Multiple Version Disorder
Is it God’s Judgment on the Church?
 
By Dr. Ken Matto
 
1 Corinthians 10:11 (KJV) Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
 
Are multiple Bible versions God’s judgment on the church?  What a question.  How could the word of God be a judgment on the very establishment it proclaims?  Very simple.  Any version can call itself a Bible but it is the content inside those versions which cause them to be a judgment rather than a blessing.  Let us look at the precedent for this biblical principle.  In 1 Corinthians 10:11, we are told that the things which happened to ancient Israel were recorded by God for the purpose of our admonition.  The word “admonition” in the Greek carries with it the meaning of “instruction, warning, or counsel.”  It is the word “nouthesia” and we derive the word “nouthetic” which is a form of accountability counseling made popular by Jay Adams.  In other words, God did not record those things which happened to Israel as something just be read but they are there to warn us to not fall into the same traps which they allowed themselves to fall into which resulted in them being judged by God and eventually losing their nation forever in 70 A.D.
 
Isaiah 28:11 (KJV) For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.  In Isaiah 28:11, God had already stated that He was going to bring a judgment on Judah which happened in 586 B.C.  Here is the principle which we are able to carry over to the New Testament Church.   The prophecy which God is making through Isaiah is that of the coming of the Chaldeans or the Babylonians who will eventually take Judah into captivity for seventy years.  Notice how God reveals this fact.  He tells them that He is going to speak to these people, that is Judah, with men of stammering lips and another tongue.  The phrase “stammering lips” carries with it the meaning of “foreign lips.”  The English word “stammering” means “stopping or hesitating in the speaking of syllables and words.”  So this gives us a little insight about the way the Chaldean  language was spoken.
 
For many years, since the times of Moses, which would have been about 700 years before Isaiah was written, God had sent prophets and leaders to Israel but the problem as that they were a very rebellious and recalcitrant people.  Whenever God sent a prophet to them to guide them back into obedience, they had refused to listen.  Now the prophets came to them in their own language, speaking to them in no uncertain terms so there was no problem in them understanding.  We know this because they would hear the prophets and then afterward would become very angry with them to the point of persecuting and even killing them.  Luke 13:34 (KJV) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!  Jesus Himself made that accusation against them.  So the time of God’s patience wore out and He was now going to do something to Judah which they would be unable to believe. 
 
Habakkuk 1:5-6 (KJV) Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. 6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
 
Habakkuk was written about 626-605 B.C. which was about 150 years after Isaiah and we can tell from this that Judah still remained in disobedience to God and the Law.  Now they refused to listen to those prophets who came to them in their own language to warn them and admonish them that if they did not become obedient, then God was going to judge them with the Chaldeans.  Remember the Chaldeans were described by God as those “with stammering lips and another tongue.”  In other words, God was going to use a people whereby Judah would not be able to understand their language.  Since they refused to listen in their own language, God was now going to judge them by a foreign language.  That was the principle God was giving in Isaiah 28:11.
 
Now how does that apply to the Christian and the church of today.  Up until 1881, the church used one Bible and that was the King James.  You could go into any church and you would hear that Bible being expounded.  If you look at history, you will see that the church was a very powerful entity at that time and because people in this country used the King James Bible, it spawned not only a powerful church but the greatest century of world missions.  Then in 1881, the Revised Version of Hort and Westcott was released on the Christian world.  It did not make the greatest impact at that time but the fact that it was there meant that the source of corruption was just waiting to be used and it was.  In 1872, Phillip Schaff chose 30 theologians from various denominations including the Unitarian church and began the translation from the 1881 RV Greek of Hort and Westcott into what would be called the 1901 American Standard Version.  Satan now had his foot in the door with the corrupt Bible version.  Then in 1906 came the “Azuza street revival” which it was called but when one studies it, there was also much witchcraft involved in it.  That lasted from 1906 to 1915.  Just long enough for the Assemblies of God to form in 1914 whereby it started the charismatic movement with all the tongues, signs, and wonders.  The churches were beginning to accept the tongues and because they did, they suffered the same fate as the people of Judah did in the time of Habakkuk.
 
