Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 19:1-10:

Zacchaeus lived in Jericho and was rich — yet he was hated,
       because he collected taxes for the Roman authorities.

Somehow Zacchaeus found out
that Jesus was passing through Jericho,
       and he wanted to see what he was like.
Crowds covered every inch of the ground,
and since Zacchaeus was short and couldn’t see the road,
       he climbed up a big tree and waited.
Jesus spotted him in the tree and shouted,
       “Zacchaeus, come down! I want to visit with you today.”
Zacchaeus scampered down and greeted Jesus with a smile.

But jealousy took control of the crowds, and they grumbled,
“This guy Zacchaeus is scum!
       Is Jesus really going to eat with him?”

When Zacchaeus got up from the meal, he said to Jesus,
“Lord, I promise to give half of my property to the poor,
       and to everyone I’ve ever cheated,
       I’ll pay back four times as much.”

“Now you and your family are acceptable to God!” said Jesus.
“Indeed you are truly a son of your ancestor Abraham.
       I came to look for and to save people that others reject.”