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Foreword

Andrew R. C. McLellan

When Murdoch Nisbet first translated the New Testament into Scots he had to keep it hidden. In the years that followed, his family were persecuted because of it. No-one will persecute Charles Greig for A Shetland Bible, for in some ways we live in more gentle times; and I hope that it will not be kept hidden, for it deserves wide readership.

Of course it is guaranteed to be read widely in Shetland. Charles Greig was born in Shetland. He and I became friends during a Moderatorial visit to Shetland. He was the Presbytery Clerk, and like many Presbytery Clerks he knew everyone and everything. Also, like many Presbytery Clerks, he was very kind to us.

So he knows Shetland and its dialect, and he knows the Bible. This translation contains selected passages, but there is enough to encourage the hope that it will be read far beyond Shetland. It takes a little practice for non-Shetlanders. ‘Da Göd Man’ may be a recognised way for Shetlanders to speak of God, but at first it seems odd to the rest of us. But it is these very challenges which can make new translations of the Bible so stimulating.

There is a linguistic, historical Shetland interest to the book. But there is also a spiritual and a religious interest. This is not merely a translation: it is a translation of the Bible. Its purpose is that people should know the love of God. This is Romans chapter 8: ‘Whit’ll keep wis awa fae da love o Christ? Will ony warsel or trachle, or budder or eans fornenst wis, or fantation, or bein midder-nakit, or things ta mak wis faerd or ta mirackle wis? Na, we can rise abön aa yon trowe him dat loved wis.’

This book is a charming and modest attempt to help people read the Bible imaginatively. The greatest of all English translators, William Tyndale, said ‘The nature of God’s word is that, whosoever read it, it will begin immediately to make him every day better and better’. I am glad to commend A Shetland Bible; and I have no doubt that when we do read it it will make us ‘better and better’.