Article: Isaiah - a Comparative Study by Will Kinney

From Textus Receptus

A Comparative Study of the Various Versions in the Book of Isaiah

There are literally hundreds of examples of how the New KJV has changed the meaning of the Scriptures as found in the King James Bible. One more of these hundreds of examples is found in Isaiah 66:5.

There we read: "Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: BUT HE SHALL APPEAR TO YOUR JOY, and they shall be ashamed."

This is the reading of not only the KJB but also the Spanish Reina Valera of 1569 (42 years before the KJB), the subsequent Spanish versions of 1602, 1909 and 1960, the Geneva Bible of 1599, Rotherham's Emphasized Bible of 1902, Daniel Webster's 1833 translation, Green's interlinear translation 1985, the Jewish translation of the Hebrew Publishing Company 1936, the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21st Century Version.

However a host of modern versions, including the NKJV, give a very different message. The NKJV says along with the niv/ nasb/ rsv/ nrsv: "Who cast you out for my name's sake, said, 'Let the LORD be glorified, THAT WE MAY SEE YOUR JOY'. But they shall be ashamed."

What happened to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ?

So, is the true meaning "But He shall appear to your joy" or "That We may see your joy"?

The verb used here is # 7200 variously translated as "to see, to appear, to provide". It is a very common verb, but this particular instance is what is called a Niphal participle. It is only found three times in this particular form and the other two both refer to God or the Lord. Genesis 12:7 "the LORD who appeared unto him"; Genesis 35:1 "God that appeared unto thee", and here in Isaiah 66:5 "but he shall appear to your joy."

Here is how several Bible commentators explain it.

Contents 1 Matthew Henry 2 Jamison, Faucett and Brown 3 Isaiah chapter 2 4 Isaiah 4 and 5 5 Isaiah 7 6 Isaiah 8 7 Isaiah chapter 9 8 Isaiah 10 9 Isaiah 13 10 Isaiah 14 11 Isaiah 16 12 Isaiah 18-19 13 Chapter 21 14 Isaiah 23 15 Isaiah 25 16 Isaiah 26 17 Isaiah 29 - 30 18 Isaiah 32 - 33 19 Isaiah 35 20 Isaiah 37-39 21 Isaiah 40 22 Isaiah 42 23 Isaiah 47, 48 24 Isaiah 49 25 Isaiah 52 and 53 26 Isaiah 62-63 27 Isaiah 64 28 Isaiah 66 29 External Links

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry - " And those that did this said, Let the Lord be glorified; they pretended conscience and a zeal for the honour of God and the church in it, and did it with all the formalities of devotion. How they were encouraged under these persecutions: "Let your faith and patience hold out yet a little while; your enemies hate you and oppress you, your brethren hate you and cast you out, but your Father in heaven loves you, and will appear for you when no one else will or dare. His providence shall order things so as shall be for comfort to you; he shall appear for your joy and for the confusion of those that abuse you and trample on you; they shall be ashamed of their enmity to you.’’

Jamison, Faucett and Brown

Jamison, Faucett and Brown -. They cast you out for my name's sake--excommunicate, as if too polluted to worship with them So in Christ's first sojourn on earth . So it shall be again in the last times, when the believing shall be few (Luke 18:8). Let the Lord be glorified--the mocking challenge of the persecutors, as if their violence towards you was from zeal for God. "He shall appear to your joy," --giving you "joy" instead of your "rebuke"

Geneva Bible study notes:"but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. He encourages the faithful by promising to destroy their enemies, who pretended to be as brethren, but were hypocrites, and hated them that feared God."

I personally believe this verse has a great deal of application to the Bible version issue so vehemently being fought today. There are two camps in this battle. We who believe God has in fact kept His promises to preserve His pure, inspired words and He has done this in the King James Bible for the last 400 years. And those who profess to believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, but when closely examined, will tell you the "originals" have been lost, No Bible is 100% correct, All translations are faulty, The correct reading should be..., Here there is a mistake, etc.

The battle lines are clearly drawn and you cannot sit on the fence. By the grace of God, may we be among those who tremble at His word. We have God's promise that He will appear to our joy, and they shall be ashamed.

Isaiah chapter 2

In Isaiah 2:9, God is rebuking his people for having turned away from Him. In verse 8 and 9 He says: "Their land is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made; And the mean man (lowly or common) BOWETH DOWN, and the great man HUMBLETH HIMSELF: THEREFORE forgive them not."

This is the reading of the Jewish translation of 1917, the NKJV, Geneva Bible and others. .

The whole of the people, from the least to the greatest were bowing down and humbling themselves before IDOLS. That is why God would not pardon them, but was going to deliver them to judgment.

Even Bible commentators who frequently "correct" the KJB, like Matthew Henry, Jamison, Faucett and Brown, and Wesley in his notes all agree that the meaning of verse 9 is that these people were bowing down and humbling themselves before IDOLS and THEREFORE God would not forgive them.

There is even a play on words here. As these men had bowed down and humbled themselves before these idols, so God would humble and bow them down in judgment. In verse 11 we read: "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day."

Just as God reproves those who make false gods and graven images and pray unto them in Isaiah 44:17-10. There in v. 19 we read: "And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? SHALL I FALL DOWN TO THE STOCK OF A TREE?"

But look at how this verse reads in the NASB. " Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their hands, That which their fingers have made. So the common man HAS BEEN HUMBLED, And the man of importance HAS BEEN ABASED, BUT do not forgive them."

The nasb reads as though the men had been humbled by God, but he prays that in spite of being humbled they will not be forgiven

The NIV is different with its "So man WILL BE BROUGHT LOW and mankind HUMBLED - do not forgive them." The niv seems to be saying that God will only bring them low through judgment and not forgive them.

There is another significant change of meaning found in verse 16. The passage starts off in verse 12 "For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low" and continues through verse 16. There we read: "And upon the ships of Tarshish, and upon all PLEASANT PICTURES."

These pictures were probably portrayals of their false gods. Pleasant PICTURES is also the reading of the Geneva Bible, the 1936 Jewish translation, Young's "literal" translation, Webster's 1833 translation and the Spanish Reina Valera read Pinturas preciosas which means the same as the KJB.

The Revised Version of 1881, the ASV of 1901, the 1917 Jewish translation, World English Bible and Hebrew Names Bible all read similarly with "all pleasant IMAGERY"., and the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21 have "all pleasant SIGHTS"

Darby's translation says "all pleasant works of art" while the Catholic Douay of 1950 says: "all that is fair to behold".

However to muddy up the waters, the NKJV reads: "all THE beautiful SLOOPS", the NIV has "EVERY STATELY VESSEL", while the nasb says: "all the beautiful CRAFT".

By slightly twisting a verse or adding a little something extra, a whole different meaning results from what God has said. Much like the subtle serpent in the garden did with Eve.

Two such examples are found in the nkjv. In Isaiah 1:17 the Lord says through the prophet: "Learn to do well; seek judgment, RELIEVE THE OPPRESSED, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."

RELIEVE THE OPPRESSED is the reading or meaning of the 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, the ASV (predecessor to the nasb), Revised Version, Darby, Douay, Young, Spanish, Hebrew Names Version and even the NIV plus others.

However both the NKJV and NASB instead of "relieve the oppressed" have "REPROVE THE OPPRESSOR".

In the last verse of chapter two the Lord says: "Cease ye from MAN, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?

This is obviously speaking about man in general, or all men. The KJB reading is also the same in all the versions I checked out, including the niv and nasb. But only the nkjv, just by adding a little something extra, has changed the meaning of the verse.The nkjv says: "Sever yourselves from SUCH A MAN, whose breath is in his nostrils."

There is no word for SUCH A man in any Hebrew text, and the whole context of Isaiah 2 is speaking about men in general and no specific man or kind of man is mentioned. The nkjv's rendering supposes that there are, however, some men in whom we should trust. Those that are not like "such" a man.

No, God is telling us not to trust in man at all, but rather in Himself. Every man's breath is in his nostrils. I do not know of anyone who does not fit this description, do you?

Isaiah 4 and 5

I am frequently amazed by the "errors in the King James Bible" that some people bring up. I have heard and seen this one several times, so I will take a moment to address it. The critics say the word Defence in Isaiah 4:5 is an error and should be Canopy or Covering.

Hebrew words have multiple meanings and all versions will render the same word in many different ways depending upon the context.

In Isaiah 4:5-6 we read in the KJB: "And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night : for upon all the glory shall be a DEFENCE. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain."

God is here speaking of the restoration of Israel in the last days, and He parallels a similar time to their deliverance from Egypt with the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

In Exodus 14:19 we read: "And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, revoved and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them; And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel...so that the one came not near the other all the night."

This covering would obviously be a defence from their enemies and a covert and place of refuge. Other versions, both old and new also render this word here as DEFENCE, including the Geneva Bible of 1599, Daniel Webster's 1833 translation, the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21st Century version.

Young's has A Safeguard, Douay version has Protection, the Latin says Protectio, and Today's English version includes both ideas with "to Cover and Protect".

The NASB/NIV have CANOPY, while the NKJV, ASV have a Covering. The word comes from the verb to cover or overlay, and obviously if something is covering our heads then it is defending us against the elements.

In Isaiah 5:2 we read of the vineyard and it says: "My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he FENCED IT, and gathered out the stones thereof..." He Fenced it is the reading of Youngs, Geneva, KJV 21, Webster's, Third Millenium Bible, Douay, 1936 Jewish translation, the Spanish Reina Valera and the Italian Diodati.

However the NKJV, joins the niv/nasb and instead of He Fenced it, says He DUG IT UP and cleared out its stones. Not the same meaning, is it?

Isaiah 5:5 God judges this vineyard and says: "I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be EATEN UP." News flash. If you tear down an hedge goats and other animals will eat it.

Eaten up is the reading of the NIV, ASV, Revised Version, Geneva, Darby and others. Even the RSV and NRSV say Devoured and the NASB has Consumed. But the NKJV says the hedge "shall BE BURNED", not "eaten up".

The NIV is notorious for departing from the Hebrew text, and the NASB is not far behind it, but it is amazing to see just how many modern Bible of the Month Club versions are following suite in rejecting the Masoretic text and following something else, and they usually don't tell you about it.

Case in point is Isaiah 5:17. God is bringing judgment upon his people and they will go into captivity. We know that God in fact did this, and the king of Babylon brought people from other lands to dwell in the land of Israel. This is how the Samaritans came to dwell in the land of Israel, as we read in the Scriptures.

Isaiah 5:17 says: "Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones SHALL STRANGERS eat."

Strangers, foreigners or its equivalent is the reading found in the Jewish translations of 1917, 1936, the NASB, ASV, RV, Young's, Hebrew Names Bible, Darby, Spanish, Douay and the NKJV. This is clearly what the Hebrew texts say and it is not all that hard to understand.

However the NIV again departs from the Hebrew text and follows the RSV and says instead: "The sheep will graze as in their own pasture, LAMBS will feed among the ruins of the rich." The NIV even tells you in their footnote that the Septuagint reads LAMBS, but that the Hebrew reads STRANGERS WILL EAT.

The surprising thing here is just how many modern bible versions go along with the NIV, RSV and NRSV and reject the Hebrew text. Also reading LAMBS are Today's English Version, the Living Bible and New Living Bible, the Bible in Basic English, the New English bible and the New Century Bible.

It is also curious is to see what the successive Catholic versions have done. The Catholic Douay of 1950 says STRANGERS, just like the KJB, but the St. Joseph New American bible of 1970 completely omits all of verse 17. It goes verse 16, and the next one is 18. Much like the NIV does some 14 times in the New Testament where it leaves out entire verses. Then the New Jerusalem Catholic bible of 1985 puts the verse back in but with LAMBS instead of STRANGERS.

It seems the Catholic bibles and the modern bibles have quite a bit in common. I wonder if there might be a connection there somewhere. The NASB also omits verses, then puts some of them back later in another edition.

One last change in meaning is noted in 5:25. There we read of God's judgments "Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases WERE TORN in the midst of the streets."

This particular word is used only one time, but other versions that render it as TORN are the Geneva Bible, the KJB 21, Webster's 1833 translation, the Spanish Reina Valera and the Third Millenium Bible.

It may refer to their being torn by dogs as God had threatened in Jeremiah 15:3 "And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy."

However the NKJV again joins the NASB/NIV and says "their carcases were AS REFUSE".

Isaiah 7

The New KJV has changed far more than just Thee and Ye. There are at least 100,000 word changes in the NKJV as compared to the KJB, and this is besides the Thee and Ye words. The meaning has been drastically altered in literally hundreds of verses.

Many words in Hebrew, Greek or English can have multiple meanings depending on the context. That is not the issue here. What is at issue are the hundreds of deliberate changes in meaning made in the NKJV, all the while claiming to be faithful to the KJB texts.

In Isaiah 7:15 and 22 we are told: "BUTTER and honey shall he eat" and "for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat BUTTER: for BUTTER and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land."

This word is # 2529 and is found 9 times in the O. T. All nine times are translated as Butter in the KJB. The reading of BUTTER here is also found in the Revised Version, the American Standard Version, Young's, the Spanish versions, the Geneva Bible, Darby's and the 1936 Jewish translation plus many others.

However the NKJV joins the NASB/NIV here and has CURDS three times instead of butter. Curds are coagulated milk. Yet this same NKJV translated the exact same word as Butter in Genesis 18:8 and Proverbs 30:33 "the churning of milk bringeth forth Butter.

Then the NKJV translated this same word as CREAM in Judges 5:25 and Job 20:17. Likewise the NASB has Butter twice but Curds for the rest, and the NIV renders this same word in four different ways, as "Butter, Curds, Cream and Curdled Milk".

In verse 19 the Lord brings judgment upon his people by using foreign nations and likens them unto a fly and a bee. "And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon ALL BUSHES."

Bushes or Brambles is the reading of the Jewish translations of 1917, 1936, the Geneva Bible, the Spanish versions, the ASV footnote, Third Millenium Bible, Webster's translation and the KJV 21. One would expect Flies and Bees to rest in such places.

However the NKJV says PASTURES, the NIV says WATER HOLES, Young's "literal" has "upon all the commendable things" !, and the New English Bible says: "and STINKWOOD shall be black with them."

See how true James White's words are about comparing different versions to get a better sense of what the passage means. I'm just an average guy and even I know that Bushes, Watering hole, Pastures, Commendable things and Stinkwood are not the same things.

Isaiah 8

The NKJV changes the meaning in 8:2. God spoke to Isaiah in verse one and told him to take a great roll and "write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz". This is a prophecy concerning the destruction of Damascus and Samaria.

In verse 2 Isaiah says; "AND I TOOK UNTO ME faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah." Isaiah himself got two witnesses, (in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established) when he wrote down this prophecy.

This is the reading again of Darby, Young's, 1936 Jewish translation, Douay, and even the Living Bible, New Living Bible and the Revised Standard Version, plus some others.

However the NKJV has God speaking in verse two instead of Isaiah. It says: "And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record..." God will do it instead of Isaiah having done it.

This is essentially the same reading as the NASB and NIV. It is of interest that the RSV reads as the KJB but the New RSV now departs from them all and says: "And have it attested for Me by reliable witnesses." So, who is acting here, Isaiah, God or is God having Isaiah do it for him? Hey, it's all the same "message", right?

A real gem of total confusion comes up in Isaiah 8:9. There God is referring to 7:5-8 where Syria and Ephraim "have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah". Yet God says they shall be broken.

