Charles+

Yeah, I'd say that the ESV has retained the cadences of the RSV.  Only
about 6 or 8 percent of the RSV text was changed in the ESV, and most of
that was the "thees" and "thous" that the RSV retained for addressing
deity (along with putting the Hebrew text back into the Old Testament).
Of course, there are a few things here and there that sound a bit
different and that liturgically I wish hadn't been changed (e.g.
"hovering" for "moving" in Genesis 1:2, and "overseer" for "bishop" in
St Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus), but the revised renderings are
simply more accurate translations of the Hebrew and Greek.  Yet, so it
doesn't sound too strange, I've made an adjustment for this in the
lectionary readings by inserting the old word in place of the new (in
italics, which the ESV publisher gave me permission to do).

But let me tell you why I've been bringing up the RSV and asking folks'
opinion.  Two or three people who have tried the ESV have objected to
"you" and "your" in place of "thee" and "thou" when addressing God (even
though there is no Hebrew or Greek issue since neither make a
distinction between address to deity or anyone else).  It is argued that
"thee" and "thou" simply sound better given our Elizabethan liturgy.
Well, maybe.  But as my wife (who cut her teeth on the Authorized
Version) says, it's an easy transition from KJV to ESV because the ESV
retained the old cadences of both the RSV and KJV, and it's the cadences
that really make the difference.  They still fit the liturgy.

Anyway, where all of this is most noticable is in the Psalms.  So, in
order to answer the objections and keep not only the old language but
also the familiar cadences, we've decided to use the ESV and keep the
BCP Psalms.  I think it is a good compromise.

In any event, the whole issue of using the RSV instead of the ESV may be
moot since I'm having trouble getting permission from the copyright
holder to use it.

Hope this helps.

MLW+