A Rhyming Bible. Can the Rap Version Be Far Behind?

No sooner had we finished parsing the merits, and demerits, of a new "neo-con" translation of the Bible when along comes "The Bible in Rhyme." Author Kyle Holt, a software developer in Overland Park, Kansas, gives us a sneak peek from Genesis:

In the beginning, God created.
The rules were established. The physics translated.
In the nothing God shouted, "Let there be light."
He created the first day, and thus made the night.

Hmm. Perhaps the Adam and Eve passage resonates a bit more:

To govern the greatest and govern the least.
God took up His dirt, and He took up His dust
and then in the swiftest, most powerful gust
He blew into Adam the Godbreath of life.
But God realized Adam needed a wife
to be a companion, for man was alone.
So from His new man, God plucked out a bone.

For me it sounds more like Mother Goose or "Night Before Christmas" than King James. Or perhaps he was channeling the priceless doggerel verse of Ogden Nash, though without the sense of humor. But Holt insists he's onto something. (He and his brother Bryce, who has penned a thriller, are the only two authors of a new publisher, conveniently located in Overland, called Minor Planet Press.)

"Actually, I feel quite humbled," Holt says in a press release. "After the idea for The Bible in Rhyme came to me, God just wouldn't let me ignore it. Genesis 1 flowed out of me so naturally--and the words just kept coming."

All 150,000 words, in fact, a translation he describes as an "epic poem" that allows readers to "see the poetry of the ancient texts come alive" for the first time.

Well, the King James Version is pretty good poetry, too--that is, if you're into Shakespearean-type stuff. If not then ignore this, cause I've said 'nuff.