Now in 8:9, 10 we read: "ASSOCIATE YOURSELVES, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us."

Words have multiple meanings, and they change depending on the context. Clearly the surrounding references of "taken evil counsel", "gird yourselves" and "take counsel together" all support the reading of "associate yourselves".

Now this is where things really get interesting. ASSOCIATE YOURSELVES is the reading of the KJB, Websters, KJV 21, Third Millenium Bible, Douay, and the Spanish versions with "Reuníos"

The Latin reads as the KJB with CONGREGAMINI

The NRSV has BAND TOGETHER, which is the same meaning as the KJB.

Young's "literal' BE FRIENDS

BUT...

RSV, NASB and the new 2001 English Standard Version have BE BROKEN

NKJV joins the NASB with BE SHATTERED

NIV RAISE THE WAR CRY with a footnote "or 'Do your worst' ".

New English Bible TAKE NOTE

New Jerusalem bible REALIZE THIS

Living Bible DO YOUR WORST

New Living Bible DO YOUR BEST TO DEFEND YOURSELVES

What is of interest too regarding the NKJV is that while it has BE SHATTERED here instead of Associate yourselves, it has rendered the same Hebrew word as BE FRIENDLY in Proverbs 18:24, but we'll leave that for another time.

Isaiah chapter 9

In discussing almost any verse or individual word of Scripture, once you begin to do a little research into the matter, you will find that there are as many different opinions among scholars as their different last names.

In Isaiah 9:3 we have such a case before us where most of the modern versions, including the NKJV, NIV and NASB depart from the standard Hebrew Masoretic text. In the King James Bible we read: "Thou hast multiplied the nation, and NOT increased the joy."

This is the reading found in the KJB, Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, Bishops' Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible of 1599, Green's interlinear Hebrew, the Douay version of 1950, the Latin Vulgate, the Spanish Versión Antigua of 1569 and the Spanish Reina Valera of 1602, the ASV footnote, Webster's 1833 translation, the modern day Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21st Century version.

Even Daniel Wallace, of the ever-changing NET version, admits - “The Hebrew consonantal text reads “You multiply the nation, you do NOT make great the joy.” The Spanish Reina Valera 1995 footnotes that the Hebrew text reads "and NOT increased the joy".

Most other modern day versions, including the NKJV, NIV and NASB have all changed this to read: "You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy" - the exact opposite of the KJB.

Dr. Donald Waite Th.D., Ph.D., in his book Defending the King James Bible says "The editors of these new versions...often decide the issue on the basis of pure guesswork! But how do you know their decision is the the correct one? Just leave the Hebrew text as it is. The King James translators came along and saw what the Hebrew Masoretic text said and simply translated it right over into the English. They didn't quibble with it; they didn't try to harmonize it. For instance, you'll find in Isaiah 9:3 that there is a "not" (LO) which has been completely eliminated by the new versions. The Scripture says, "Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy..."and these new versions have just taken it out because they think it makes more sense. But the Hebrew says "not" and the KING JAMES translators simply wrote it down, faithfully as they ought to have done." - quoted from page 32.

Another example from men who are by no stretch of the imagination KJB defenders say this regarding Isaiah 9:3. Jamison, Faucett and Brown's commentary: "NOT increased the joy--By a slight change in the Hebrew, its (joy) is substituted by some for NOT, because "NOT increased the joy" seems opposite to what immediately follows, "the joy," Others, "Hast thou not increased the joy?" The very difficulty of the reading, NOT, makes it less likely to be an interpolation."

Here we see that these men do not dispute the Hebrew reading of "Not", and in fact support the idea that it is the legitimate reading just because it seems so difficult to understand. They also note that because it doesn't make sense to some, that is why they have changed it.

Let me offer one very possible explanation of the passage in its immediate and prophetic context. Going back to the last half of chapter 8 and continuing in 9 we read of the judgment God is bringing upon rebellious Israel and of the blessing to be given to the Gentile nations.

In 2-4 we read: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and NOT increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian."

This section of Scripture is referred to in Matthew 4:12-16 when the Lord Jesus came into this same region and we are told "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up."

So, when we go back to look at Isaiah 9:3 both historically and prophetically the part about "Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy" refers to the nation of Israel. God had increased them to be a great number, but they were all far from God and had no joy in the Lord. There is even a play on words found in verse 17 where God says: "Therefore the Lord shall have NO JOY in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and and evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly."

But the THEY in "they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest" refers not to the nation of Israel but rather to "the people" that walked in darkness who have seen a great light of the previous verse -the Gentiles.

I know of two or three different ways of looking at this section of Scripture that can explain it without changing the Hebrew text or the KJB, but this one seems to me for now to be the one that makes the most sense. Just because something doesn't seem to make sense to us is no reason to assume there is a scribal error or to change the text ourselves as the NKJV and many others have done.

Another serious change of meaning is found in verse 5. Here we read in the KJB: "For every BATTLE of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; BUT THIS SHALL BE with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder..."

Here God is contrasting the common earthly battles and wars of men with the great battle of far more intensity than any mortal man can bring about. God will wage this war with His enemies when He brings His wrath upon them and sets up the everlasting throne of David and the kingdom of justice for ever through the Messiah, His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some old commentators have stated: John Wesley: "But - But this victory which God's people shall have over all their enemies, shall be more terrible to their adversaries, whom God will utterly consume, as it were by fire."

Geneva Bible notes: 9:5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

"He speaks of the deliverance of his Church, which he has delivered miraculously from his enemies, but especially by the coming of Christ of whom he prophecies in the next verse. 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given"

We see this future battle in such passages as Isaiah 10:16,17; 30:33 and especially Isaiah 66:15,16 "For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his reuke with flames of fire. for by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh; and the slain of the LORD shall be many."

Again in II Thessalonians 1:7-10 we read of the Lord Jesus being revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.

The reference to "But this shall be with burning and fuel of fire" is prefigured in verse 19 of this same chapter where it says "Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire." It is clear that both Isaiah 9:5 and 19 refer to God judging the wicked, one refers to the return of Christ and the other prefigures this future judgment.

Verse 5 reads the same in the KJB, the Geneva Bible, the 1936 Jewish translation, the Spanish of 1569 and 1602, the Third Millenium Bible, Webster's translation and the KJV 21. "Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire."

But the NKJV, NIV, NASB and most modern versions give a whole different meaning to Isaiah 9:5. They leave out any referrence to God's judgment and make it refer only to a battle of men. The NKJV reads: "For every warrior's SANDAL (not battle) from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire."

There you have it folks. Now, tell me, is this the same meaning as is found in the true words of God in the King James Bible? Not hardly.

Isaiah 10

Biblical relativists continue to change the words of God. They do not believe God has preserved His words but has lost some or many of them. They have been taught that it is up to them to try to "recover" them as best they can, and then pass unto us the fruits of their labors.

That is why we have had about 100 new English bible versions in the last hundred years. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." II Timothy 4:2,3.

Biblical relativists are continually altering the text, be it Hebrew or Greek, and they continue to change the meanings of the words themselves. One NASB, NKJV, or NIV is not the same as the next one that comes out, and then they give us another bible version, with the late$t in $cholar$hip finding$.

If there is any way for them to vary from the tested and true King James Bible, they will gladly give it to us. Because of the derivative copyright laws, they have to alter significantly the next bible they come up with in order to get a new copyright and make their money.

In Isaiah 10 God continues to prophesy the judgments that will come upon the rebellious nation of Israel. In verses 3 and 4 He says: "And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? WITHOUT ME they shall bow down under the prisioners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."

Without God, they will surely perish when He sends the rod of His anger against them.

This word rendered as WITHOUT ME can have several meanings, as most words do both in English or Hebrew. But the biblical relativists do not believe God has sovereignly keep His words and their meaning in any Bible. So if they can rationalize a change, then they do it. Remember the copyright laws.

This same word is found in Hosea 13:4 and retains this meaning even in the NIV and NASB. "There is no saviour BESIDE ME".

"WITHOUT ME they shall bow down under the prisoners" is found in the Geneva Bible, Young's "literal" translation, the footnote of the ASV and Darby, the NKJV, the Spanish Reina Valera versions, the Third Millenium Bible, Webster's translation and the KJV 21st Century version.

However the NASB and NIV read: "NOTHING WILL REMAIN but to cringe among the captives..." The NASB has the verb "remains" in italics, showing they had to add a verb here to the text to come up with this very different meaning. There is a big difference between Without Me, and Nothing Remains But to..."

In 10:6 we again see the hypocricy of the NKJV. The NKJV is a poor but deceptive attempt to bridge the differences between the corrupt modern versions and the pure KJB. It often changes the meanings of words in some places to match the NASB/NIV but follows the KJB in others. It departs from the Hebrew and Greek texts that underlie the KJB, but not as often as the NASB/NIV. It is a pretender and a false witness.

God Himself will use the Assyrian, the rod of His anger, to judge Israel. "I will send him against AN HYPOCRITICAL nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets."

This word HYPOCRITICAL, or hypocrite, is # 2611 and is found 13 times in the Hebrew text. It is interesting that 13 is the number of rebellion. It is rendered as hypocrite, or hypocritical every time in the KJB. It is also rendered as hypocritical in the Geneva Bible, Darby, Websters, the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21. But the NKJV has twice, including here, translated this word as UNGODLY, to match the NASB/NIV, yet the other 11 times has retained hypocrite or hypocritical. The NASB/NIV have never translated this word as hypocrite/hypocritical, but always have it as "ungodly". Do you see how the NKJV tries to strike a middle ground?

A person can be ungodly without being a hypocrite. He can be just a rank, out and out sinner with no profession of faith. But a hypocrite is someone who professes to believe in God and His law, but he doesn't live that way. The nation of Israel were hypocrites, and so is the NKJV.

In 10:18 we continue with God pronouncing judgment upon Israel for their sins. "The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame...And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when A STANDARDBEARER fainteth."

This word "a standardbearer" occurs only once in the Hebrew. It comes form a verb that likewise is used only once and is found in Zechariah 9:16 where even the NKJV reads like the KJB (but not the nasb/niv).

"And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, LIFTED UP AS AN ENSIGN upon his land. The nkjv has LIFTED LIKE A BANNER. An ensign is a standard or a banner and you can see the nkjv has rendered the verb the same as the KJB but not the noun. In Zechariah both the nas/niv have "THEY WILL SPARKLE in the land." Say what?

Here in Isaiah 10:18 "and they shall be as when a STANDARDBEARER fainteth" is the reading of the KJB, the ASV, Revised Version, Young's, Geneva Bible, Hebrew Names Bible, the Spanish Reina Valera - abanderado (standardbearer)-, Webster's, Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21.

However the NKJV joins the nasb, niv and the new English Standard version in saying: "And they shall be as when A SICK MAN wastes away." It is interesting how the nasb/niv can translate the noun as A SICK MAN and yet the verb as SPARKLE. Again, we see the hypocricy of the NKJV - trying to strike the middle ground all the while pretending to be just an update of the KJB.

One of the stupidest readings I've found so far in the niv/nasb is in Isaiah 10:27.

In 10:24-27 God is telling Israel that though He will send the Assyrian against them to judge them, "yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction." Then God will stir up a scourge for him (the Assyrian), "And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of THE ANOINTING."

"Because of the ANOINTING" is the reading of the KJB, the NKJV, TMB, KJV 21, the Spanish Reina Valera ( la unción ), the Italian Diodati (unzione), Webster's, Darby and the Geneva Bibles.Here is what some Bible commentators have said regarding this anointing and the meaning of the verse.

John Wesley: Isaiah 10:27 The anointing - Possibly this may be understood of David, who is often mentioned in scripture by the name of God's anointed; and for whose sake, God gave many deliverances to the succeeding kings and ages, as is expressly affirmed, I Kings 11:32. God declares that he would give this very deliverance from the Assyrian, for David's sake. .But the Messiah is principally intended, of whom David was but a type; and who was in a particular manner anointed above his fellows, as is said, Psalms 45:7. For he is the foundation of all the promises and of all the deliverances and mercies granted to God's people in all ages.

I Kings 11:32 - But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel

II Kings 19:34 -For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

Psalm 45:7 -Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Matthew Henry - because of the anointing, for their sakes who were partakers of the anointing. For David's sake. This is particularly given as the reason why God would defend Jerusalem from Sennacherib Isaiah 37:35 "For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake"; For the sake of the Messiah, the Anointed of God, whom God had an eye to in all the deliverances of the Old-Testament church, and hath still an eye to in all the favours he shows to his people. It is for his sake that the yoke is broken, and that we are made free indeed.

Jamison, Faucett and Brown: - the anointing--namely, "Messiah" (Da 9:24). Just as in Isa 9:4-6, the "breaking of the yoke of" the enemies' "burden and staff" is attributed to Messiah, "For unto us a child is born," &c., so it is here. MAURER not so well translates, "Because of the fatness".

But let us now look at what the nasb/niv have come up with.

The nasb says: "and the yoke will be broken because of FATNESS" and the equally reputable NIV has: "the yoke will be broken BECAUSE YOU HAVE GROWN SO FAT."

Isaiah 13

Day of the LORD and Babylon

Isaiah 13 contains the first reference to the day of the LORD found in the Scriptures. In fact it occurs twice in this chapter and once as "the day of his fierce anger".

As many prophecies in the Bible, this one has a twofold fulfillment, one in the past and one in the future. Even Scofield's notes explain that the predicted destruction of Babylon here also has referrence to the last days when the spiritual Babylon of the world's false religion and political power will be judged by God and his angels.

13:1-3 "The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. Lift ye up a banner upon THE HIGH MOUNTAIN, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, EVEN THEM THAT REJOICE IN MY HIGHNESS."

This foretells the destruction of Babylon but also refers to the last days, the Day of the LORD (verses 6,9 and 13) as we read from 9-11 "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. (Clearly signs of the last days judgment as found in Mat. 24:29) And I will punish THE WORLD (not just the city of Babylon) for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible."

In verse two, the HIGH MOUNTAIN upon which the banner is lifted up, is the reading of the KJB, Geneva Bible, Young's, the Jewish translations, nkjv, Third Millenium Bible and others, but the "high mountain" has become A BARE HILLTOP in the NIV and the NASB. The standard has been lowered just a tad.

I believe the double fullfillment of the sanctified ones, the mighty ones THAT REJOICE IN MY HIGHNESS, refers to the mighty angels who will appear with the Lord Jesus Christ in flaming fire taking vengeance on those that know not God nor obey the gospel. See II Thessalonians 1:7; Matthew 13:41 and Revelation 18:21 "And a mighty angel took up a stone...and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all."

EVEN THEM THAT REJOICE IN MY HIGHNESS is the reading or idea of the nkjv, Geneva Bible, Spanish Reina Valera, Douay, Young's, Darby, Third Millenium Bible, KJV 21, New Century Version, New English Bible, NKJV, and even the NIV has: "those who rejoice in my triumph".

But the NASB, along with the RSV and the new ESV says: "I have even called my warriors, MY PROUDLY EXULTING ONES, to execute My anger." Nothing about God's highness, but instead we have some proud exultation. A very different meaning than "them that rejoice in My highness" and surely one that could not be applied to angels. Even if they apply this to the Medes, there is much evidence in Scripture that Cyrus himself, the king of the Medes and Persians, became a believer in the true God. See Isaiah 45:1-4 and II Chronicles 36:23. In any case, the future greater fulfillment of this prophecy is destroyed in the nasb.

