE walked down the street” could contrast against someone else walking down the street. “He WALKED down the street” instead of running down the street. “He walked DOWN the street” instead of up the street. And “He walked down the STREET” instead of on the sidewalk.

Even a simple sentence from John 1:26: “…I baptize with water” can take on different emphasis. “*I* baptize with water” with the emphasis on himself as opposed to anyone else. Or “I BAPTIZE with water” instead of sprinkling with water perhaps? Or “I baptize with WATER” instead of what the one coming after him baptizes with which is the Holy Spirit.

So translators from the original Greek or Hebrew languages have a tough enough time just getting out the meaning of the words. We who attempt to read them aloud are also challenged with interpreting the meaning of the sentences by placing the emphasis on the proper words.

Oh the things we learn. After I’ve already recorded several verses always pronouncing blessed as “blest” in every situation, it turns out I should have indeed said, “bless-ed.” To me, “bless-ed” sounded more King James-ey and archaic and thus needing to be modernized. Nope. So “blest” is the verb way of saying it and “bless-ed” is the adjective (or even sometimes the noun) way of saying it.

He blest the bless-ed one!

In the book of Nehemiah, we can surely find some names for guys that we don’t normally hear every day.  So, how do we pronounce their names? My approach is simply to pick something that sounds good to me. I’m sure these guys won’t be offended that I mispronounce their name. They are listed in the most important book of all time, after all. I’ll apologize to them when I see them in heaven.

When we talk, we usually make efficient use of our voice by utilizing contractions. I’m employing the same efficiency when recording the Spoken Bible. In order for it to sound natural, I have to speak like I’m talking to you, not reading to you. I wouldn’t talk to you, saying, “I would not talk to you.” Unless, and this is important, I need to place emphasis on the otherwise contracted word, as in, “I would NOT talk to you.”

So if you’re reading along in the NET Bible as I speak it, you may notice some missing symbols, but my goal is to extract the full meaning in the natural communication of the message.