Just as the message was being preached in the language of the people, they began to start accepting the tongues movement and because of this, God was now judging them as He did Judah with other tongues which are totally gibberish.  With the acceptance of the tongues movement, God was now judging every single church which adapted that satanic phenomenon.  If a church accepts tongues, then that is not evidence of the Holy Spirit, but evidence that church is under judgment.  Individual Christians who accept tongues, if they are truly saved, will not lose their salvation but will be severely hindered in their Christian walk and will not grow beyond tongues, healing, miracles, and signs.  In other words, these Christians will not grow because they are stagnating their own growth by accepting what is not of God.
 
Now that principle has been transferred to every church which accepts the modern versions.  Every single modern version says something different and therefore cannot get past “what does your version say?”  Try to have a Bible study where there are ten different versions and you will be at an impasse.  When the church was using only one Bible, namely the King James Bible, there was a very powerful church.  Now that we have many counterfeit versions in the churches, the church has become the weakest entity on earth.  In fact, it has been downgraded to nothing but a religious social club where everyone is welcome, including witches.  Watch this video called “Witchcraft in the Church” with Pastor Mike Hoggard.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOV_Hztmv1M
 
With each modern version saying something different, if you have a church full of Christians with modern versions, then what you have is a situation of total confusion.  The pastor is teaching from his ESV, you are sitting there with your NIV, your wife or husband has the NASV, and your child has the Message.  It is just like the judgment of Judah with the foreign tongues.  Each modern version is a tongue of its own and since so many Christians have multiple versions in every church, it is not a place of growth but of confusion.  Since God cannot speak to the church in the language of the King James Bible, He is now speaking to these churches with stammering lips.  Remember what the stammering lips were.  They were the hesitation and stopping of pronouncing syllables.  Is that happening in the church?  It sure is.  How many times does your pastor stop the sermon to quote another version or how many times does he go to the Greek or the Hebrew and expound the word from his Nestle-Aland or UBS Greek New Testament?  The reality is that multiple versions in a church is just like God speaking to Judah through the stammering lips of the Chaldeans.  The gospel needs continuity in its teaching and not confusion.  If your church suffers from Multiple Version Disorder, then your church is under God’s Judgment.  If the Bible that He gave us in 1611 which is bathed in the blood of the martyrs is not good enough for you, then you are a traitor by embracing the Roman Catholic modern versions, then you, like Judah, have become an enemy of Christ and your Christian walk will be a total disappointment.
 
One of the main attack points the modern version only proponents claim is that the King James Bible is translated from late manuscripts while the modern versions are translated from much earlier manuscripts and that is why they claim the modern versions are much more accurate.  Before I show you from the modern versions how bad they really are, I want to offer the following situations as metaphors showing why the King James Bible was translated from late manuscripts.
 
1) You have purchased a brand new home and you live in it for 9 years but the water heater has gone bad so you have it replaced with a new one.  So you continue to live in the house for another year which means you have a 10 year old house with a brand new water heater.  Why?  Because through much usage the water heater needed to be replaced.
 
2) You have purchased a new car and after 5 years you need new tires so you have a 5 year old car with brand new tires.  Why?  Because the tires wore out from constant usage and needed to be replaced.
 
In these two metaphors we see that products which have consistent usage must be replaced after a certain amount of time.  It is the same with anything which receives constant usage.   We live in a world where things wear out and need to be replaced.  It is the same with the manuscripts leading up to the King James Bible in 1604.  Manuscripts which were copied from the originals had to be recopied because of great usage and those copies had to be recopied because of great usage and so on.  This was a consistent practice in ancient times where copies of writings had to be recopied because of considerable usage.  This is how ancient documents were handed down from generation to generation.  Even if they were not used, age itself would have an effect upon parchment and vellum.  Vaticanus is written on vellum which means that no way it could be a fourth century manuscript because it would have crumbled instead of staying in good shape and the same goes for Sinaiticus. 
 
Now since the modern version only proponents and the multiple version students believe they have the earliest copies making them the closest to the originals, let us see how accurate that belief system is.  We will allow the modern versions to speak for themselves.
Jonah 3:4
 (NIV) Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
 
(Septuagint – Brenton 1851) And Jonas began to enter into the city about a day's journey, and he proclaimed, and said, Yet three days, and Nineve shall be overthrown.
 