In closing these brief and partial notes on this chapter, let's notice just how different the NKJV is from the true words of the King James Bible. This is just an example of hundreds that could be given.

We read in verse 21-22 in the KJB of the final state of Babylon after God has judged her.

KJB 21. "But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of DOLEFUL CREATURES; and OWLS shall dwell there, and SATYRS shall dance there." (Satyrs is also found in both the Jewish translations of 1917, 1936, the Geneva, Lamsa, the Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, Revised Version, Third Millenium bible, KJV 21, Webster's and even the NASB 1995 has this word as satyr in II Chron. 11:15)

KJB 22. "AND THE WILD BEASTS OF THE ISLANDS SHALL CRY IN THEIR DESOLATE HOUSES, and DRAGONS in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged."

But the NKJV reads: "But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, And their houses will be full of OWLS (not doleful creatures), OSTRICHES (not owls, even though niv has owls too) will dwell there. And WILD GOATS (not satyrs) will caper there, The HYENAS (not 'wild beasts of the islands') will howl in their CITADELS (not desolate houses). And JACKALS (not dragons) in their pleasant palaces, Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.

This word for "desolate houses" occurs only twice in the Hebrew. It is the feminine plural # 490. The nkjv here tries to follow the nasb/niv which have "fortified towers" and "strongholds" respectively, yet the only other time this word occurs in Ezekiel 19:7 the nkjv goes back to "desolate places".

Isaiah 14

This chapter portrays the judgment upon two distinct individuals, the king of Babylon and Lucifer, also known as Satan, the dragon and the devil, who is the power behind the kingdom of Babylon. Compare this section with Revelation 13:1,2 where the final, godless, earthly kingdom of the beast rises up and we are told: "and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority". There is a Satanic power behind the human face.

In verse 4 we read: "That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the GOLDEN CITY ceased!"

"the GOLDEN CITY ceased", referring to the great riches of Babylon, is the reading of the Revised Version of 1885, the ASV of 1901, ther 1936 Jewish translation, the NKJV, Webster's Bible, the Third Millenium Bible, the KJV 21, and the Hebrew Names Version. Young's says "the golden one ceased". The 1917 Jewish translation and Darby say "the exactress of gold."

Yet when we get to the NASB, ESV and NIV we read something very different. The NIV says: "How HIS FURY has ended." Then we read in the niv footnote that this reading supposedly comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint and the Syriac, and that the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

I have a copy of the Septuagint and it does not say Fury at all, but rather Taskmaster or one who hurries another. The niv editors are lying.

Verse 9 tells us "HELL from beneath is moved for thee at thy coming." The word Hell occurs 31 times in the O.T. of the KJB, yet in the nkjv this number is reduced to just 19, while the niv and nasb completely omit the word Hell from the Old Testament altogether. The nkjv again is compromising between the true Bible and false ones.

HELL is one of those old, archaic, hard to be understood words that modern man no longer understands. It must be replaced by clearer words like Sheol in the nasb, esv, or by the equally scary Grave in the niv. We don't want to offend modern ears by the thought that there actually might be a literal place called HELL.

Hell is the reading of the Geneva Bible, the Revised Version of 1881, the 1936 Jewish translation, Douay 1950, Webster's, TMB, KJV 21, the Spanish of 1569 and 1602, and the nkjv, though the nkjv follows the nasb with SHEOL in verse 15, while the niv has "the grave".

Verse 12 describes the fall of Lucifer, the power behind the king of Babylon, both in the past and in the future. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O LUCIFER, son of the morning!" "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."

LUCIFER is the reading of ALL English Bibles even before the KJB, including Geneva Bible, the Great Bible, Matthew's, Coverdale, Bishop's Bible, Webster's 1833 translation, Darby 1890, the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21st Century. The NKJV says Lucifer, but it give us a false footnote saying "literally, Day Star." Neither the word Day, or morning, or Star occurs here at all. This is another lie put out by the nkjv to compromise with the blasphemous nasb and niv "bibles'.

The nasb reads "Star of the Morning" while the Niv has O MORNING STAR. This passage is speaking about the fall of Satan, as even the Scofield NIV footnotes tell us, yet we all should know that the title of Morning Star refers the the Lord Jesus Christ and not Satan. See Revelation 2:28, 22:16 where the Lord Jesus tells us He is the bright and morning star.

One final note in this chapter dealing with verse 23. God will cut off Babylon and make it a possession for the BITTERN. A bittern is bird - a type of nocturnal heron. This is not an archaic word at all and is found in modern magazines. The word occurs just 3 times in the Hebrew; here in Isaiah 14:23, Isaiah 34:11 and in Zephaniah 2:14. All three times it is rendered as bittern in the KJB.

Bittern is also the reading of the 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, Young's, Darby, Rotherham's Emphatic Bible, the KJV 21, Webster's and the TMB.

What is of great interest here is that the NKJV has translated this word as PORCUPINE in Isaiah yet has BITTERN in Zephaniah. The NIV has SCREECH OWL, the NASB has all three as HEDGEHOG, and the brand new ESV of 2001 has Hedgehog here but Porcupine in 34:11.

Isaiah 16

16:4 "LET MINE OUTCASTS DWELL WITH THEE, MOAB; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler."

This is the reading of the nkjv, KJB, Geneva Bible, 1936 Jewish translation, the Spanish of 1569 and 1602 and 1960, Young's literal, Darby, Douay, Third Millenium Bible, KJV 21, Webster's and Rotherham's Emphatic Bible.

There are many different opinions about the meaning of this verse, but in the commentaries of John Wesley, Matthew Henry and the Geneva Bible notes, they all agree that God is telling Moab what she should have done to make peace with God's people and protect the Israelites when they faced judgment upon their land. But the Moabites would not give them shelter because of their pride.

However the nasb, niv and the new English Standard Version completely reverse this reading and say instead: "LET THE MOABITE FUGITIVES STAY WITH YOU".

I'm merely pointing out the total confusion that results from thinking all bibles say the same thing. They clearly do not.

In verse 7 we read: "Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the FOUNDATIONS of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken."

"FOUNDATIONS of Kirhareseth" is the reading of the nkjv, KJB, Darby, Geneva Bible, Spanish of 1569 and 1602, the Italian Diodati, Third Millenium Bible, KJV 21, Webster's, and the 1936 Jewish translation.

But in the NASB and ESV we read that Moab will howl or weep "for THE RAISIN CAKES of Kirhareseth" and the NIV tells us they will weep for "THE MEN of Kirhareseth." Foundations, Raisin Cakes, Men - take your pick. Is this six of one and half a dozen of the other?

Of the versions I consulted, only the NKJV has given a very different meaning to verse 9. There we read: "Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh : for THE SHOUTING FOR THY SUMMER FRUITS AND FOR THY HARVEST IS FALLEN. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field: and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting : the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease."

"The shouting for thy summer fruits is fallen" is the reading or meaning of all the versions I looked at. The niv says: "The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled." The nasb is the same as the KJB with: "For the shouting over your summer fruits and your harvest has fallen away." Shouting is the same word as found in verse 10 where it says, even in the nkjv, "I have made their vintage shouting to cease." This was a shouting of joy and celebration for the abundant harvest, and God had made it to fall and cease because of His judgment upon them.

However only the NKJV renders verse 9 as " For BATTLE CRIES HAVE FALLEN OVER your summer fruits and your harvest." Not exactly the same meaning is it?

Isaiah 18-19

18:2 "Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation SCATTERED AND PEELED, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto: a nation METED OUT AND TRODDEN DOWN, whose land the rivers have spoiled."

There are about as many interpretations of what this verse means, as there are commentaries. I don't wish to get into what it means, though I have a pretty good idea, but rather to show the further confusion that results from the variety of versions out there today.

"Scattered and Peeled, Meted out and Trodden down" is the reading of the KJB, Webster's Bible, the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21. The Geneva Bible says "Scattered and Spoiled, Trodden under foot"; Darby has "Scattered and Ravaged" while Young's has "Drawn out and Peeled"

However when we look at the Nkjv we read "to a nation TALL AND SMOOTH OF SKIN...a nation POWERFUL AND TREADING DOWN"

NIV: "Tall and smooth of skin, an AGRESSIVE NATION OF A STRANGE SPEECH"

NASB: "Tall and smooth, a powerful and oppressive nation."

Isaiah 19:3 God declares His judgment upon Egypt. "And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will desroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and TO THE CHARMERS, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards."

This word Charmers is used only once in the Hebrew and decribes one who uses incantations or magical words to create a demonic spell. Charmers is the reading of the KJB, the RV, ASV, Nkjv, Young's, Hebrew Names Version, Third Millenium Bible, KJV 21 and the 1936 Jewish translation.

Douay say Diviners, Darby has Conjurers, while the Geneva, RSV, and the new ESV all have Sorcerers. These are people involved in the occult and they conjure up spirts of devils to decieve.

However the NIV, and the NASB are totally heretical in their renderings. The niv says: "they will consult the SPIRITS OF THE DEAD" and the nasb has: "they will resort to GHOSTS OF THE DEAD."

There is no such thing as a ghost in the commonly held definition of the spirit of a dead human being who is wandering around this earth and can communicate with the living. No, when a person dies, he either goes to Hell or is with the Lord, but he or she cannot continue as a ghost roaming the earth. The idea that there could be such a thing as a ghost denies much of sound Biblical teaching. Rather those entities that pose as "ghosts" are in fact deceiving devils, and not departed souls of people. The nasb, niv both teach a New Age heresy.

Verse 10 is another verse that is totally confused in the modern versions. The KJB, Webster's Bible, Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21 all read: "And THEY SHALL BE BROKEN IN THE PURPOSES THEREOF, ALL THAT MAKE SLUICES AND PONDS FOR FISH."

The NKJV " And ITS FOUNDATIONS will be broken. ALL WHO MAKE WAGES WILL BE TROUBLED OF SOUL.

The nasb: "And THE PILLARS OF EGYPT will be crushed. All the HIRED LABORERS will be grieved in soul.

NIV: "The WORKERS OF CLOTH WILL BE DEJECTED, and all WAGE EARNERS WILL BE SICK AT HEART.

See how reading a variety of translations clears things up for us?

Chapter 21

This chapter continues with the prophesied destruction of Babylon. In verse 5 we read of of their vain preparations for the coming battle. "Prepare the table, WATCH IN THE WATCHTOWER, eat, drink; arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield."

"Watch in the Watchtower" is the reading of the nkjv, ASV, Revised Version, Darby, Young's, Spanish of 1602, Green's interlinear, the Hebrew Names Version and others. But the nasb says: "SPREAD OUT THE CLOTH" and the niv has: "THEY SPREAD THE RUGS" instead of Watch in the Watchtower.

A very interesting thing occurs in verse 8 where the Bible correctors have done more of their evil work. The watchman had been set. "Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth." Then verse 8 reads: "And he cried, A LION : My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen: and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground."

It is very clear that the Hebrew Masoretic text says A LION. Lion is the reading found in the 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, the Geneva Bible, Young, Darby, RV. ASV, Webster's, Third Millenium Bible, the KJV 21, and the Catholic Douay version. The nkjv reads A Lion, but has a footnote telling us the Dead Sea Scrolls read "The Observer".

When the Bible critics come to this verse, they think this is a "scribal error"; it doesn't make sense to them, God hasn't preserved all His words in the Hebrew text or in any English Bible; so they go to other sources to try to correct this mistake that God supposedly allowed or overlooked.

Let's see what one typical Bible corrector has to say here.

Adam Clarke, who is a notorious Bible corrector, says in his commentary: Isa 21:8: Verse 8. And he cried, A lion-"He that looked out on the watch"] The present reading, aryeh, a lion, is so unintelligible, and the mistake so obvious, that I make no doubt that the true reading is haroeh, the seer; as the Syriac translator manifestly found it in his copy, who renders it by duka, a watchman. (Clarke) This is typical of the puffed up pronouncements made by today's Bible perverters. They are so confident that they are right, and that God made a mistake.

The NIV reads: "And THE LOOKOUT shouted, Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower."

The new English Standard Version, follows the RSV, (same garbage, different can) with "Then HE WHO SAW cried out..." with a footnote that this reading comes from the Syriac and the Dead Sea Scrolls, but the Hebrew says A Lion.

The NASB presents even a weirder example of giving us the best modern scholarship has to offer. In the 1972 NASB edition we read: "Then THE SENTRY called LIKE A LION, O Lord, I stand continually..." Here the nasb put both readings in. They added The Sentry, but they also kept the word Lion. But then in the1995 NASB Update they now have: "Then the LOOKOUT cried, O Lord, I stand..." Here the nasb scholars changed Sentry to Lookout, and this time omitted the word Lion.

In the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered basically three different types of Hebrew texts. One closely matches the traditional Masoretic Text, another is a combination of the Masoretic plus a different text, and the third is totally different from all the others. The modern scholars suggest and even outright state that the traditional Hebrew text has lost words and numbers, contains many corrupt readings, and must be corrected and restored by them using other sources.

And as we just saw, they even change their own "bibles" from one edition to the next and foist these rags on the gullible and irreverant Christians of today who think their leaders would never lead them astray.

So, for a Bible believer, what is the significance of this word Lion? Here is a likely explanation. Don't question God and lean upon your own understanding. Believe His words as found in the King James Bible, and ask our Lord to give us understanding.

Isaiah 21 tells of the downfall and judgment upon Babylon. The Lord called for a watchman to declare what he saw. The Hebrew text in verse 21:8 clearly has the word LION. It is the same word used about 80 times, and translated as lion, as in Samson slew a lion, and Judah is a lion's whelp, etc.

God would sometimes send lions among those He would judge. II Kings 17:25 "the LORD sent lions among them", Isaiah 15:9 "I will bring lions upon him that escapeth from Moab", and Hezekiah cried out as he was afflicted by the LORD,"as a lion, so will he break all my bones" 38:13.

Lions also typify those who persecute another as Psalm 7:2 "save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me, lest he tear my soul like a lion", Ps. 22:13,21 "They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion"..."Save me from the lion's mouth"

So we read of the watchman in Isaiah 21:8 KJB "And he cried, A LION: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights. And behold, here cometh a chariot of men..." The watchman is using the word Lion as symbolic of a coming judgment, a force so powerful that men's hearts failed them for fear.

The modern perversions are not God's pure words. The bibles are getting worse, and few seem to even care about it. If they can only poke holes in the KJB, they will be satisfied that there is no inspired Bible on this earth. But they just can't seem to prove any errors in the KJB in spite of all their lies and false accusations. They want us to join their Bible of the Month Club, and we just won't go along with them.

Isaiah 23

This chapter describes the destruction of Tyre.

Verse 2 "Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; THOU WHOM THE MERCHANTS OF ZIDON, THAT PASS OVER THE SEA, HAVE REPLENISHED."

Zidon was only about 25 miles away from the island of Tyre. Zidon existed before Tyre and the Zidonians had colonized and established Tyre as a great trading center and had replenished Tyre with her much ongoing trade.

The reading of the KJB is the same in the Revised Version, the American Standard Version, Geneva Bible, Douay, Darby, Young's and the Jewish translations.

