Reliability of Bible Translations

No, I am not questioning the reliability of the Bible which is the Word of God. Neither am I talking about reliability of Bible interpretation or hermeneutics. What concerns me most is the unreliability of some Bible Translations. All Bible-believing and God-fearing Christians must be able to trust the accuracy and reliability of any versions or translations of the original Biblical texts. In other words, all Bible translations must be trustworthy. The question is, are all versions of Bible Translations be trusted?

By careful study of various versions and translations of the Bible it becomes obvious to me that there are serious inconsistencies between them. More importantly, some versions contain more facts and verses than others. And without apparent reason certain verses are removed or added in when compared with others. Certain verses carry entirely different meaning when compared with others.

It is beyond the scope of this message to discuss different Bible versions and translations. You may refer to any good Bible Dictionary. For clarity sake I shall use the King James Bible (KJB) or the New King James Version (NKJV) as reference in comparing with other versions like the New International Version (NIV), New Living Bible (NLB), The New American Standard Bible (NAB), Revised Standard Version (RSV) and the Amplified Bible (AB).

For easy comparison we shall confine our discussion with the above mentioned few popular translations. This is not a comprehensive study; but rather what I have discovered so far.

The Lord’s Prayer

Please read Matthew 6:9 – 13. Let me just quote the last verse of the Lord’s Prayer:

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Verse 13, NKJV, emphasis added).

The highlighted phrase is intact in the KJB, NKJV, NAB and AB, but totally removed from the NIV, RSV and the NLB! This last sentence is “doxology” or ascription of praise connected with the Prayers by the word “For”.

Is it shameful to praise the Lord according to some Bible translators? Or is it good to praise the Lord? My Bible says only the dead do not praise the Lord (Psalm 115:17)!

Is Joseph the paternal father of Jesus?

After Simeon took the Child Jesus in his arms and blessed Him, Luke recorded:

“And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken to Him” (Luke 2:33, NKJV, emphasis added).

Both the KJB and the NKJV say “Joseph and His mother”. The NLB says “Joseph and Mary”. AB says “His (legal) father and (His) mother”. The RSV and NAB say “His father and mother”. But the NIV says “the Child’s father and mother”!

If you believe the virgin birth and that Jesus is the Son of God, then Jesus’ Father is God the Father and not Joseph!

The Blood of Jesus

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13, 14, NKJV, emphasis added).

The phrase “through His blood” has been removed from the NIV, NAB and the RSV! Surprisingly, it is found intact in the NLB.

The writer of Hebrews says, “… without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22).

Jesus Christ is the only BEGOTTEN SON

Let us look at the all familiar John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only BEGOTTEN Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, NKJV, emphasis added).

The word “BEGOTTEN” has been removed from the NIV, RSV and NLB.

Christians should know that there is a great difference between “His only begotten Son” and “His only son”.

The Scripture makes it clear that some sons of God are created, some are adopted and some are angels.

1. “… the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38, NKJ, emphasis added).

In the above verse Adam is the created son of God. (Read Gen. 5:1, 2).

2. Christians are call “sons of God”

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26, NKJV, emphasis added).
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1, NKJV, emphasis added)

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14, NKJV, emphasis added).

Clearly, Christians are “adopted” sons of God through Jesus Christ. We are the children of God in the New Covenant.

3. In the Book of Job “sons of God” are angels of God:

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6, NKJV, emphasis added).

Read also Job 2:1 and Job 38:7 you will realize that these “sons of God” are celestial beings. There are created angels of God.

It is true that what NIV say “the one and only Son” is sufficient to indicate that there is only one Son (capital S). But then the NIV is supposed to be read by Christians young in the faith. The NLB simply says, “his only Son”!

Words removed from the Mouth of Jesus Himself!

1. After Jesus was baptized by John, He was led by the Spirit to into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.

Jesus answered the Devil, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God’” (Luke 4:4, NKJV, emphasis added).

The important phrase “But by every word of God” has been removed from the NIV, NLB, RSV and NAB. As far as I know only the KJB, the AB and the NKJV have this phrase intact.

Notice that Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3;

“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (NKJV, emphasis added).

Amazingly, all the versions mentioned above have the highlighted phrase intact.

2. The Devil desired Jesus to worship him. But Jesus said to him:

“Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Luke 4:8, NKJV, emphasis added).

The phrase, “Get behind Me, Satan!” has been removed from the NIV, NLB, RSV and NAB. Only the KJB, NKJV and the AB have the phrase intact.

3. Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and was reading from the Book of Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me the heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set all liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18, NKJV, emphasis added).

The phrase, “He has sent Me the heal the brokenhearted” has been removed from the NIV, NLB, RSV and NAB. Only the KJB, NKJV and the AB have the phrase intact. Therefore, according the some translators, God did not send Jesus to heal emotion or inner hurt! The healing virtue of Jesus is not complete. Christians should know that Jesus came to heal the whole person – Spirit, soul and body. It is true that “By whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

4. Jesus was explaining to His disciples regarding His departure to the Father:

“A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father” (John 16:16, NKJV, emphasis added).

Similarly, the phrase, “Because I go to the Father” has been removed from the same versions of the Bible. Why would Jesus withhold this important truth from His disciples? More importantly, without going to the Father implies no resurrection of Jesus. Then our faith is futile and we are still in our sins (Romans 15:13 – 19)!

Actually there are many more verses of the sayings of Jesus have been removed without valid reasons from the same translations of the Bible as I have mentioned above. It is quite a tedious exercise to search out what have been added and removed.

The following verses are also removed!

Matt. 15:8, Matt. 19:9, Matt. 20:7, Matt. 20:16, Matt. 20:22, Matt. 25:13, Matt. 27:35, Mark 6:11, Matt 10:21.

Verses of Scripture removed from the Epistles

I will quote only two important verses:

1. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1, NKJV, emphasis added).

The same translations removed the phrase, “Who do not walk according to the Spirit”.

This phrase is important because it indicates that true Christians (who are in Christ Jesus) do not walk according to the Spirit.

2. “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on you part He is glorified” (1 Peter 4:14, NKJV, emphasis added).

The same translations removed the highlighted phrase. This phrase explains further how a believer is blessed by being reproached for the name of Christ.

The following verses are also removed:

Rom. 13:9; 1 Cor. 6:20; 2 Cor. 10:4; Gal. 3:1; Eph. 5:30; Phil. 3:16; 1 Tim. 6:6; Heb. 7:21; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 4:3; 1 John 5:13.

Verses from the Book of Revelation

The verses removed are: Rev. 1:11; Rev. 5:14; Rev. 14:5 and Rev. 21:24.

Conclusion

From the above study I discover that the most reliable translations of the Bible are The King James, The New King James and The Amplified Bible. As far as I know (based on my present Bible Research) nothing has been taken out of the Original Bible Texts.

The Bible warns against taking away and adding to the Words of God!

“Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:6, NKJV).

“You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” (Deu. 4:2, NKJV).

God’s last warning is, “… If any man shall add unto these things, God shall unto him the plagues … And if any man shall take away from the word of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life ….” (Rev. 22:18, 19, KJB).

Notice that the phrase “the book of this prophecy” means the entire Bible and not just the Book of Revelation. The Bible is a prophetic Book.