Examples of Changes in Different Bible Versions

Bill Brinkworth

There are thousands of changes in all of the different translations and versions. Here are only a few to give you an idea as to how man has changed what God has said!

New versions remove verses. Most add words.
King James (KJV): “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.” Acts 8:37
New International Version (NIV): Verse removed
New American Standard Version (NASB): Verse removed.
New World Translation (NWT - Jehovah Witness Bible): Verse removed.
Revised Standard Version (RSV): Verse removed.
New Century Version (NCV): Verse removed.
These re-writers wanted to do away with the biblical teaching of baptism!

In the NIV, some other verses that are completely missing are:
Mat. 12:47, Mat. 17:21, Mat. 18:11, Mat. 23:14, Mark 7:16, Mark 9:44, Mark 9:46, Mark 11:26, Mark 15:28, Luke 17:36, Luke 23:17, John 5:4, Acts 8:37, Acts 24:7, Acts 28:29, I John 5:7.

Word counts of some modern versions. Just the fact that there are different amounts of words in the modern versions should make one suspicious of their content.
The King James Bible: 783,137* words
New King James Bible: 770,430* words
The New International Bible (NIV): 727, 969* (another source counts: 726,109 ).
English Standard Version (ESV): 757,439* words
New American Standard Bible (NASB): 782,815* words
* Different sources have reported different word counts. Their numbers may not be totally accurate, but if they were all counted by the same method, it clearly illustrates that there are grave differences in the versions content!

(KJV): “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Rev. 22:19
The Amplified Bible: “And if any one cancels or takes away from the statements of the book of this prophecy — these predictions relating to Christ’s kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions (warnings) pertaining to them — God will cancel and take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the city of holiness (pure and hallowed) which are described and promised in this book.” — wheeww!

God said not to add or delete from His Word, but look what man has been done to it!

New versions change and remove God’s commandments:
(KJV): “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.” Acts 8:37
(NIV): Verse removed and footnoted
(NASV): Verse removed and footnoted
(NWT): Verse removed.
(RSV): Verse removed and footnoted
(NCV): Verse removed and footnoted.
These re-writers wanted to do away with the biblical teaching of baptism! It is not a coincidence that many of the churches that use these versions do not biblically baptize, but christen.

New versions change truths about the Saviour, Jesus:
(KJV) “And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” Mat, 1:25
American Standard Version (ASV) “and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS.”
(RSV) “but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.”
(NIV) “But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”
(NWT) “But he had no intercourse with her until she gave birth to a son; and he called his name Jesus.”
Other versions remove wording indicating that Jesus was Mary’s first born son. She did have other children. The facts are altered.

(KJV) “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” Mat. 18:11
(NASB) This verse is footnoted and implies that it should not be there.
(NIV) Verse removed.
(NWT) Verse removed.
(NCV) Verse removed.
The important reason for Jesus Christ’s coming has been deleted! The way of salvation is removed!

(KJV) “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” I Cor. 1:18
(NIV) “… who are being saved …”
(Daily Study Bible for Women) “… we who are being saved …”
(English Standard Version) “… who are being saved …”
(NKJV) “…who are being saved:
(RSV) “…who are being saved …”
(NWT) “…who are being saved …”
(NCV) “…who are being saved …”
Many of the other versions indicate that a person is constantly working to be saved. The Bible teaches that when a person is saved, he is saved and cannot lose his salvation. These changes are changing what Jesus has done for us.

“The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a
Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;” Deut. 18:15
Deuteronomy 18:15 is prophetic about the Messiah. Many versions change the upper case “P” in “prophet” to lower case. Upper case refers to a proper noun. References to God are always capitalized. When the “P”is changed, it is stating it that it is just a man and not a specific divine person. They are not saying it is the Son of God. They are saying that the Messiah is not God! The perversions that change this important revelation include the : ASV, RSV, Confraternity Edition, New Century, New World Translation, and NIV.