However the nkjv joins the niv in changing the meaning of the verse. The nkjv says: "Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland, YOU MERCHANTS OF SIDON, WHOM THOSE WHO CROSS THE SEA HAVE FILLED." The nkjv has God addressing the Zidonians directly, rather than Tyre.

The niv has two different people being addressed with "Be silent, you people of the island AND YOU MERCHANTS OF SIDON, whom the seafarers have enriched."

The NASB changes the last part of the text and follows the RSV and the NRSV.It reads: "Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland, You merchants of Sidon; YOUR MESSENGERS CROSSED THE SEA." This is the reading of the Nrsv too, but it has a footnote telling us that "your messengers crossed the sea" comes from ONE ancient manuscript, while the Hebrew Masoretic text says 'crossing over the sea, they replenished you'.

What is of interest too is that the brand new English Standard Version of 2001 has now rejected the previous RSV and nasb reading, and gone back to 'crossing over the sea, they replenished you." The shifting sands of modern scholarship are a marvel to behold.

In verse 10 again we see the inconsistency of the modern Bibles of the Month club.

The KJB, RV, ASV, Young's, Geneva, Third Millenium Bible read: "PASS THROUGH thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no more STRENGTH."

This verse is still referring to Tyre. Tarshish or the ships of Tarshish had much trade with her, nourished and brought her up and in that sense Tyre was the daughter of Tarshish. As a river flows out to sea, so those that were not killed in the 13 year seige of Nebuchadnezzar escaped by ship at the last moment. There was no more strength to withstand the onslaught and they fled.

The nkjv has a similar reading with:"Overflow through your land...there is no more STRENGTH, but the nasb says "there is no more RESTRAINT." Whatever that might mean.

But the niv says: "TILL YOUR LAND AS ALONG THE NILE, O daughter of Tarshish, for YOU NO LONGER HAVE A HARBOR." Then the niv tells us in a footnote that this variant reading comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls, SOME Septuagint manuscripts but that the Hebrew Masoretic Text says 'Go Through' rather than 'Till your land". Plus is it "there is no more Strength", "Restraint" or "Harbor"?

Hey, not to worry, all bibles teach the same message, right? No doctrine is effected (aside from the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture and whether this Book is true or not). Don't worry. Be happy. Let's all just get along.

Verse 11 still continues with this prophecy against Tyre. "He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the MERCHANT CITY, to destroy the strong holds thereof."

This is the reading of the Geneva Bible, Young's, 1936 Jewish translation, Third Millenium Bible, KJV 21 and Webster's translation. It obviously refers to Tyre - the merchant city.

However the NKJV joins the nasb in saying: "the LORD has given a commandment against CANAAN, to destroy its strongholds." The Merchant city or Canaan?

This word is # 3667 and can either mean Canaan or Merchant, traffic (as in drug traffic or trade) or traders. It is translated as Merchant in Hosea 12:7, Zephaniah 1:11 and as traffic in Ezekiel 17:4 "carried it into a land of traffic.". The nasb has it as 'merchant' twice, 'traders' once and 'tradesmen' one time. The nkjv has it as "city of merchants" in Eze. 17:4 and as merchant in Zeph. 1:11.

A curious thing about the NKJV is the reading in Hosea 12:7. There we read referring to Ephraim: "He is A MERCHANT, the balances of deceit are in his hand." Here even the niv, ASV, nasb, RSV, NRSV, ESV etc. say MERCHANT, but ONLY the Nkjv says: "He is a CUNNING CANAANITE! Deceitful scales are in his hand." Now I think we all know some merchants today who try to sell us their merchandise, but not one I know of is a 'cunning Canaanite". Ephraim was Israel and surely not from Canaan.

If you are under the impression that the nkjv is just updating those terribe thee's and ye's, you are very mistaken. The nkjv is a false witness to the truth of God and a tool of the enemy to further confuse the people of God in these last days.

Isaiah 25

God continues to pronounce the coming judgment upon the world. In verse 5 we read: "the BRANCH of the terrible ones shall be brought low." The branch would stand for their power and strength, which would be pruned and cut down. BRANCH is the reading of the 1936 Jewish translation, Douay, Spanish versions, Webster's translation, the KJV 21 and the Third Millenium Bible.

However the NKJV joins the nasb and niv in saying "the SONGS of the terrible ones will be diminished."

Verse 8 "He will swallow up death IN VICTORY; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces." We read of this quote in I Corinthians 15:54 "then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

This "saying that is written" is found here in Isaiah 25:8. VICTORY is the reading of the KJB, Young's, Darby's, Rotherham's Emphatic Bible, the KJV 21, Webster's, and the Third Millenium Bible.

However again the NKJV joins the niv, nasb in saying: " He will swallow up death FOREVER", which doesn't match the quote as found in I Cor. 15:54, even though both the nkjv and nasb have rendered this exact same word as "Victory" in I Chronicles 29:11 "Thine, 0 LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the Victory..."

The famous LXX or Greek Septuagint the niv and nasb keep on using instead of the Hebrew actually says "Death hath prevailed and swallowed up". Not quite the same meaning, is it?

Isaiah 26

One of my favorite verses has been botched by the nasb. 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON THEE; because he trusteth in thee." This is the reading of the KJB, nkjv, ASV, Revised Version, Darby, English Standard Version and others.

But the nasb of 1971 says: "Thou wilt keep THE NATION OF STEADFAST PURPOSE in perfect peace, because IT trusts in Thee." Then in 1972 the nasb changed this to read: "THE STEADFAST OF MIND thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because HE trusts in thee."

26:15 "Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: THOU HADST REMOVED IT FAR UNTO ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH." This verse refers to the nation of Israel and its history.

A couple of commentators remark about this verse.

Matthew Henry Isaiah 26:15 - They had sometimes been carried into captivity before their enemies (v. 15): "The nation which at first thou didst increase, and make to take root, thou hast now diminished, and plucked up, and removed to all the ends of the earth, driven out to the utmost parts of heaven,’’ as is threatened, Deu. 30:4; 28:64.

John Wesley - 26:15 The nation - This nation seems to be the people of Israel. Removed - Thou hast removed thy people out of their own land, and suffered them to be carried captive to the ends of the earth.

The KJB reading is the same in the 1936 Jewish translation, Darby, Wesley, KJV 21, Webster's, Third Millenium Bible and the ASV alternate reading.

However the NKJV again joins the nasb, niv in saying: "YOU HAVE EXPANDED ALL THE BORDERS OF THE LAND." instead of "thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth".

In 26:18 the nation of Israel continues to complain "We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; NEITHER HAVE THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD FALLEN."

This is the reading of the KJB, ASV, RV, RSV, Young, Darby, Douay, NKJV, ESV and others, but the NASB actually changes this to "WE HAVE NOT GIVEN BIRTH TO THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD", and the NIV is similar with the equally ridiculous "NOR WERE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD BORN."

The nasb concordance shows they have translated this word # 5307 as Fallen or Fall, as in Babylon is Fallen, 197 times but only once as "given birth"; and the niv likewise has "Fall or Fallen" 237 times and only one time as "Born".

Jamison, Faucett and Brown remark in their commentary: neither . . . world fallen--The "world" at large, is in antithesis to Judea. The world at enmity with the city of God has not been subdued. But MAURER explains "fallen," according to Arabic idiom, of the birth of a child, which is said to fall when being born; "inhabitants of the world are not yet born"; that is, the country as yet lies desolate, and is not yet populated."

So, did the nasb and niv follow this Arabic idiom instead of the Hebrew?

Here is the straight forward comment by Matthew Henry - neither have the inhabitants of the world, whom we have been contesting with, fallen before us, either in their power or in their hopes; but they are still as high and arrogant as ever.’’

Do you still think all bible say the same thing, but with different words?

Isaiah 27 A Rat's nest of Confusion

God continues to reveal His dealings with His people Israel and the world. This whole section continues to have a double fulfillment of prophesy, as many of the Old Testament Scriptures do. They speak of the past history of Israel and of the future dealings of God with His people.

27:1 "In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay THE DRAGON that is in the sea."

This foreshadows the final judgment upon Satan, that old serpent and the dragon. See Revelation 12:3; 13:2 and 20:2. DRAGON is the reading of even the NASB, the KJB, Geneva Bible, Young's, 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, RV, nrsv and the 2001 English Standard Version plus others. However the nkjv obscures this connection and reads "THE REPTILE" while the niv has THE MONSTER.

In the rest of the chapter, God tells us he will plant Israel in their land, chastize them because of their false worship and finally restore them to Himself in true worship.

We read in 6-8 "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

7. HATH HE SMITTEN HIM, AS HE SMOTE THOSE THAT SMOTE HIM? OR IS HE SLAIN ACCORDING TO THE SLAUGHTR OF THEM THAT ARE SLAIN BY HIM?

8. IN MEASURE, WHEN IT SHOOTETH FORTH, thou wilt debate with it: HE STAYETH his rough wind in the day of the east wind."

Here is what I believe to be the true meaning of this passage as written by John Wesley in his commentary.

John Wesley: 27:7 Hath he - He hath not dealt so severely with his people, as he hath dealt with their enemies, whom he hath utterly destroyed. Of them - Of those who were slain by God on the behalf of Israel. 27:8 In measure - With moderation. When - When the vine shooteth forth its luxuriant branches, he cuts them off, but so as not to destroy the vine. Stayeth - He mitigates the severity of the judgment. In the day - In the time when he sends forth his east - wind; which he mentions because that wind in those parts was most violent and most hurtful.

This is pretty straight forward. God will not slay His people Israel in the same manner or degree as He slays the enemies of God and His people. He will chastize His own, but never utterly destroy them. He disciplines IN MEASURE with a view to final restoration. He STAYETH or restrains from His people the full judgment He reserves for His enemies.

The reading of verses 7 and 8 in the KJB are also found in the KJV 21, Third Millenium Bible, Webster's 1833 translation, the Spanish and in varying degrees in other versions.

However the NKJV reads in 7: "Has He struck ISRAEL (not in any text, though the "him" does refer to Israel) as He struck those who struck him? Or has He (notice the capital H) been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him?

The nkjv capitalizes the wrong H and makes it refer to God and asks if God has been slain by God. Duh.

Then the nkjv reads in verse 8: "In measure, BY SENDING IT AWAY (not - "when it shooteth forth")You contended with it. He REMOVES IT by His rough wind in the day of the east wind."

The nkjv, nasb and niv all have translated this same word as referring to a branch or plant as "shooting forth" in Ezekiel 17:6, 7; and Eze. 31:5, 10 but here they have it as "remove", "banish" or "exile".

Does God STAY his rough wind, or REMOVE Israel? Not the same meaning at all, is it?

The NASB and NIV both make use ot the Septuagint Greek LXX instead of the Hebrew in verse 8. When He asks the question as to whether Israel was slain in the same way as the enemies, we are told "IN MEASURE".

The NASB says in verse "Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain? YOU DID CONTEND WITH THEM BY BANISHING THEM, BY DRIVING THEM AWAY. With his fierce wind HE HAS EXPELLED THEM on the day of the east wind."

The NASB has omitted "In Measure", changed "when it shooteth forth" and nothing about "Staying" His rough wind, but rather has them totally expelled from the land.

The NIV reads: "Has THE LORD (not in the text) struck her as he struck down those who struck her? . Has she been killed as those were killed who killed her? (Changes the meaning from God slaying the enemies to the enemies killing Israel) By WARFARE AND EXILE you contend with her-- as on a day the east wind blows."

In regards to IN MEASURE, the Niv footnote tells us to see the Septuagint, which reads "making war" and that the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Both the nasb and niv followed the LXX here. At least the niv tells us this, but the nasb never mentions in its "scholarly notes" when they have departed from the Hebrew text. Which do you think is more deceptive?

It is of interest to note that the versions that answer the question "Did God punish Israel in the same way as He did the enemies?" with IN MEASURE, are the KJB, nkjv, 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, the Revised Version, the American Standard Version (the predecessor to the nasb fiasco), Young's literal translation, the Geneva Bible, Douay, Spanish versions, RSV of 1952 and, Lo and behold, the brand new 2001 English Standard Version. I guess the Hebrew reading that was uncertain to the niv editors was finally cleared up in the late$t bible ver$ion and it turns out the KJB was right after all.

Isaiah 29 - 30

These two chapters continue to speak of the coming judgment upon God's people of Israel because of their sins, and their final restoration.

29: 9 says in the KJB, Webster's translation, the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21: "Stay yourselves, an wonder: CRY YE OUT, AND CRY: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink."

Instead of "cry ye out and cry" the American Standard Version says: "TAKE YOUR PLEASURE AND BE BLIND", while the NKJV joins the niv, nasb with "BLIND YOURSELVES AND BE BLIND".

In 29:13 most versions agree with the KJB, including the nkjv, niv, ASV, RV, ESV, in saying: "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, AND THEIR FEAR TOWARD ME IS TAUGHT BY THE PRECEPT OF MEN."

This same thought is quoted by our Lord in Matthew 15:8, 9 "In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." In other words, they had departed from the word of God and were following the teachings of men.

But the NASB says: "Their reverence for me consists of TRADITION LEARNED BY ROTE." The word MEN is in all Hebrew texts, but the nasb omitted it and added "by rote". Actually we are told that true doctrine is taught by rote in 28:9, 10 "and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?...For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little."

Israel knew they were about to be attacked and they turned to Egypt to hire mercenaries who would help them. In 30:7 we read: "For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore HAVE I CRIED CONCERNING THIS, THEIR STRENGTH IS TO SIT STILL."

This is the reading of the KJB, the Geneva Bible, Young's 'literal' translation, Green's interlinear, the Douay version, the Spanish Reina Valera, Webster's, Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21.

Matthew Henry and John Wesley comment on this verse.

30:7 Matthew Henry - Their strength is to sit still, in a humble dependence upon God and his goodness and a quiet submission to his will, and not to wander about and put themselves to great trouble to seek help from this and the other creature.’’

John Wesley - 30:7 Sit still - It is safer and better for them to sit quietly at home, seeking to me for help.

The immediate context also argues for this interpretation. We read in verse 15 "For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not."

However instead of the KJB's "I cried concerning this, their strength is to sit still" the NKJV says: I HAVE CALLED HER RAHAB-HEM-SHEBETH", the NIV has "I CALL HER RAHAB THE DO-NOTHING" and the NASB says: "I HAVE CALLED HER RAHAB WHO HAS BEEN EXTERMINATED." Boy, am I glad they cleared that up for us, aren't you?

30:30 "And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, WITH THE INDIGNATION OF HIS ANGER, and with the flame of a devouring fire..."

This phrase "with the indignation of his anger" is found in the Hebrew text, the nkjv, rv. asv, nrsv, rsv, esv, Young's and the niv. The NASB omitted the entire phrase in the 1972 edition, but then in 1995 they put it back in with "in fierce anger". So, which nasb is the true word of God?

The meaning of verse 31 has been changed in some of the new versions. In the KJB we read: "For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, WHICH SMOTE WITH A ROD."

This is the reading of the Revised Version, the nkjv, Spanish Reina Valera, Geneva Bible, Webster's, Third Millenium Bible, KJV 21 and the 1936 Jewish translation.

Matthew Henry comments: "the Assyrian shall be beaten down, v. 31. The Assyrian had been himself a rod in God’s hand for the chastising of his people, and had smitten them, ch. 10:5.

In Isaiah 10:5 we read where God says: "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation." God used the Assyrian to smite Israel for her disobedience.

