After reading the heading, please don't jump to the conclusion that the proofreader did not do his work. This is just part of one verse out of the over 31,000 verses of the Bible which have been translated into 'SMS English' by the Bible Society.
The whole verse reads: "God luvd da ppl of dis wrld so much dat he gave his only Son, so dat evry1 who has faith in him will have eternal life & neva really die." (John, chapter 3, verse 16). This edition is very handy to the users of mobiles and senders of text messages. The whole Bible can be downloaded from www.biblesociety.com.au/smsbible/download.html .
We have really come a long way since the parchment editions or the first bulky Gutenberg version of the Bible. Pocket versions are also popular, but an SMS version breaks new frontiers.
The Catholic Church has set its sights on the Bible this month. Last Sunday, the Synod of Bishops was inaugurated at the Vatican. Bishops from around the world and a number of lay people, priests, religious and non-Catholic guests are participating in a synod studying the theme 'The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church'.
It's a time for frank discussions. Sometimes, perhaps, they'll be too frank. One guest, Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, the chief rabbi of Haifa, told the bishops that Jews cannot forgive or forget the silence of Pius XII during World War II. This was the first time ever that a rabbi has addressed the Synod of Bishops. Will it be the last?
The Bible is today visibly at the heart of the Church and its liturgy as well as the vanguard of its programmes of evangelisation. It was not always the case. Well-known biblical scholar Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, said at the synod: "It used to be said that while Protestants went to church carrying their Bibles, the Catholics went to church clutching their rosaries and their missals, if they had any." This is no longer the case, fortunately.
In an interview some years ago President Emeritus Vincent Tabone had told me that when he was a young man he had to ask for permission to read the Bible from the vicar general of Gozo.
We Maltese were fortunate because San Ġorġ Preca decades ago shook the establishment by putting the Bible in the hands of common folk. He did more. He got Dockyard workers to explain the Bible and make it the basis of their activities.
Various Maltese translations of the Bible have been published. Tens of thousands adorn our homes. But this is not enough. As the Indian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati told the synod, people are attracted less by preaching than by "the Word translated into action".
This is a harder kind of translation. Mgr Menamparampil said that offering health care and education, helping the unemployed and the oppressed, caring for people with AIDS or drug addictions, and fighting the discrimination against women show the true meaning of the Gospel.
No one needs permission to read the Bible today but are the Bibles in our homes being read and translated into action?