Australians who struggle with the somewhat obtuse language of the King James Bible now have their own vernacular version to turn to, complete with pretty sheilas, good blokes and dusty, down-at-heel pubs.
Called The Aussie Bible (well, bits of it anyway), it provides a uniquely Australian spinon the Virgin birth, the Good Samaritan and other well-known parables.
There is not a thee, thou or yea verily in sight. Jesus' father, Joseph, becomes simply Joe, the Three Wise Men are The Wise Guys and the baby Christ sleeps in a feed trough instead of a manger (the local pub was "full to bursting").
It is the work of journalist and author Kel Richards, who drew inspiration from a Cockney version of the Bible, and follows hard on the heels of a Surfer's Bible, published last year by the Australian Bible Society.
It took Richards a year to translate large chunks of the Bible, including favourite bits from the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, into "Strine".
The Good Samaritan, in which Jesus tells the story of a man attacked by robbers who is ignored by a priest and a Levite before being helped by a Samaritan, is translated into the sort of language found in any Outback pub or city building site.
"A bunch of bushrangers attacked him, stole his dough, and left him as good as dead. A big wig from the Temple happened to pass by, took one look at the bloke, crossed the road, and hurried off. Another official who was on the road that day did the same.
"Then a really ordinary bloke (a grubby old street sweeper you wouldn't look twice at) passed by and felt really sorry for him. So he used his first-aid kit to patch him up, and then put him on his old nag, took him to the nearest pub and took care of him."
The Aussie Bible has been given the Anglican Church's official blessing and includes a foreword by the Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson.
Due to be published in August by the Bible Society of New South Wales, it will have an initial print run of 30,000.
In a country with steadily falling Church attendance, Richards said he wanted to make the Bible accessible to all Australians.
The Bible Society's Martin Johnson said that the vernacular version was not meant to be disrespectful.
"It's slightly cheeky, I suppose, but certainly not meant to be irreverent.
