Are there dangers in some of the new versions of the Bible?

First, we need to understand that unless you are looking at the original Hebrew and Greek texts, all Bibles are translations. The question we need to ask is about the quality of a translation and the text sources used. Some translations are really “paraphrases,” which means they don’t follow the source text closely, but rather loosely and subjectively give the meaning of phrases. Examples of this are the Living Bible or The Message. It is misleading, for example, when the Living Bible calls the mark of the beast a tattoo.

The careful Bible student will recognize that there are some biases in some of the new English translations. For instance, Hebrews 9:12 in some Bibles speaks of the holy place, but in others it speaks of the most holy place. This variation is shaped by different theological viewpoints. That’s why it is good to look at several translations that more closely follow the source text word by word, such as the King James, the New King James, and the New American Standard versions.

Sometimes the creation of these new translations is driven by money. Let me explain. The King James Bible is public domain. So in order for publishers to make money selling a Bible, they’re required to say something different than existing versions in order to copyright, market, and own it. For instance, you can be sued for copying and quoting the New International Version without permission, because the publishers own that version. They have a monetary motivation to come up with something different, but how many ways can you say the same thing in English?

I personally believe the Lord can work through any version. People have come to Christ in many parts of the world reading many different translations. But if you are doing a deep study on a passage, compare several versions with each other. In church, I like my members to read Scripture out loud from the same translation; otherwise, we start sounding like a barnyard full of confusion! My favorite translations are the King James and the New King James.