God's Growing Garden: Bible Version Discrepancies #1

Bible Version Discrepancies #1 - THE LORD'S PRAYER

For most of my life I have been afraid of the "King James Version" of the Bible. I always thought that it would be like reading Shakespeare - well, it's not. Most of the time I referenced the N.I.V. (New International Version) but recently, when I need clarification, I refer to the K.J.V. (King James Version) and the N.K.J.V. (New King James Version). In making this small switch I discovered that there are many serious discrepancies between NIV & The King James versions. I also found out that the Bible "scholars" who compiled NIV were members of secret societies. Whether or not there was anything nefarious behind the NIV translation does not affect the goal that I have for this series. We are going to use our God-given common sense to compare these versions and come to our own conclusions.

It is important to note that the King James Version was first published in 1611 and it wasn't until 1978 that the New International Version was first published.

Even if we find serious discrepancies by comparing these two versions, I want you to know that I believe God has still been able to get His message across to us - He is not fazed by "misinterpretation". His Truth fills our heart and that is why we are able to objectively study and compare these versions without losing God's meaning.

In this series we are going to really dive deep into God's Word.

We begin with "The Lord's Prayer" in two different passages:

Luke 11:2-4

Matthew 6:9-13

One of the first shocking differences I noticed was the grammar in N.I.V. - it is very disrespectful. Many words describing or referring to God are NOT capitalized in the N.I.V. (those letters are underlined in the picture below - NIV being on the left). Modern grammar rules have become relaxed in everyday life but that does not mean that this should apply to the Holy Bible!!

Then look at the words that were left out of NIV. The highlighted words on the right are the words that do not appear in NIV. I just can't see any good reason why "Our" Father should be removed, nor why "in heaven" was removed.

Why would "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" be removed? That is such an important part - God is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow, in heaven and on earth.

Finally, in this comparison the worst part is removing the comforting protection line:

"But deliver us from the evil one." So many pastors and teachers never speak about the devil - how are we supposed to know that God is protecting us from evil if it has been removed from the Bible!!!

The passage in Matthew was refreshing in that NIV was almost the same as NKJV (not including what I call "insulting disrespectful grammar"). But this makes the passage above (Luke 11:2-4) that much more shocking. Both passages in NKJV are almost identical, so why would the translators of the NIV decide to remove almost half from the portion in Luke? It makes no sense at all.

The final line in NKJV is very important and again outrageous that it would be removed from NIV. "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" That sentence is so powerful! By removing that line, the NIV translators made their version of the Lord's Prayer wishy-washy.

Let's define those 3 words in that missing line:

Kingdom

Power

Glory

Kingdom - eternal Kingship of God, the realm in which God's Will is fulfilled.

Power - magnificent strength

Glory - worshipful praise, honor, exaltation

I pray that you will continue to reflect on these differences this week and never stop digging deep into God's Word.

How To Find & Understand Answers To Prayer