However the nasb, esv and niv have reversed who smote whom and the nasb says: "Assyria will be terrified, when He (God) strikes with the rod" and the niv has "The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria; with his (God's) scepter he (God) will stike them down".

WHO'S WHO? - Total Confusion

Isaiah 32 - 33

tell of the threatening army of the Assyrians and of their defeat. It is also a double prophesy telling of the future troubles of God's people and their final deliverance from the forces of Antichrist.

"Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And A MAN shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."

This obviously refers ultimately to the Lord Jesus Christ, the only righteous king and the MAN who is our hiding place. A MAN (or even "that man" - Geneva Bible) is the reading of the KJB, NKJV, ASV, RV, Darby, Green's interlinear, the 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, and several others.

Comments by others: John Gill -Verse 2. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest,... the King Messiah before mentioned; who had agreed to become man, was promised and prophesied of as such, "as a hiding place, and covert from the wind and tempest," of his Father's wrath, raised by sin; and which all men are deserving of, and on whom it must fall, unless secured from it by Christ;

Matthew Henry - v. 2): A man, that man, that king that reigns in righteousness, shall be as a hiding-place.

Jamison, Faucett and Brown - 2. a man--rather, the man Christ, it is as "the Son of man" He is to reign, as it was as Son of man He suffered . Not as MAURER explains, "every one of the princes shall be,"

However instead of A MAN, the NASB says: "And EACH will be like a refuge from the wind..." and the NIV has: "EACH MAN will be like a shelter", thus removing all reference to Christ and making this apply to many different men.

The new 2001 English Standard Version also says "each" and then gives a false footnote saying the Hebrew is "they". The word is not "they" but # 376 eesh, man, and is used in Isaiah 53:3 where it describes Christ as "a MAN of sorrows, and acquainted with grief".

33:1 "Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and DEALEST treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with THEE!"

THEE of course is the second person singular. 'Thee' is the reading of the KJB, RV., ASV, 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, the Geneva Bible, Young's, Webster's, while the modern counterparts like the NKJV,RSV, NRSV, ESV, and the NIV read, YOU, which is still the second person singular.

This is addressed in the first place to the Assyrian nation which conquered the lands about Israel and in turn would be judged by God. The secondary application would be to the kingdom of Antichrist.

However only the NASB has changed the "and dealest treacherously and they dealt not treacherously with THEE" to "And HE who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with HIM" - thus altering the second person 'thee' to the third person 'him'.

Verse 2. "O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou THEIR arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble."

The "THEIR arm" refers back to verse one where Assyria is addressed and told "THEY shall deal tracherously with thee." The Babylonians were sent by God to judge the Assyrian empire. The Chaldeans will do the same to the Assyrians, as the Assyrians did to Israel, and the Medes and Persians will do the same to the Chaldeans, and all of this is under the direct control of the God who rules the nations. God is their arm. They are but a tool and an instrument in the hands of God and He brings them to destroy the oppressor.

"THEIR arm" is the reading of the KJB, nkjv, 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, Geneva, Young's, Spanish, NASB and others. But the NIV, RSV, ASV, and ESV all say OUR arm or OUR strength, with a footnote in the RSV and ASV telling us that the Hebrew actually reads "their" and not 'our'.

The passage continues with the destruction of the enemies of God's people and the restoration of Israel. "The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is HIS treasure."

33:6 "And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation" KJB, NKJV, Geneva Bible.

In the NASB and NIV this becomes: "And HE shall be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge".

Also there is much dispute concerning who is being referred to by this last phrase - "the fear of the LORD is his treasure." Rather than just translating the phrase as the KJB and the Hebrew have it, many modern versions have added their own interpretation.

'The fear of the LORD is his treasure' is the reading of the KJB, Geneva, NASB, and the RSV. I think the 'his' refers back to Israel whom God has restored, but in any case, we should leave the text as it stands.

The NKJV has: "the fear of the Lord is His treasure" capitalizing the H in He, thus making this refer to God. That doesn't seem to make much sense.

The ASV has "fear of the LORD is THY treasure" with a footnote saying the Hebrew says 'his'.

The NSRV, and the 2001 English Standard Version say: "the fear of the LORD is ZION'S treasure" with a footnote saying 'Hebrew - his'.

Then the NIV changes everything, follows no Hebrew text, and comes up with: "the fear of the LORD IS THE KEY TO THIS treasure."

In verse 8 the NIV again clearly departs from the Hebrew text and follows the Dead Sea Scrolls.

We read in the KJB a description of the destruction caused by Sennacherib, king of Assyria, who had previously made a covenant with Israel not to invade the land, but later changed his mind and came against them to destroy. See II Kings 18:14-17.

"The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised THE CITIES, he regardeth no man."

The CITIES is the reading of the KJB, NKJB, NASB, 1917, 1936, Geneva, Darby, and the 2001 ESV. But the NIV, RSV, and NRSV say: "The treaty is broken, ITS WITNESSES are despised", then give us a footnote telling us this reading of 'witnesses' comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls, but that the Hebrew Masoretic text says "cities".

In verses 10, 11 God tells us: "Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted: now will I lift up myself. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: YOUR breath, as fire, shall devour you."

God is still addressing the enemies of Israel and tells of their ultimate destruction. Some have commented thus on the phrase "YOUR breath, as fire, shall devour you":

33:11 John Wesley - . Your breath - Your rage against my people shall bring ruin upon yourselves.

John Gill- Verse 11. your breath [as] fire shall devour you; your rage, wrath, and fury, against the saints; your blasphemy against God and Christ shall be the reason why the fire of God's wrath shall consume you.

Matthew Henry - your malignant breath, the threatenings and slaughter you breathe out against the people of God, this shall devour you, and your blasphemous breath against God and his name."

YOUR breath is the reading of the KJB, NKJV, 1917, 1936, ESV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, RV, NIV, and many others, But the NASB again goes contrary to the Hebrew and says: MY breath will consume you like a fire."

So what we see in this section is a total mix up of Who's Who.

32:2 KJB - A MAN shall be as an hiding place; NASB /NIV - EACH MAN

33:1 KJB - THEE or You - NASB -Him

33:6 KJB -Wisdom and stability; NASB, NIV - He

33:6 KJB - his treasure ; NKJV - His treasure; ESV - Zion's treasure ; NIV - is the key to this treasure

33:11 KJB - your breath; NASB - My breath

So- are all bibles "reliable translations"? I'll stick with the Holy Bible God has given us.

Isaiah 34

Just a few comparisons in this chapter alone between the KJB and the NKJV will show that the NKJV has changed far more than Thee and Ye. I'm not going to get into all the different renderings in the various versions, but only compare the KJB with the NKJV here.

Verse 6, 7 KJB "it is made fat with fatness", "made fat with fatness"

NKJV "made overflowing with fatness", "saturated with fatness"

V. 7 KJB unicorns - Nkjv - wild goats

V. 11 KJB - bittern (a bird) - NKJV - porcupine

V. 13 KJB - dragons / owls - NKJV - jackals / ostriches

V. 14 KJB the satyr / the screech owl - NKJV - the wild goat / night creature

V. 15 KJB the great owl / vultures - NKJV - the arrow snake / hawks

In verse 16 we read: "Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for MY mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.”

MY mouth is the reading of the KJB, NKJV, ASV, RV, 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, Douay, Darby, Young's, Green's interlinear, and the Hebrew Names Version plus several others.

The NASB and NIV both read: "For HIS mouth has given the order" while the RSV, NRSV, and the new ESV all read, "the mouth OF THE LORD has commanded it." These words "of the LORD" are not found in the Hebrew Masoretic text. The ESV, RSV are following other texts here but they don't tell you which ones. The Septuagint reads "the Lord" (ho Kurios) but it omits the word 'mouth'.

Isaiah 35

This chapter deals with the restoration and blessings of God's people under the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

35:1 "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom AS THE ROSE."

"AS THE ROSE" is the reading of the Geneva Bible, the NKJV, the ASV, Revised Version, Darby's, Young's, Spanish Reina Valera, Italian Diodati, 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, Webster's, and others.

However the NASB, NIV, RSV, and ESV read: "blossom AS THE CROCUS."

This word is # 2261 and it occurs only twice in the entire Hebrew O.T. The other time is in the Song of Solomon 2:1 where the NASB, NIV, and ESV all read as does the KJB: "I am the rose of Sharon".

I believe these changes for changes sake are deplorable. In verse 3 we read, "Strengthen ye the WEAK HANDS". This is the reading of the Hebrew, the ASV, RV, NKJV, and the NIV, but the NASB says: "Encourage THE EXHAUSTED"; yet when quoting this verse in Hebrews 12:12 the NASB goes back to "weak hands".

In verse 6 we read of "streams in the DESERT" which is the reading of the ASV, RV, NKJV, NIV, and others, but the NASB says: "streams in the ARABAH." Much clearer, huh?

In verse 7 we read of the "habitation of DRAGONS". Yet the NASB, NIV, NKJV, and ESV, all have JACKALS instead of dragons. The word here is the plural masculine #8577 taneem, yet the NASB and ESV have translated the singular masculine of this same word as dragon in Isaiah 27:1. Go figure.

What really galls me is what the new versions have done to verse 8. There we read these beautiful and comforting words: "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for THOSE: the wayfaring men, THOUGH FOOLS, shall not err therein."

I believe this verse teaches that there will be an highway for the redeemed to walk on and even though they may be fools, they shall not err. If we are among the redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, He will keep us secure even though we, in and of ourselves, are at times foolish.

What a comfort and encouragement to our souls. We are all foolish at times. All of us make dumb mistakes, and do not think clearly nor act with wisdom all too often. But praise God He chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise - I Cor. 1:27, even though “the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light”- Luke 16:8, God hides His truths from the wise and prudent and reveals them unto babes.

Versions that read like the KJB are the Geneva Bible, the ASV, RV, 1917, 1936, Young's, Darby's, Spanish, RSV, NRSV, and the ESV of 2001 reads: "even if they are fools, they shall not go astray."

Some in the past have commented:

35:8 John Gill -the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein; or travellers; such the saints are, they are strangers, pilgrims, and sojourners here;: now these, though they may not have that sharpness of wit, ... and though they may not have that clear and distinct knowledge of Gospel truths as others yet shall not err as to the way of salvation; and though they may err or mistake in some things, yet not in the way of salvation by Christ is so plain a way, that he that has any spiritual understanding of it shall not err in it.

John Wesley - Though fools - The way shall be so plain and strait, that even the most foolish travelers cannot easily mistake it.

Matthew Henry - though fools, of weak capacity in other things, shall have such plain directions from the word and Spirit of God in this way that they shall not err therein; not that they shall be infallible even in their own conduct, or that they shall in nothing mistake,...but shall get well to their journey's end.

However when we get to the NASB we now read: "the unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him (not the correct 'those' or them) who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it."

The NAS “fools will not wander on it” seems to be saying fools will not get on it occasionally but the niv is even worse.

The niv has: “And a highway will be there, it will be called the Way of Holiness, The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; WICKED FOOLS WILL NOT GO ABOUT ON IT."

There is no word for “wicked” in Hebrew, and the niv is teaching that there will be no fools on the highway- the exact opposite of the KJB and others.

If you are a Christian, and can honestly admit that you are sometimes foolish, then there is no comfort or assurance that you are a child of God and among the redeemed if you believe the NIV. According to the NIV in Deut 32:5 you may once be a child of God, and then no longer be His child- gone is the eternal security of the believer who has been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. You had better watch your step!

Isaiah 37-39

In these chapters, besides some renderings that are totally different from the King James Bible, we see instances of where the NASB and NIV depart from the Hebrew Masoretic Text and follow the Dead Sea Scrolls or another text.

In 37:20 we read: "Now therefore. O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only."

This is the reading of the Hebrew Masoretic text, the KJB, Geneva Bible, the ASV, RV, RSV, NRSV, 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, the NKJV, and the 2001 English Standard Version.

However here both the NASB and NIV have added the word "God". In the NIV and NASB we read, ". . . so all the kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD ARE GOD." The NIV at least tells us in a footnote that these extra words "are God" come from the DSS, but that the Masoretic Text does not say this. The NASB here, and in at least 40 other places in the O.T., makes a change in the text but doesn't tell the reader they have done so.

37:25 is another case of where the NIV has added words to the Masoretic Text but this time the NASB did not do so. See how inconsistent the new versions are? What one version accepts another rejects.

In 37:25 it is as though the Assyrian king Sennacherib is boasting of his conquests and he says: "I have digged * and drunk water: and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of THE BESIEGED PLACES."

ONLY the NIV adds 4 extra words to the text here with "I have digged WELLS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES, and drunk water." Then in a footnote they tell us this reading comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls, but that the Hebrew Masoretic text does not contain these words. The 2001 ESV has also rejected these extra words, so again the "latest findings" differ from the previous NIV.

You may not consider these changes to be of importance, but I believe God does. He has repeatedly warned us in Scriptures not to add to nor to take away from His words and He will deal with in a very severe manner with those that do so.

In chapter 38 we read of the sickness of king Hezekiah, the miraculous sign of the sun going backward ten degrees in the sundial, his physical restoration, and the great confession of the forgiveness of his sins.

In 38:8 God tells us: "Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the DEGREES, which is gone down in the SUN DIAL of Ahaz, ten DEGREES backward".

The reading of the SUN DIAL, or dial, of Ahaz going back ten DEGREES is the reading of the KJB, the NKJV, ASV (the predecessor of the NASB), the RV, Geneva Bible, Italian Diodati, Spanish Reina Valera, the Douay, RSV, NRSV, and the new ESV.

However in both the NIV and the NASB the degrees become stairs and the sundial becomes a stairway. In them we read: "I will cause the shadow ON THE STAIRWAY, which has gone down with the sun on THE STAIRWAY of Ahaz, to go back ten STEPS." Say what?

Also what king Hezekiah says has been totally garbled. In the KJB, Geneva, Young's, 1936 Jewish, Webster's translation, Third Millenium Bible, and the KJV 21 Hezekiah says: "I said IN THE CUTTING OFF OF MY DAYS, I shall go to the gates of the grave."

The NKJV and NIV say: " I said IN THE PRIME OF MY LIFE": while the NASB has : "in the middle of my life". 'Cutting off" is # 1824 and is a noun found only once. It comes from the verb #1820 to cut off, cut down, destroy, to cause to cease. Days is # 3117 yohm, literally - days.

In verse 12 Hezekiah continues with these words. "Mine AGE is departed" and so read the Revised Version, Third Millenium Bible, Webster's and the KJV 21. The NKJV is close with "my life span" is gone. But the NASB and NIV say, "My DWELLING (house - niv) is pulled up"

He contines with "he will cut me off with PINING SICKNESS". This is the reading of the KJB, TMB, Websters, KJV 21, and Spanish. Young's has 'weakness' which is pretty close.

However the NKJV, NIV, and NASB say: "He cuts me off FROM THE LOOM".

In the KJB we read Hezekiah saying in 38:17 "Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; BUT THOU HAST IN LOVE TO MY SOUL delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back."

Isn't that a beautiful and comforting truth? God loves us and forgives all our sins.

"THOU HAST IN LOVE to my soul" is the reading of the KJB, NKJV, NIV, Jewish translations, ASV, RV, and others. However, the NASB joins the RSV and NRSV and says simply: "It is You who have KEPT my soul from the pit of nothingness." The NASB leaves out the central idea of the love of God in doing what He does for us. Also the pit of nothingness is not the same as the pit of corruption.

