While reading a sample on Amazon.com of Brennan Manning’s latest book, The Furious Longing of God, I decided to see how the Twenty-third Psalm would read in the New Jerusalem Bible — a translation that Manning seems to favor.

And what I find is the most beautiful English rendering of the Twenty-third Psalm that I have ever encountered:

[Psalm Of David]

Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

In grassy meadows he lets me lie. By tranquil streams he leads me

to restore my spirit. He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits his name.

Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me.

You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup brims over.

Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of Yahweh for all time to come.