The body of Christ should not be divided because of which version of the Bible one chooses to study. whether you use the NIV, KJV, etc., pray and ask God for his guidance. It makes our Father happy when he sees us taking the time to read his word. He can certainly overcome any translation problems and lead us to a better understanding of his word.
We can be sure that the original manuscripts of the Bible were perfect because the people who wrote them were inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16). They were written in Greek, Hebrew, and a small portion in Aramaic, so the Bible had to be translated to English.
The KJV, used with the Strong’s Concordance, allows you to take any word in the Bible back to the original language and determine for yourself if the correct English translation was used.
I do not think that any translation of the Bible is perfect. Sometimes the English words the translators chose were wrong, and in many places entire verses were omitted altogether. Were these errors accidental or purposeful? I tend to believe that there are instances of both. Satan loves to deceive, and he’s got plenty of influence in this world to be able to mess with God’s word. Don’t think for one minute that he would not take advantage of such an opportunity.
Based on my own study and research, I believe that the KJV is the most accurate translation of the manuscripts. Also, the types of errors made are not of the same caliber as you will find in the NIV, RSV, and many other newer versions.
There is a lot of information to be found about why these inconsistencies and errors exist between the different versions of the Bible. I encourage you to pray about it. Make a deep study, and then make up your own mind on what you believe. It’s an interesting subject and you can learn a lot about how the different Bibles came to be.
Here is a small sample of changes that were made from the Authorized KJV to the NIV and NRSV, two commonly used versions of the Bible.
Isaiah 7:14
King James Version:
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The New Revised Standard Version:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel
It wasn’t just a young woman who conceived and gave birth to Jesus. It was a young woman who was a virgin, and cutting that part out of God’s Word is just wrong.
Colossians 1:14
The King James Version:
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins
New International Version and New Revised Standard Version:
In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
It is only through his blood that we have redemption. Why would transcribers choose to omit this fact?
2 Timothy 2:15
The King James Version:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
New international version:
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
New Revised Standard Version:
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.
It’s very important to realize that we need to study and rightly divide God’s word. Of course we always want to do our best, but to do our best and rightly explain is not the same thing.
Acts 8:37
The King James Version:
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
New International Version and New Revised Standard Version:
Both the NIV and the NRSV omit this entire verse. It goes from Acts 8:36 to Acts 8:38
Matthew 18:11
King James Version:
For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
New International Version and New Revised Standard Version:
Both other versions omitted this verse. Just another example (of many) where the translators made a choice to completely leave this verse out of God’s word.
Mark 11:26
The King James Version:
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
New International Version and New Revised Standard Version:
And yet again this verse is omitted from both versions.
Luke 4:4
The King James Version:
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
New International Version
Jesus answered, It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone.
New Revised Standard Version
Jesus answered him, It is written, One does not live by bread alone.
The end of the verse is missing in both versions.
King James Errors
Here are a two examples of translation errors in the King James Bible. This is not a complete list.
Luke 14:26
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
The word hate was translated from the greek word miseo. Let’s look at the definition in the Strong’s:
Hate (3404) mis-eh’-o
from a primary misos (hatred); to detest (especially to persecute); by extension, to love less:–hate(-ful).
Hate is a bad translation; it should have been love less. We are told to honor our parents, to love them. God does not want us to hate our family, but rather to love Him more, and everyone else less.
Genesis 1:2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The word ‘was’ is the Hebrew word ‘hayah.’ It should have been translated ‘became.’ It is made clear in other verses throughout the the Bible that the earth was not created void and without form (one example is Isaiah 45:18).
God’s word will never contradict itself, so if you run across a verse in the Bible that seems to contradict another verse, or that just doesn’t make sense to you, study and dig deeper until you figure out what’s going on.