The NASB never tells you when they depart from the Masoretic text, but the RSV and NRSV both have a footnote that tells us to compare the Greek and the Vulgate for this reading of 'kept' or 'held back', but that the Hebrew Masoretic text says 'love'.

The NASB may be following an obscure corrupt manuscript here. Only one letter needs to be altered in this word to change it from 'love' to 'keep'. However the NASB concordance shows that they have translated this same word as 'to love' and 'set thy love", yet only once as 'kept'.

All Bibles are not the same. The King James Bible is the only one that always follows the Hebrew Masoretic text.

Isaiah 40

There are so many little things that are changed here and there throughout these chapters that alter the meaning, it is difficult to decide which ones are worth mentioning. I will note just a few of the many.

Isaiah, chapter 40 begins the section of this book that reveals so much truth concerning the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the gospel of His saving work for His people.

In verse 9 we read of Zion and Jerusalem bringing good tidings to the cities of Judah. The gospel began to be published from the center of Jerusalem and went from there to the ends of the earth. In Acts 1:8 the risen Lord tells the apostles: "and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Verse 9. "O Zion, THAT BRINGEST GOOD TIDINGS, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, THAT BRINGEST GOOD TIDINGS, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God."

The fact that it is Zion and Jerusalem that bring the good tidings is the reading of the KJB, NKJV, NASB, ESV, NRSV, RSV, Young's, Spanish, Geneva Bible, Darby, and others.

However the NIV reads as though someone else is bringing the good tiding TO Zion and Jerusalem. The NIV says: "YOU WHO BRING GOOD TIDINGS TO Zion, go up on a high mountain. YOU WHO BRING GOOD TIDINGS TO Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout..."

It is amazing to me just how many old, familiar verses are totally messed up in the modern versions. One such verse is Isaiah 40:22. This verse proves that the earth is round and not flat.

The reading of the KJB, RV, ASV, NIV, NKJV, Young's, Geneva, ESV, and others have the word CIRCLE in it. Speaking of God it says: "It is he that sitteth upon the CIRCLE of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers."

However the NASB of 1972 and 1977 says, "It is He who sits above the VAULT of the earth". Now there are lots of different kinds of vaults. There is the barrel vault, the cross vault, the Welsh vault, and the cloister vault, none of which form a circle. Then there is the pole vault, the bank vault, and the burial vault. The NASB of 1995 did change this back to circle, but one wonders which NASB is the real word of God because they change hundreds of words from one edition to the next.

Likewise other familiar verses are dramatically changed in the NASB. In Deut. 33:22 we read, "Thy SHOES shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, SO SHALL THY STRENGTH BE." God will give us the strength to face the trials of each day. This is the reading of the Geneva Bible, NKJV, NIV, ASV, RV, Young's, RSV, and others.

The NASB says: "Your LOCKS will be iron and brass, and according to your days, SO WILL YOUR LEISURELY WALK BE." Did God promise us a "leisuerly walk" through the park? That hasn't been the experience of most Christians I know.

Psalms 46:10, "BE STILL, and know that I am God." "Be Still" is the reading of the KJB, NKJV, ASV, RV, RSV, NRSV, Geneva, Young's, Darby, NIV, and others, but the NASB says: "CEASE STRIVING, and know that I am God."

Exodus 14:25 tells us that God TOOK OFF the chariot wheels of Pharoah's pursuing army as they crossed the Red Sea. "the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And TOOK OFF their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily." Took off is the reading of the KJB ,NKJV, NIV, ASV, RV, Geneva, Spanish, and many others.

But the NASB says "He CAUSED their chariot wheels TO SWERVE", while the English Standard Version says, "He CLOGGED their chariot wheels". The ESV 2001 has a footnote that says this is the reading of the Samaritan Pentateuch, Greek LXX, and Syriac but that the Hebrew reads "removed".

In Exodus 25:5 we read that part of the tent of the tabernacle in the wilderness was to made of BADGER'S SKINS. This is the reading of the KJB, nkjv, Geneva Bible, Young's, Darby's, Spanish, Diodati, TMB, KJV 21, Webster's, and the 1936 Jewish translation.

However the NASB says these were PORPOISE SKINS, the NIV says SEA COWS, and the 2001 ESV says they were GOAT SKINS. Now, in the wilderness it was probably somewhat difficult to gather badger's skins, but how hard do you think it would have been to find porpoises or sea cows out there?

These are just a few of many examples where precious, beautiful verses of God's holy words are being changed and few people seem to care.

Isaiah 42

God speaks of judgment in verses 13-15 "The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I WILL DESTROY AND DEVOUR AT ONCE. I will make wast mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs"

"I will destroy and devour at once" is the reading of the KJB, Geneva Bible, Young's, Webster's 1833 translation, the KJV 21, Third Millenium bible and the Spanish Reina Valera. However the nkjv joins the niv, nasb and says: "I WILL PANT AND GASP AT ONCE". Is God tired like an old man? Or will He destroy and devour His enemies effortlessly?

42:19 who is blind as HE THAT IS PERFECT, and blind as the LORD'S servant?

John Gill - "who is blind, as he that is perfect? who pretended to be so, as the young man who thought he had kept all the commandments, and as Saul before conversion, and all the Pharisees, those self-righteous persons who needed no repentance, and yet who so blind as they? and indeed, had they not been blind to themselves, they could never have thought themselves perfect;

Matthew Henry - " Who is blind as he that in profession and pretension is perfect, that should come nearer to perfection than other people, their priests and prophets? The one prophesies falsely, and the other bears rule by their means; and who so blind as those that will not see when they have the light shining in their faces?"

HE THAT IS PERFECT is the reading of the KJB, nkjv, 1936 Jewish translation, Geneva Bible, Spanish 1602 Reina Valera, KJV 21, Third Millenium Bible, and Webster's translation, but the NIV says: "Who is blind like THE ONE COMMITTED TO ME?" while the NASB asks: " Who is blind as HE THAT IS AT PEACE WITH ME?"

43:22 God reproves His people with these words: "But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but THOU HAST BEEN WEARY OF ME, O Israel." The people were weary of God. This is the reading of the KJB, the nkjv, nasb, ASV, ESV, etc. but the NIV says: "You have not wearied yourselves for me."

The niv says they hadn't worked themselves to a frazzle for God instead of them being wearied with God. Not the same meaning at all, is it?

God continues His rebuke of His people in 43:27 with: "Thy first father hath sinned, and thy TEACHERS have transgressed against me." There was much false teaching among the Jews just as there is much false teaching today. The teachers transgress against the Lord.

TEACHERS is the reading of the KJB, Geneva, ASV, 1936, Douay, Hebrew Names Version, the KJV 21, Third M. Bible, Webster's, and the Spanish. But the nkjv obscures this by reading MEDIATORS. Mediators would perhaps be those who tried to make peace with other nations, but this shifts the blame from the false teachers as we have them today who use false bibles. The niv and nasb say: SPOKESMEN instead of teachers, thus again making it the political leaders rather than the spiritual leaders who are transgressing against the Lord.

I believe the new versions needlessly change the meaning of many words. The NIV and NASB are just as guilty but I will focus on the NKJV and its translation of the word #4975 loins. The loins of a man are his strength and this word describes the area from the stomach region to the thighs. The KJB always translates this word as loins or sometimes as side as in a sword girt about his side.

The NKJV also translates this word as loins in Isaiah 11:5; 20:2, and 21:3, but when we get to Isaiah 45:1, they completely change it as they do in several other places.

The KJB reads: "Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the LOINS of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut."

God will use Cyrus, the king of Persia, to conquer other kings and nations. The loins of the kings would be their own strength and sometimes this happened in a literal sense as when Babylon was conquered by Persia.

In Daniel 5:6 we read of kind Belshazar who saw the writing on the wall that told of his doom, that "the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another."

LOINS is the reading of the KJB, ASV, RV, Young's, NASB, Geneva Bible, and others. The NKJV joins the NIV and says: "and loose the ARMOR of kings", and the English Standard Version of 2001 says, "to loose the BELTS of kings".

Likewise the NKJV substitutes waist for loins many times, as well as flanks, backs (Ps. 66:11), hips, herself (Pro. 31:17), bodies (Ezek. 44:18), hear (Ezek. 21:6), and instead of "gird thy loins" (Jer. 1:17), the NKJV says, prepare yourself .

I believe all of these are instances of changing things for the sake of change; not to make the text more accurate. The NKJV does this type of thing repeatedly with many words. I'll stick with my King James Bible.

Isaiah 47, 48

In chapter 47 the Lord is pronouncing judgment upon Babylon. In verse 3 God says: "Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not MEET THEE AS A MAN."

In other words, God Himself will bring His mighty fury against Babylon. In the first instance He moved other nations to come against Babylon, and in the final fulfillment of this prophesy it is the Lord Jesus Christ who will bring the final judgment upon the spiritual Babylon. A mere man could perhaps be resisted, but when God is behind the judgment there is no way of escape.

"I will not meet thee as a man" is the reading of the KJB, Geneva Bible, Young's, Green's interlinear, Webster's 1833 translation and the KJV 21. The NKJV says: "I will not ARBITRATE WITH A MAN." This is obviously not the same meaning as the KJB.

The NASB says "I WILL NOT SPARE A MAN", while the NIV has "I will SPARE NO ONE." Again, not every person in the whole kingdom of Babylon perished though the kingdom did fall.

In chapters 48 and 49 we will see several examples of how the NASB, NIV and even the NKJV depart from the Hebrew Masoretic text.

In 48:1 "Here ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are ome forth out of the WATERS of Judah..."

The word here is cleary WATERS of Judah, and is so rendered by the KJB, Revised Version, ASV, Young's, Geneva Bible, Spanish Reina Valera, TMB, Webster's, Douay and even the new 2001 English Standard Version.

The NKJV needlessly alters this to the WELLSPRINGS of Judah, but at least retains the idea of water. The NASB, RSV, and NRSV say 'the LOINS of Judah" with a footnote in the RSV telling us this is a correction to the text and that the Hebrew reads 'waters'. The reading or interpretation of 'loins' comes from some Targum commentators but it is not what the Hebrew actually says. John Gill says the 'seed of Judah' is a Targum interpretation. The NIV likewise says "from the LINE of Judah."

Isaiah 48:10 is a verse where the nkjv, niv and nasb have departed from the Hebrew Masoretic text. God says: "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver: I have CHOSEN thee in the furnace of affliction."

The Hebrew word is clearly TO CHOOSE # 977 and is used repeatedly in this book - 14:1; 43:10; 44:1, 2; 49:10, 49:7 etc. "I have chosen thee" is the reading of the KJB, ASV, RV, TMB, Darby, Young's, Geneva, Spanish etc.

However the NKJV, NIV, RSV, ESV and NASB all follow a different text by changing one single letter which alters the word from 'chosen' to 'tested'. The NKJV says: "I have TESTED you in the furnace of affliction."

Both John Gill and Adam Clarke note that one manuscript changes a single letter and thus alters the word. If you look in the NASB concordance they list this word under #977 and translate it as to choose or chosen 155 times and only once as 'tested'.

Isaiah 49

The meaning has been totally changed in 49:5 by the NKJV, NIV, RSV and NASB. In the KJB we read a whole prophetic section dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ as the servant of the LORD: " And now, saith the LORD, that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel BE NOT GATHERED, YET shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength."

Here are precious words of the Lord Jesus Christ saying that even if Israel is NOT gathered, YET He will be glorious in the eyes of the Lord. Just by the perfection of His person regardless if anyone is saved through His ministry, He will be precious to His Father.

The KJB reading of "though Israel be NOT gathered, YET.." is also that of the Geneva Bible, the Spanish of 1569 and 1602, Darby, Young's, Webster's, Third Millenium Bible, Italian Diodati, Green's interlinear and the KJV 21.

However the NKJV, NASB and NIV say: " to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, SO THAT Israel IS gathered TO HIM, FOR I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD.' - NKJV. Then the nkjv has a footnote that tells us the Kethtib or the reading of the text itself reads 'NOT gathered' but that the Kere or the marginal reading that some think should be substitued for the textual reading is "IS gathered TO HIM.

John Gill's commentary on 49:5 -though Israel be not gathered: in general, only a remnant, according to the election of grace, the greater part refusing to be gathered ministerially by him; and the rulers not suffering the common people to attend on his ministry. It may be observed that there is a marginal reading of the Hebrew, different from the written text; instead of al, "not" it is wl, "to him"; and may be rendered thus, "and Israel shall be gathered unto him"

Jamison, Faucett and Brown -Though Israel be not gathered--metaphor from a scattered flock which the shepherd gathers together again; or a hen and her chickens. Instead of the text "not," the Keri has the similar Hebrew word, "to Him.

Thus far in the book of Isaiah alone we have three examples of where the nkjv does not follow the same Hebrew text as the KJB. They are Isaiah 9:3 where it removes the word NOT; 48:10 where it changes 'chosen' to ' tested' and here where it changes 'not' to 'to Him'.

In 49:12 there is an interesting example of how the niv departs again from the Hebrew Masoretic text. There we read in the KJB "Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west: and these from the LAND OF SINIM." Many think Sinim may be a referrence to China, but in any case, the Hebrew clearly says Sinim.

Sinim is also the reading of the NASB, ASV, RV, NKJV, the Jewish translations and many others. However the niv says "from the REGION OF ASWAN." Then in a footnote the niv tells us this Aswan comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls but that the Hebrew says Sinim.

It is of interest to note that the RSV and the new ESV both say "land of SYENE" and also have a footnote telling us Syene comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls but that the Hebrew Masoretic reads Sinim. Here we have two different groups of modern "scholars" giving us two different readings, Aswan and Syene, and both telling us that this reading comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls. They both agree in rejecting the Hebrew traditional text but can't seem to agree on what the DSS says! And they want us to take them seriously.

Again in 49:17 the NASB and ESV depart from the Hebrew Masoretic text and this time the NIV doesn't go along with them. These guys have really got their act together, don't they?

In the KJB we read: "Thy CHILDREN shall make haste: thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee." 'Children' is the reading of the Hebrew, the KJB, nkjv, RV, Jewish translations, Darby, Hebrew Names Version, Webster's etc. Even the NIV says "sons" which is the same word as children in Hebrew # 1121 Ben.

However the NASB and English Standard Version say " Your BUILDERS make haste" instead of 'children'. The nasb never tells you when they depart from the Hebrew Masoretic text, but the ESV tells us in a footnote that Builders comes from a Dead Sea Scroll, but that the Hebrew reads 'children'.

A look at the nasb complete concordance shows us that they have translated #1121 as children or sons 2043 times and as Builders only once. Actually the word 'builders' comes from the Vulgate. The LXX has the silly reading of "You shall soon be built by those by whom you were destroyed" The nrsv gives us another gem with "Your builders outdo your destroyers." Are you beginning to see how the minds of these Bible correctors work?

Finally in this chapter once again the nasb, niv and esv all depart one more time from the Hebrew text. In 49:24 we read: "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or THE LAWFUL CAPTIVE delivered?" Here God speaks of delivering His people who were lawfully or righteously given over to captivity. God had judged them because they had broken His law and now He was going to deliver them to show His grace after having chastized them.