New versions make the Word harder to understand:
(KJV) “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” Eph. 5:18
New King James Version (NKJV) “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation …”
(I thought they were supposed to make it easier to understand.)

(KJV) “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.” Daniel 3:3
(NKJV) “And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.” A difficult word is inserted and facts were changed.
(NIV) “So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.”
Not only are unusal words used in these verses, but also notice that the positions of people attending are in different order. What does the order of words have to do with making it “easier” to understand?

New versions teach differently and sometimes the opposite of what God had recorded. Often facts are changed:
“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. 5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.” Psalms 10:4-5
(NKJV) “… always prospering …”
(ASV) “… are firm at all times …”
(New American Standard – NASV) “… proper at all times …”
(Revised Standard Version – RSV) “… proper at all times …”
(Bible in Basic English – BBE) “ … are ever fixed …”
(Modern King James Version – MKJV) “… always perverted …”
(NWT) “… keep prospering …”
(Catholic Confernity Version) “… secure at all times …” (Actually they have it moved to Psalm 98:5)
(Daily Study Bible for Women) “Yet they succeed in everytrhing they do …”
(NIV) “… always prosperous …”
(NCV) “They always succeed …”

“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” John 14:2
(Recovery Version N. T) “abodes”
(RSV) “rooms”
NASB) “dwelling places”
(NCV) “rooms”
(NWT) “abodes”
(Daily Study Bible for Women) “rooms”
(NIV) “rooms”
God promises his children an extraordinary place in eternity that is nothing like they can have on this earth. He promises a mansion. The other perversions reduce God’s gracious gift to something less wonderful.

“Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.” I Kings 18:19
(NKJV) “Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmal, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jexebel’s table.” The NKJV is changing the “prophets of the groves” to “prophets of Asherah”. They are adding facts to the Word of God.

New versions alter truths about judgment and hell!
“Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:46
(NIV) Omitted, but footnoted
(NWT, NASB, NCV. RSV, Amplified) Omitted

New versions hide the truth that they are corrupting God’s words.
“For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” II Cor 2:17
(BBE): “For we are not like the great number who make use of the word of God for profit: but our words are true, as from God, being said as before God in Christ. II Cor. 2:17
(NIV): “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.”
(NWT): “[We are;] for we are not peddlers of the word of God as many men are, but as out of sincerity, yes, as sent from God, under God’s view, in company with Christ, we are speaking.”
(NCV): “We do not sell the word of God for a profit as many other people do. But in Christ we speak the truth before God, as messengers of God.”
(NKJV) “For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.”
(RSV) “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word; but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”
These versions have changed “corrupting the word of God” to selling it (“for profit”, “peddlers”, “sell”). The ironic fact is that that is exactly what the rewriters are doing; they are selling the changed Bible so they can make money!

** NOTE: Although I have included just a few examples, it is very easy to see that although all of the perversions of God’s Word vary from the preserved King James Bible, they often have something similar to each other. The reason for this is that they are not based on the same Hebrew and Greek texts (Masoretic Text and Textus Receptus) as the KJV. They often resort to the corrupt Catholic texts: the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus. When there is doubt or question, even the deceitful New King James Bible goes to them for revision. **

God promised to preserve His Word. The modern translations, revisions, and versions are not preserved! Making changes to it is negating His promise. Since the many versions and translations are all different, they indicate His Word is not preserved! The many versions are not the Word of God, and they are all changing what God wants us to know. No one has the right to change what He has said! All other versions, other than the KJV, should be avoided by English speaking people! The watered down Word of God has certainly resulted in the weaker churches and Christianity we have today.
“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” Psalms 12:6-7

“If the modern ‘bibles’ are supposed to make it easier to understand and also correct ‘mistakes’, why did 300+ different versions still not make it easy enough and get it right; and why are they still creating more versions? The answer is that the primary goal is not to make the Word of God clearer, but so they can make money and make it say what they want!”

This article was featured in The Bible View #365.

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God Kept His Word!
Untrue Statements about Modern Bible Versions and Translations

Updatd: 8/14/2015