Why I think "The Message" is a bad translation

(Psalm 23:1-4)

King James Version

1. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

New International Version

1. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

The Message Bible

1. God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.
2. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.
3. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.
4. Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.

Verse 3: You exchange restoration of the soul, paths of righteousness, and for His names sake for Your word is true, catching breath, and sending in the right direction. I believe the Hebrew word for soul can also mean a breathing animal so I'm assuming restore soul = catch breath, but I think there is something profound that you lose when you change it. Both infer rest, but the restoration of soul goes beyond just the physical. It implies a spiritual restoration as well. Paths of righteousness = right direction. Righteousness implies something very specific, that is, the association with that word are the upright and the ones who please God and live by faith. You lose that connotation when you just say the right direction. God doesn't just direct us in the right direction, He does, but it's more than that. Righteousness implies a moral uprightness that is in direct contrast to sin and that those who are righteous are on the other end of the spectrum of sinners. Right direction doesn't say that. For His name's sake = True to your word? The Hebrew I looked up says that those words mean something like "on account of His honor" but that seems to be more true to the For His name's sake. It changes the meaning too, why does God restore us? Not because of us, but because of Him.

Verse 4: I will fear no evil = I'm not afraid. I think it's very significant what you're fearing and to leave out the fear of evil changes the meaning a lot. We can fear many things, I mean we're supposed to fear God, but it's a very different fear than fearing evil. One shows faith while the other shows lack of faith and that distinction is lost in the Message translation. Also, it clearly leaves out the rod (which was used to hit the sheep) and only includes the staff or crook that was the more gentle form of getting the sheep to do stuff. It waters down the nature of God, yes we have gentle God forgiving and loving to the thousandth generation, but wait, what about God who strikes out against injustice and oppression? The God who's anger flares out against sin, who's wrath no one can stand.

(Psalm 24:3-4)

New International Version

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. [or swear falsely]

The Message Bible

3-4 Who can climb Mount God?
Who can scale the holy north-face?
Only the clean-handed,
only the pure-hearted;
Men who won't cheat,
women who won't seduce.

Verse 4: The idea of lifting up your heart to an idol is very different from not cheating or seducing. Are both of those forms of idol worship? I'd say they can be, but the thing is, we can forgo cheating and seducing, but still worship idols. This translation leaves out a lot and you lose so much in these changes.

One more thing, I've not seen a Message Bible that includes the footnotes that Bibles normally include, such that all the references to the Old Testament disappear and those are key for the context of the quotation being used. These are just a few examples of what I think is probably a trend throughout its texts (more examples will be examined in later posts)

The thing about the Message is that it does a lot of the interpretation for us already, which I think is dangerous in its own right. Don't get me wrong, I think there are a lot of parts of The Message that are good accurate translation and do a good job of displaying the message in contemporary language, but you lose too much for me to ever consider using it for any kind of Bible study. In fact, the things that do a good job most of the time are the hardest to point out as being bad. But it's in those details, which turn things from truth into lies. Because a partial truth is no truth at all.