Jews for Jesus - -
    Is it a good idea to have a Jewish Bible when witnessing to Jewish friends? Their first comment is, "Well, that's what your Bible says." We tell them it's the same as theirs, but we're not sure they believe it.

     The answer to that is "yes" and "no." Yes, using a Bible from a Jewish publishing house answers the immediate objection. But no, because by doing so you avoid the real issue, which is that Jews are indoctrinated to believe that the "Christian version" of the Jewish Bible has twisted the Scriptures. You can overcome this by showing the Jewish person the passages in both the Jewish and Christian versions of the Old Testament and pointing out that though the readings may be slightly different, the message is still basically the same. There are some differences of which you should be aware.

1. In the Jewish version of the Old Testament some of the books are in different order, so you will need to use the table of contents.

2. Some of the Messianic texts have been rendered with variant possible translations* in order to diminish the Messianic import. For example, Psalm 2:12 is rendered, "Arm yourselves with purity"; Isaiah 7:14 is rendered, "a young woman shall conceive . . ." Isaiah 9:6 reads, "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor of the Mighty God, of the Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace"; Psalm 22:17 reads, "Like a lion they threaten my hands and my feet."

* Hebrew Publishing Company, New York