The LAWFUL CAPTIVE is the reading of the KJB, Revised Version, American Standard Version (predecessor to the nasb) the 1936 Jewish translation, Webster's 1833 translation, the Hebrew Names Bible, the Third Millenium Bible, World English Bible, and the Spanish Reina Valera "la cautividad legítima".

But the NIV and ESV say: "Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued FROM THE FIERCE?". Then in a footnote they tell us this reading comes from the DSS, the Syriac and the Vulgate. The NASB likewise reads "captives of THE TYRANT" instead of 'lawful captives' but the nasb never tells you of their corruptions.

The nkjv also changes the meaning of the text by saying: "Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?"

So which is it, the lawful captives, the captives of the righteous, or the captives of the tyrant? Hey, it's all the same message, right?

Isaiah 52 and 53

These are beautiful chapters that teach us so much about the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's people were in bondage and He promises them deliverance through the work of the Messiah.

In 52:5 we read of their bondage. "Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them MAKE THEM TO HOWL."

This is the reading of the KJB, nkjv, Geneva Bible, Young's, 1936 Jewish translation, Darby, Webster's, Third Millenium Bible and Spanish version.

Here the NIV again departs from the Hebrew Masoretic text and says: "those who rule them MOCK." Then in a footnote the niv tells us this reading 'mock' comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Vulgate but that the MT reads as does the KJB.

The nasb also changes the meaning and sides with the liberal RSV saying "those who rule over them howl" as though the rulers are howling and not the people ruled by them.

In 52:14 we enter the great section that tells us of the Servant of the Lord and His redemptive work. "As many were astonied at THEE." This is the reading of the KJB, nkjv, ESV 2001, Young's, Hebrew Names Version, Webster's, TMB, KJV 21 and others. Many see this as being addressed to Christ Himself.

However the NASB says "astonished at you, MY PEOPLE" which is interpretation rather than translation, while the NIV has "astonished at HIM" but with a footnote telling us the Hebrew reads 'You' (or thee).

The various readings of chapter 53 are so different one from another they are barely recognizable. Commentators are constantly changing the text and disagreeing with one another. Each one apparently considers himself to be the final authority

I will only touch on the more blatant differences in this chapter.

Verse 53:8 KJB "He was taken FROM PRISON and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of he land of the living: for the transgression of my people WAS HE STRICKEN."

This is the reading of the KJB, nkjv, Geneva Bible, Spanish Reina Valera, Young's, Webster's, Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21.

The nasb and the niv differ from each other as well as from the KJB. The NASB says: "By OPPRESSION and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people TO WHOM THE STROKE WAS DUE?" Say what? Read that again and see if you can make any sense out of it. Only a modern seminarian could come up with something that clear.

The NIV differs from the nasb too in that it says: "By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his DESCENDANTS? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken."

Verse 9 likewise is quite different. In the KJB we read: "And HE made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death." "HE made his grave" is what the Hebrew says. However the nkjv says "THEY made his grave with the wicked" and then has a footnote telling us that the Hebrew literally says HE. God did this, not man.

The nasb says: "HIS GRAVE WAS ASSIGNED to be with wicked men" and the NIV has "He was assigned a grave with the wicked" - both of which remove God as He who did this.

Verse 10 also suffers from distorted meanings. The KJB says: "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him: he hath put him to grief: WHEN THOU SHALT MAKE HIS SOUL AN OFFERING FOR SIN, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and he pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand."

This is the reading of the KJB, ASV, Revised Version, nkjv, NRSV, Darby, Hebrew Names Bible, Webster's, TMB and the KJV 21.

The NASB actually says: "IF HE WOULD RENDER HIMSELF AS A GUILT OFFERING, He will see His offspring". Here the nasb puts in a big little word IF. Then it changes the THOU which refers to God the Father and is the type of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 to "He"; "his soul" to 'himself' and 'an offering for sin' to 'a guilt offering'. The nasb reading of "HE" is found in the margin but not the text itself of the Hebrew.

The NIV reads: "and THOUGH THE LORD makes his LIFE a GUILT OFFERING, he will see his offspring". Here the niv adds the words 'the LORD' though not in the text, but at least it has God doing this and not the "He himself" of the nasb. The niv has a footnote that tells us the Hebrew text reads 'YOU', as is found in the KJB. The niv adds the words 'THE LORD" (Jehovah) 52 times in the OT when not in the text and 38 times when it is in the Hebrew text they omit it. This information is found in the niv complete concordance itself. I am not making this up.

Finally in this chapter the niv again departs from the Hebrew Masoretic text in verse 11. There we read in the KJB: "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." This is the reading of the nasb and nkjv.

However the NIV sides with the NRSV and adds words not found in the MT. The niv says: "After the suffering of his soul, he will see THE LIGHT OF LIFE and be satisfied." Then it tells us in a footnote that 'the light of life' comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls but it is lacking from the MT. The nrsv footnote likewise tells us this added reading comes from one manuscript called Q but that the Masoretic text does not have it. It is of interest that the late$t in $cholar$hip English Standard Version of 2001 goes back to the KJB reading and rejects the niv's added words.

Is it any wonder modern bible proponents are "tossed to and from by every wind" and have no settled Final Authority?

Isaiah 55:3 "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID."

The sure mercies of David are again spoken of in Acts 13:34 in the KJB and the referrence is to Christ, the son of David, who was raised from the dead and now sits on the throne. These are called the sure mercies of David because God had promised to set up his seed (Christ) to sit on his throne. Christ would build the house of the Lord, God would be His Father and He would be His Son and God's mercy would not be taken away as He had done with Saul. See II Samuel 7:12-16 for these promises.

David had grievously sinned by comitting adultery and murder, yet God did not break His promises to David for his sins, and so these are called the sure MERCIES of David. Mercy is not getting punished as we should be.

"the SURE MERCIES of David" is the reading of the KJB, NKJV, 1917, 1936 Jewish translations, Webster's, KJV 21, Third Millenium Bible, RV, ASV, Geneva, and the Hebrew Names Bible.

The NASB is close in meaning here with "the faithful mercies shown to David" but the NIV along with the RSV says: "MY FAITHFUL LOVE promised to David."

Love and mercy are not the same concept. Mercy is not being punished as we deserve. David certainly deserved to be punished but God had mercy on him as He does with us. In the Acts 13:34 passage the NASB and NIV say "I will give you THE HOLY AND SURE BLESSINGS of David" instead of "the sure mercies of David" as the KJB and others say.

This concept of mercy is gradually being diluted in the new versions. The words mercy and merciful are found in the Old Testament of the KJB 288 times, yet in these same passages the NIV only has mercy 85 times while the NASB is down to 51 times. Instead they substitute the word 'love' in place of 'mercy'.

In 59:4 God is rebuking His people for their sins and says: "None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth:." This is the reading of the NKJV, Geneva Bible, 1936 Jewish translation, Spanish, Webster's, TMB, and KJV 21.

But the NASB joins the RSV and says: "No one sues righteously (goes to court) and no one pleads honestly" while the NIV is different yet with "No one calls for justice (OK), no one pleads his case with integrity."

There is a difference in pleading for the truth of God and pleading my own case in a court of law with integrity, and there is a difference between calling for justice and suing somebody.

The latter part of this verse says: "they trust in VANITY, and speak lies." This word 'vanity' was used in Isaiah 44:9 where it says: "they that make a graven image are all of them vanity...they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or moten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?"

The phrase "they trust in vanity" can refer to the false gods and idols which Israel constantly turned to. This is the reading of the KJB, RV, ASV, Geneva, KJV 21, TMB, Webster's, Spanish and Hebrew Names Version. But the NKJV says: "they trust in EMPTY WORDS", the NIV "they rely on EMPTY ARGUMENTS", and the NASB has: "they trust IN CONFUSION."

In 59:19 a beautiful verse has been totally changed in the NASB and NIV. In the KJB, NKJV, Darby, Young's, 1936, Spanish, Geneva, Diodati, Webster's, TMB, and KJV 21 we read: "When the ENEMY shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD SHALL LIFT UP A STANDARD AGAINST HIM."

This is a marvelous promise of protection against the enemy when he assails us with a flood of persecution or temptations.

However the NASB and NIV again join the RSV. The NASB says: "For He (God) will come like a rushing stream which the wind of the LORD drives." The NIV says: "For he will come like a pent up flood that the breath of he Lord drives along." The entire meaning is changed. They have omitted the word for "enemy", yet the NIV concordance shows they have translated this word #6862 as enemy or foe some 61 times but only once as "pent up". And the very word that is translated as "lift up a standard" is also translated as "lift up a banner" by the NASB and NIV Psalms 60:4.

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown remark concerning Isaiah 59:19 like a flood--(Jeremiah 46:7,8, Revelation 12:15). lift up a standard-- from a different Hebrew root, "shall put him to flight," "drive him away" [MAURER]. LOWTH, giving a different sense to the Hebrew for "enemy" from that in Isaiah 59:18, and a forced meaning to the Hebrew for "Spirit of the Lord," translates, "When He shall come as a river straitened in its course, which a mighty wind drives along."

Isaiah 61:10 is one of my favorite verses. "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself WITH ORNAMENTS, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."

"as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments" is the reading of the NKJV, 1936, Young's, Green's interlinear, TMB, Webster's and the KJV 21.

The word for "ornaments" here is the same word as "beauty" found in 61:3 "to give them beauty for ashes". The verb means to beautify and is found in 60:13 'to beautify the place of my sanctuary'. It is rendered as beauty in 61:3 by the KJB, NKJV, Geneva, Darby, Young's, TMB, KJV 21 and Webster's. There the NASB says "to give them a GARLAND for ashes" but the NIV has 'to give them a CROWN OF BEAUTY for ashes".

But when we get to verse 61:10 the NASB again translates the word as garland and says "as a bridegroom decks himself with a GARLAND" but the NIV says: "as a bridegroom adorns HIS HEAD LIKE A PRIEST." How did a priest get in there? The old RSV and even the NRSV read "garland" just like the NASB, but now the new ESV or English Standard Version of 2001, which is a revision of the RSV, says "as a bridegroom decks himself LIKE A PRIEST WITH A BEAUTIFUL HEADDRESS."

John Gill says this is a Targum interpretation rather than what the Hebrew text actually says.

I have passed over many other changes in meaning found in these chapters, but these few will show that not all bibles are just saying the same thing but with different words. Different words, unless they are synonyms, change the meaning of the text. This should be obvious to us all.

Isaiah 62-63

In many subtle ways the character of Almighty God is being diminished in some of today's modern versions. A case in point in Isaiah 62:6. In the KJB we read: "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye THAT MAKE MENTION OF the LORD, keep not silence."

This verb, to make mention, is used several times in Isaiah as in 48:1, 49:1, and 63:7 "I will mention the lovingkindness of the LORD" where even the NASB has 'mention'. However in 62:6 the NASB says: "you WHO REMIND THE LORD, take no rest". Now, does God need to be reminded of something by men? Is He a forgetful old man?

The NASB alone tells us in Psalm 78:36 that the children of Israel DECEIVED God, whereas all the other Bible say they did FLATTER Him with their mouth. We can flatter God and insincerely say nice things about Him, but surely we cannot deceive God.

Another example of diminishing God is found in Jeremiah 3:7 where the Hebrew Masoretic text, the Jewish translations, RV, ASV, NKJV, Young's, Darby, Geneva etc. have God saying: "And I SAID after she had done all these things, TURN THOU unto me. But she returned not."

However both the NASB and the NIV have followed a different text and have God saying: "I THOUGHT, 'After she has done all these things SHE WOULD RETURN to Me; but she did not ." Was God mistaken? Does God need to be reminded of something? Can He be deceived ? The NASB teaches us that He can be.

In 63:1-3 we have a picture of God taking vengeance as a man treading grapes and staining his garments. "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with DYED garments from Bozrah?...Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; ...their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments."

DYED garments is the reading of the KJB, RV, ASV, NKJV, Young's, Douay, Webster's, TMB, KJV 21. The NIV has 'garments stained crimson' but the NASB says: "with garments OF GLOWING COLORS".

In 63:11 we read: "Then HE remembered the days of old, Moses and his people..." HE refers to God and is the reading of the KJB, RV, ASV, NKJV, ESV, Young's, Darby, Geneva, RSV, Spanish, KJV 21, TMB, Webster's and the Douay versions.

Jamieson, Faussett and Brown remark - 11. remembered--Notwithstanding their perversity, He forgot not His covenant of old; therefore He did not wholly forsake them - God is represented, in human language, mentally speaking of Himself and His former acts of love to Israel, as His ground for pitying them notwithstanding their rebellion.

However the NASB and NIV say "HIS PEOPLE remembered..." It is of interest to note that the NRSV says THEY but then in a footnote tells us the Hebrew says HE.

The meaning of 63:19 has been changed in the NASB and the NKJV. There we read in the KJB, Young's, Webster's Bible, the Third Millenium Bible, the KJV 21 and even in the NIV "We are thine; thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name." The NIV reads: "We are yours from of old; but you have not ruled over them, they have not been called by your name."

God's people belong to Him. He chose them to be His own and He did not chose the surrounding nations. They were not called by the name of the one true God.

However both the NASB and the NKJV say: "We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled, Those who were never called by Your name." What happened to WE ARE THINE? Are they no longer the Lord's people?

Isaiah 64

1-3 "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might FLOW DOWN at thy presence, As when THE MELTING FIRE BURNETH, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name know to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things whice we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains FLOWED DOWN at thy presence."

The picture here of the melting fire and the mountains flowing down at the presence of God was both portrayed symbolically at the giving of the law at mount Sinai (Judges 5:4) and will occur literally in the great day of the Lord when the elements shall melt with fervent heat (2 Peter 3:10).

The mountains FLOW DOWN, and THE MELTING FIRE BURNETH is the reading of the KJB, Webster's Bible, the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21. Both verbs for the flow down are the same, but some versions translate one as flow down and the other as to shake or tremble as Darby, Young's and Douay.

Matthew Henry comments: "mountains flow down, melting fire burneth" That the mountains might flow down at thy presence, that the fire of thy wrath may burn so fiercely against thy enemies as even to dissolve the rockiest mountains and melt them down before it, as metal in the furnace, which is made liquid and cast into what shape the operator pleases; so the melting fire burns"

The NKJV joins the NASB (which has "quaked") and translates both instances of this verb as "the mountains SHAKE" instead of FLOW DOWN, and it also says "as fire burns BRUSHWOOD" instead of "the MELTING FIRE burneth". The NIV translates both verbs as "tremble" and has the fire burning TWIGS. We see literally hundreds of such examples where the NKJV has changed far more than just the Thee and Ye of the KJB.

The meaning of verses 4, 5 and 7 have also been inconsistently changed in the Babel of modern versions, as we shall see.

Verse 4 "FOR SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD, men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen. O GOD, BESIDE THEE, WHAT HE HATH PREPARED for him that waiteth for him."

"For since the beginning of the world" is the reading of the KJB, NKJV, Geneva, 1936 Jewish translation, Douay, TMB, Webster's, and the KJV 21. The NASB says FROM OF OLD, while the NIV has SINCE ANCIENT TIMES.

"NEITHER HATH THE EYE SEEN, O GOD, BESIDE THEE, WHAT HE HATH PREPARED" is the reading of the KJB, Douay, ASV footnote, TMB, KJV 21 and Webster's.

