“And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.” – Jeremiah 23:36
I THINK THAT SCRIPTURE would well apply to the sons of perdition behind the famed “New International Version” translation of the Bible. How else may their conduct be better described? They have defiled the word of God without compunction. With their grimy mitts, they have seized upon the fine linen of Scripture, and sullied it beyond recognition. The NIV translator’s preface (if you have a full stomach, you may read it here: https://www.blueletterbible.org/bibles/preface-to-the-new-international-version.cfm) presents themselves as “a self-perpetuating group of biblical scholars”. This is blasphemy. No man who dares to undermine a Christian’s faith in the word of God by insisting the Bible needs continual “revision” and “updating”, has any right to the words “biblical” or “scholar”. He is a son of Beelzebub, who would exercise the temerity to exalt his pathetic opinion over the authority and truth of the Bible. “O man, who art thou that that repliest against God?” is the question which ought be put to these religious infidels who, in the face of multitudes of Scriptures proclaiming the purity, perfection, and preservation of God’s words, will insist that “the word of God” lies somewhere amidst a heap of faceless manuscripts, and can only be reconstructed through their “talent” and “scholarship.”
But I digress. The purpose of these pages is not to rebuke the Bible-butchering imbeciles comprising the NIV’s famed “translation committee.” It is to expose their wicked works by highlighting several especially egregious examples of their perversion. I will list the Scripture from the King James Bible, give the NIV’s perversion of that Scripture, and demonstrate the importance of these changes.
#1: MATTHEW 8:2
Matthew 8:2 (King James Bible): “And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”
Matthew 8:2 (NIV): “A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean’.”
As anyone familiar with the English language knows (or ought to know), “worship” and “kneel” are not interchangeable terms. Compare how each term is defined by Webster’s New World Dictionary:
- Kneel (intransitive verb) – to bend or rest on a knee or the knees
- Worship (transitive verb) – to show religious devotion or reverence for; adore or venerate as a deity; to have intense love or admiration for; adore or idolize
In John 4:24, we are told that “God is a spirit: and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth.” How well we worship God is dependent upon the state of our hearts, not the position of our knees. Many people can give an appearance of “worshipping God” by drawing nigh unto him with their mouth, and honoring him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him. Moreover, the mere act of kneeling does not signify worship. One can kneel before a king without worshiping him.
NIV defenders will wave this objection away as “splitting hairs”, and wonder what business I have correcting “biblical scholars”. Perhaps they should ask themselves what business “biblical scholars” have correcting the word of God, and deleting references to people worshipping Jesus Christ by substituting lame terms like “knelt” in their place?
#2: JOHN 9:35
John 9:35 (KJB): “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
John 9:35 (NIV): “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The Gospel of John was written “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” It was not written to present his humanity, but his deity. He is the Son of God! If you do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you are not saved. If you trust a plan of salvation that leaves out Christ’s deity, you are not saved. You must know, not only that you are a sinner who cannot save yourself from hell, but that the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ, died in your place at Calvary, paid for your sins with his blood, was buried, and rose from the dead three days later. If Jesus Christ was not God in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), he would be merely a man. If he was merely a man, he would be a sinner (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:10). If he was a sinner, he could not pay for his own sins, much less the sins of others. No, dear reader, if Jesus Christ was not the Son of God, he would be exactly what those accursed crucifixes depict him to be: a dead man on a cross.
But, bless God, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. He died on the cross and was buried, but he did not stay dead. Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o’er his foes! “Behold,” saith Christ, “I am alive for evermore.” He would not be alive for evermore, if he were not the Son of God. He would not be able to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25), if he were not the Son of God. Yet, he is the Son of God, and he is able to save you who read this article, whoever you are, whatever you have done. He is even able to save the shameless NIV translators who made it their mission to diminish his deity whenever the opportunity presented itself. For Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men, and is not willing that any – even those which corrupt the word of God – should perish.
#3: JOHN 3:16
John 3:16 (KJB): “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 (NIV): “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but he is not the only Son. He is the only begotten Son; that is, the only biological Son. When a man trusts Christ as Savior, he becomes an adopted son of God (Romans 8:15-16). The difference between John 3:16 in the King James Bible and the NIV is simple, yet profound. Did the NIV translators ever read John 1:12: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”? Or Galatians 3:26: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus”? Every born-again Christian is a son of God, as John 1:12, Galatians 3:26, Romans 8:15-16, and a host of similar passages aver. In the light of this, I trust you will see the title “one and only Son” is at odds with both the word of God and the English language.
In case you were wondering, this unwholesome deed is repeated in John 1:18, with the King James Bible classifying Jesus as “the only begotten Son”, and the NIV calling him “the one and only Son.” That verse’s footnotes reveal “some manuscripts” read “the only Son”, rather than “the one and only Son.” Evidently the “biblical scholars” felt manuscripts which read “the only begotten Son” unworthy of mention.
#4: LUKE 2:33
Luke 2:33 (KJB): “And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.”
Luke 2:33 (NIV): “The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.”
The NIV is quite apt at contradicting itself. After pronouncing Jesus as God’s “one and only Son”, it now identifies Joseph as his father. Consider the ramifications of this statement. If Joseph were Jesus’ father, then Jesus could no longer be the only begotten Son of God. He could no longer be qualified to die for the world’s sins, and could not be able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. In short, if Joseph were Jesus’ father, our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins, and we are of all men most miserable. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” must be our mantra.
This is perhaps the most outrageous example of the NIV divesting Christ of his deity. Yet, it fits an undeniable pattern of presenting Jesus Christ, not as the only begotten Son of God, but as a mere historical figure, as one might biographize George Washington. The many people who tolerate the existence of a man named Jesus, but scorn his being God in the flesh, are sure to be appeased by this pathetic “middle ground.”
#5: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18
1 Corinthians 1:18 (KJB): “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV): “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Although I have mentioned this very discrepancy in previous articles, it bears repeating for obvious reasons. The King James Bible teaches salvation takes place the moment one trusts Christ. The NIV, and the other modern perversions, instead teach salvation is a process which men must faithfully pursue if they are to receive eternal life. This necessitates radical life changes and implies those who backslide put their salvation at risk. Given the NIV translation committee boasted of drawing its ranks from many different denominations, it should come as no surprise the accursed false gospels which those same denominations teach would likewise be incorporated into their work.
But is salvation a process? None who rightly divide the word of truth can arrive at such a heretical conclusion. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” – this is no process. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” – this is no process. We must never confuse salvation – receiving eternal life by faith in Christ alone – with discipleship – serving Christ faithfully, whatever it may cost us. You do not become a disciple to receive Christ as Savior, but, rather, you become a disciple after you have received Christ as Savior, because you are a child of God and wish to live in a way that pleases your heavenly Father. Salvation is not a process. How can it be, when to be saved a man must simply come to Jesus as a guilty sinner and receive him as his Savior?
CONCLUSION
These are but a sampling of the sundry doctrinal changes made by the New International Perversion of the Bible. Jesus is no longer the Son of God, men do not worship him, Joseph was his father, and salvation is a process are just some of the divers false teachings found within this sordid corruption of the Scriptures. I will have more to say on this subject in the near future, Lord willing. In the meantime, I recommend you explore this extensive list detailing countless doctrinal differences between the King James Bible and the modern perversions.
https://av1611.com/kjbp/charts/themagicmarker.html