Matthew Henry again comments - "since the beginning of the world men have not, either by hearing or seeing, the two learning senses, come to the full knowledge of it. None have seen, nor heard, nor can understand, but God himself, what the provision is that is made for the present and future felicity of holy souls. God himself knew what he had in store for believers, but none knew besides him."

The KJB reading is in agreement with the New Testament reference to this verse where the Holy Ghost says through Paul in I Corinthians 2:9 "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

But here in Isaiah 64:4 the NKJV again joins the NASB, NIV in saying: "Nor has the sye seen ANY GOD BESIDE YOU, WHO ACTS FOR THE ONE who waits for Him." The meaning of the KJB is that no one has seen the things that God prepared but God. The NKJV's meaning is that some have seen God and He acts for them. The two meanings are very different. 64:5 "Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousnes, those that remember thee in THY WAYS; behold thou art wroth: for we have sinned: IN THOSE IS CONTINUANCE, AND WE SHALL BE SAVED." This is the reading of the KJB, Geneva, Darby, Webster, TMB and the KJV 21. The words IN THOSE IS CONTINUANCE refer back to the ways of God.

Jamieson, Faussett and Brown comment: in those is continuance--"it is not in Thy wrath that there is continuance but in Thy ways ("those"), namely, of covenant mercy to Thy people on the strength of the everlasting continuance of His covenant they infer by faith, "we shall be saved." God "remembered" for them His covenant though they often "remembered not" Him. CASTELLIO translates, "we have sinned for long in them ('thy ways'), and could we then be saved?" But they hardly would use such a plea when their very object was to be saved."

The Geneva Bible notes comment: 64:5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, [those that] remember thee in thy e ways: behold, thou art angry; for we have sinned: in f those is continuance, and we shall be saved. (e) They considered your great mercies. (f) That is, in your mercies, which he calls the ways of the Lord.

However we see the entire meaning of this verse completely changed in the multitude of modern versions. The NKJV says: "Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned - In THESE WAYS WE CONTINUE; And WE NEED TO BE SAVED."

The NASB has: "remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, WE CONTINUED IN THEM FOR A LONG TIME; AND SHALL WE BE SAVED?"

The NIV reads: "who remember your ways. BUT WE CONTINUED TO SIN AGAINST THEM, you were angry. HOW THEN CAN WE BE SAVED?"

The NRSV is even weirder with "who remember you in your ways. But you were angry and we sinned: BECAUSE YOU HID YOURSELF WE TRANSGRESSED." Then it has a footnote telling us that the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain! This is a total lie because the Hebrew is very clearly a Future passive of the verb to save, just like in the KJB "we SHALL BE SAVED".

So where is your final authority? God's pure words preserved in the majestic and God honoring King James Bible that has stood solid for almost 400 years, or in the changing and contradictory opinions of today's scholars?

Finally in this single chapter we read in verse 7 "And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, AND HAST CONSUMED US, BECAUSE OF OUR INIQUITIES."

The verb "to consume" is #4127 and can mean either to consume, to melt or to dissolve. The KJB reading is shared by many Bible versions including the NKJV and the NIV. The NIV says: "you have hidden your face from us and made us aste away because of our sins."

But when we get to the NASB we see that they have followed texts other than the Hebrew Masoretic. The NASB reads like the RSV and the NRSV and says: "You have hidden Your face from us and HAVE DELIVERED us INTO THE POWER OF OUR INIQUITIES."

The NASB does not tell you when they have changed texts, which they do 40 to 50 times that I have found so far. But the RSV and NRSV both have a footnote telling us that this reading comes in part from the LXX, the Syriac and a Targum reading but the Hebrew reads "melt", not "delivered into". The new ESV, which is a revision of the RSV, has now gone back to "you melt”.

So where is your final authority? God's pure words preserved in the majestic and God honoring King James Bible that has stood solid for almost 400 years, or in the changing and contradictory opinions of today?

Isaiah 66

In 66:4 God testifies against those who have gone after idols and chosen their own ways. To them He says: "I also will choose THEIR DELUSIONS, and will bring their fear upon them." This verse also ties in with II Thessalonians 2:11 where God says He will send strong DELUSION upon those who received not the love of the truth.

"I will choose their DELUSIONS" is the reading of the KJB, RV, ASV, NKJV, Geneva, Hebrew Names Bible and others. However the NASB says: "I will choose their PUNISHMENT"; the NIV "I will choose their HARSH TREATMENT" and the NRSV has: "I will choose TO MOCK THEM." These are not simple synonyms and do not mean the same thing.

We have dealt with 66:5 at the beginning of this study on Isaiah. Whereas the KJB, Green's interlinear, TMB, Webster's, KJV 21, 1936, and Spanish all say: "Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: BUT HE SHALL APPEAR TO YOUR JOY, and they shall be ashamed."

However the NKJV, NASB and NIV all change the meaning of this verse to: "Let the LORD be glorified THAT WE MAY SEE YOUR JOY, and they shall be ashamed."

66:19 "And I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, PUL, and Lud, THAT DRAW THE BOW, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off..and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles."

The reading of PUL here is exacltly what the Hebrew says and is the reading of the RV, ASV, NKJV, Young's, ESV, Darby etc. However the NIV says "the LIBYANS" and the NASB, RSV say "PUT (instead of PUL). But the NIV and RSV both have a footnote telling us that the NASB reading of PUT comes from SOME LXX but that the Hebrew says PUL. My copy of the LXX says PHUD and not PUT, so I don't know which copies of the LXX the NASB committee felt free to use here.

Again in 66:19 the reading of "THAT DRAW THE BOW" is found in the KJB, ASV, RV, RSV, NRSV, ESV, NKJV, Young's, Geneva etc. Even the NIV has: "famous as archers" but the NASB alone renders "that draw the bow" as "MESHECH, ROSH". Again they may have followed some LXX in part because my copy of the LXX reads "Mosoch" but it omits the 'Rosh" part.

One final verse in this study of Isaiah is 66:23 where we read: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall ALL FLESH come TO WORSHIP before me, saith the LORD."

When God uses the word FLESH in referrence to men it denotes our weakness, frailty, liability to sin and corruption. During the Millenium there will be people born who will come up to Jerusalem to worship God. Notice it is to WORSHIP God. Both the words Flesh for men and Worship for God put both in their proper place. Only God is to be worshipped. These words Flesh (for man) and Worship (for God) are found in the KJB, RV, ASV, NKJV and even the liberal RSV, NRSV and the new ESV.

However in both the NASB and NIV we see both man exalted and God diminished by the sublte change in both these words. Here they both render this verse as "shall ALL MANKIND come to BOW DOWN before Me, saith the LORD."

Mankind is a much nobler word than Flesh. It exalts man rather than humbles him, and we may Bow Down to a mere man, as in Genesis 37:10 and Exodus 11:8, but we can only Worship God. The NASB / NIV have both changed many verses in the New Testament where Jesus Christ is worshipped, to men merely Bowing down or Kneeling down before Him. See Matthew 8:2; 9:18; 18:21 and 20:20 etc. Yet they translate this same word as worship when it is applied to the dragon in Rev. 13:4.

We have seen through this comparative study of Isaiah that all bibles do NOT teach the same thing in scores of verses. The NASB, NIV and NKJV do not always follow the same Hebrew Masoretic texts, nor do they have the same meaning even when they supposedly are translating the same text. This results in the present day Bible Babel of confusion and uncertainty. There is no final authority save the conflicting opinions of scholars who believe some of God's words have been lost and it is up to them to restore as best they think they can what God Himself was not able to preserve.

We who believe God has kept His promises to preserve His words and has in fact done so, and they are found today in the King James Bible. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Thank you and may God be pleased to open the eyes of your understanding that you may "know the certainty of the words of truth". Proverbs 22:21

External Links

• Isaiah - a Comparative Study by Will Kinney

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List of New Testament Papyri

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List of New Testament minuscules

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List of New Testament uncials

01 · 02 · 03 · 04 · 05 · 06 · 07 · 08 · 09 · 010 · 011 · 012 · 013 · 014 · 015 · 016 · 017 · 018 · 019 · 020 · 021 · 022 · 023 · 024 · 025 · 026 · 027 · 028 · 029 · 030 · 031 · 032 · 033 · 034 · 035 · 036 · 037 · 038 · 039 · 040 · 041 · 042 · 043 · 044 · 045 · 046 · 047 · 048 · 049 · 050 · 051 · 052 · 053 · 054 · 055 · 056 · 057 · 058 · 059 · 060 · 061 · 062 · 063 · 064 · 065 · 066 · 067 · 068 · 069 · 070 · 071 · 072 · 073 · 074 · 075 · 076 · 077 · 078 · 079 · 080 · 081 · 082 · 083 · 084 · 085 · 086 · 087 · 088 · 089 · 090 · 091 · 092 · 093 · 094 · 095 · 096 · 097 · 098 · 099 · 0100 · 0101 · 0102 · 0103 · 0104 · 0105 · 0106 · 0107 · 0108 · 0109 · 0110 · 0111 · 0112 · 0113 · 0114 · 0115 · 0116 · 0117 · 0118 · 0119 · 0120 · 0121 · 0122 · 0123 · 0124 · 0125 · 0126 · 0127 · 0128 · 0129 · 0130 · 0131 · 0132 · 0134 · 0135 · 0136 · 0137 · 0138 · 0139 · 0140 · 0141 · 0142 · 0143 · 0144 · 0145 · 0146 · 0147 · 0148 · 0149 · 0150 · 0151 · 0152 · 0153 · 0154 · 0155 · 0156 · 0157 · 0158 · 0159 · 0160 · 0161 · 0162 · 0163 · 0164 · 0165 · 0166 · 0167 · 0168 · 0169 · 0170 · 0171 · 0172 · 0173 · 0174 · 0175 · 0176 · 0177 · 0178 · 0179 · 0180 · 0181 · 0182 · 0183 · 0184 · 0185 · 0186 · 0187 · 0188 · 0189 · 0190 · 0191 · 0192 · 0193 · 0194 · 0195 · 0196 · 0197 · 0198 · 0199 · 0200 · 0201 · 0202 · 0203 · 0204 · 0205 · 0206 · 0207 · 0208 · 0209 · 0210 · 0211 · 0212 · 0213 · 0214 · 0215 · 0216 · 0217 · 0218 · 0219 · 0220 · 0221 · 0222 · 0223 · 0224 · 0225 · 0226 · 0227 · 0228 · 0229 · 0230 · 0231 · 0232 · 0234 · 0235 · 0236 · 0237 · 0238 · 0239 · 0240 · 0241 · 0242 · 0243 · 0244 · 0245 · 0246 · 0247 · 0248 · 0249 · 0250 · 0251 · 0252 · 0253 · 0254 · 0255 · 0256 · 0257 · 0258 · 0259 · 0260 · 0261 · 0262 · 0263 · 0264 · 0265 · 0266 · 0267 · 0268 · 0269 · 0270 · 0271 · 0272 · 0273 · 0274 · 0275 · 0276 · 0277 · 0278 · 0279 · 0280 · 0281 · 0282 · 0283 · 0284 · 0285 · 0286 · 0287 · 0288 · 0289 · 0290 · 0291 · 0292 · 0293 · 0294 · 0295 · 0296 · 0297 · 0298 · 0299 · 0300 · 0301 · 0302 · 0303 · 0304 · 0305 · 0306 · 0307 · 0308 · 0309 · 0310 · 0311 · 0312 · 0313 · 0314 · 0315 · 0316 · 0317 · 0318 · 0319 · 0320 · 0321 · 0322 · 0323 ·

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List of New Testament lectionaries

1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 25b · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32 · 33 · 34 · 35 · 36 · 37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41 · 42 · 43 · 44 · 45 · 46 · 47 · 48 · 49 · 50 · 51 · 52 · 53 · 54 · 55 · 56 · 57 · 58 · 59 · 60 · 61 · 62 · 63 · 64 · 65 · 66 · 67 · 68 · 69 · 70 · 71 · 72 · 73 · 74 · 75 · 76 · 77 · 78 · 79 · 80 · 81 · 82 · 83 · 84 · 85 · 86 · 87 · 88 · 89 · 90 · 91 · 92 · 93 · 94 · 95 · 96 · 97 · 98 · 99 · 100 · 101 · 102 · 103 · 104 · 105 · 106 · 107 · 108 · 109 · 110 · 111 · 112 · 113 · 114 · 115 · 116 · 117 · 118 · 119 · 120 · 121 · 122 · 123 · 124 · 125 · 126 · 127 · 128 · 129 · 130 · 131 · 132 · 133 · 134 · 135 · 136 · 137 · 138 · 139 · 140 · 141 · 142 · 143 · 144 · 145 · 146 · 147 · 148 · 149 · 150 · 151 · 152 · 153 · 154 · 155 · 156 · 157 · 158 · 159 · 160 · 161 · 162 · 163 · 164 · 165 · 166 · 167 · 168 · 169 · 170 · 171 · 172 · 173 · 174 · 175 · 176 · 177 · 178 · 179 · 180 · 181 · 182 · 183 · 184 · 185 · 186 · 187 · 188 · 189 · 190 · 191 · 192 · 193 · 194 · 195 · 196 · 197 · 198 · 199 · 200 · 201 · 202 · 203 · 204 · 205 · 206a · 206b · 207 · 208 · 209 · 210 · 211 · 212 · 213 · 214 · 215 · 216 · 217 · 218 · 219 · 220 · 221 · 222 · 223 · 224 · 225 · 226 · 227 · 228 · 229 · 230 · 231 · 232 · 233 · 234 · 235 · 236 · 237 · 238 · 239 · 240 · 241 · 242 · 243 · 244 · 245 · 246 · 247 · 248 · 249 · 250 · 251 · 252 · 253 · 254 · 255 · 256 · 257 · 258 · 259 · 260 · 261 · 262 · 263 · 264 · 265 · 266 · 267 · 268 · 269 · 270 · 271 · 272 · 273 · 274 · 275 · 276 · 277 · 278 · 279 · 280 · 281 · 282 · 283 · 284 · 285 · 286 · 287 · 288 · 289 · 290 · 291 · 292 · 293 · 294 · 295 · 296 · 297 · 298 · 299 · 300 · 301 · 302 · 303 · 304 · 305 · 306 · 307 · 308 · 309 · 310 · 311 · 312 · 313 · 314 · 315 · 316 · 317 · 318 · 319 · 320 · 321 · 322 · 323 · 324 · 325 · 326 · 327 · 328 · 329 · 330 · 331 · 332 · 368 · 449 · 451 · 501 · 502 · 542 · 560 · 561 · 562 · 563 · 564 · 648 · 649 · 809 · 965 · 1033 · 1358 · 1386 · 1491 · 1423 · 1561 · 1575 · 1598 · 1599 · 1602 · 1604 · 1614 · 1619 · 1623 · 1637 · 1681 · 1682 · 1683 · 1684 · 1685 · 1686 · 1691 · 1813 · 1839 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 2005 · 2137 · 2138 · 2139 · 2140 · 2141 · 2142 · 2143 · 2144 · 2145 · 2164 · 2208 · 2210 · 2211 · 2260 · 2261 · 2263 · 2264 · 2265 · 2266 · 2267 · 2276 · 2307 · 2321 · 2352 · 2404 · 2405 · 2406 · 2411 · 2412 ·

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New book available with irrefutable evidence for the reading in the TR and KJV. Revelation 16:5 and the Triadic Declaration - A defense of the reading of “shalt be” in the Authorized Version