The NIV states “a day’s journey” but the Septuagint states “three days.”  Which one is correct?
Acts 24:7
(NASV) But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands,
 
(ESV) Omitted
 
The NASV has it in but the ESV omits it.  So which of the oldest and best manuscripts are correct?  Is it in or should it be out?
Luke 9:54
(NKJV) Luke 9:54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
 
Footnote: Luke 9:54 NU-Text omits just as Elijah did.
 
(ESV) Luke 9:54 - And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"
 
Footnote: Luke 9:54 Some manuscripts add as Elijah did
 
So if I was using the ESV and the NKJV for a study of this verse, I would be in a quandary. According to one version it should be omitted but according to the other version it should be added. So do I add it or do I omit it? (1 Cor 14:33 KJV) For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
NKJV Rejects Jesus
(Titus 3:10) Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,
 
(Luke 12:51)  Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.
 
The NKJV states in Titus 3:10 that we need to reject a divisive man but Luke 12:51 states that Jesus came to bring division.  So based on Titus 3:10 in the NKJV, do we reject Jesus?
Ecclesiastes 8:10
(ESV) Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.
 
(NASV) So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility.
 
The ESV states that the wicked which are buried were praised but the NASV states that they are soon forgotten.  So which is it from the oldest and best manuscripts, praised or forgotten?
Matthew 18:22
(ESV) Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
 
(NIV) Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
 
(NASV) Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
 
The Lord tells Peter how many times he is to forgive someone.  The NASV states it should be seventy times seven but the NIV and ESV states seventy seven times.  So which is it, seventy times seven or seventy seven?  What does the oldest and best manuscripts say?
2 Samuel 15:7
(NIV) At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and
fulfill a vow I made to the Lord.
 
(NASV) Now it came about at the end of forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron.
 
The NIV states four years but the NASV states forty years.  So which is it, 4 or 40?
Luke 10:1
(ESV) After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
 
(AMP) Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them out ahead of Him, two by two, into every city and place where He was about to go.
 
The Lord dispatched his disciples and sent them out two by two.  The ESV states he sent out 72 but the Amplified Version states 70.  So which is it, 70 or 72?
Matthew 12:47
(NIV) Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
 
(ESV) Omitted
 
Someone came to Jesus and told him that his mother and brothers were waiting outside the house he was in.   The NIV includes this verse but the ESV omits it.  So which one is it, include or exclude?
Exodus 26:14
Which type of skins were used for the tabernacle?
 
(KJV) And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering above of badgers' skins.
 
The Hebrew word used for Badger is “techashim” which is translated badger or badger’s 14 times in the Hebrew Scriptures.  It is not translated any other way until you get to the modern versions.
 
http://www.scionofzion.com/exodus_26_14.html
Sealskins – ASV, TLV and NWT (Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Porpoise or Dolphin Skins – AMP, ISV, The Message, NASV
Beaded Leather - CEB
Fine Leather – CEV, ERV, GNB, LEB, NCV, NET, NRSV
Violet Colored Skins – DRA
Goatskins – ESV, LB, RSV, NLT
Manatee – HCSB (Large Marine Mammal)
Tahash – NABRE (Legendary animal no longer in existence)
Strong Leather – NIRV
Durable Leather – NIV
Sea-Cow Hides – The Voice
 
Here you have 25 modern versions and 10 different translations of the word for “badger.”  So if you used only modern versions, then how would you know which word to choose?  Stay with the King James, there is no guesswork!
Zephaniah 2:14
(NIV) Flocks and herds will lie down there, creatures of every kind.  The desert owl and the screech owl will roost on her columns.  Their hooting will echo through the windows, rubble will fill the doorways, the beams of cedar will be exposed.
 
(NASV) Flocks will lie down in her midst, All beasts which range in herds; Both the pelican and the hedgehog Will lodge in the tops of her pillars; Birds will sing in the window, Desolation will be on the threshold; For He has laid bare the cedar work.
 
In Zephaniah 2:14 we have the naming of two animals.  The NIV states the desert owl and the screech owl.  The NASV states it is the pelican and hedgehog.  The desert owl and the screech owl are totally different animals than the pelican and hedgehog.  So which pair of animals is correct?
Hosea 11:12
(NASV) Ephraim surrounds Me with lies And the house of Israel with deceit; Judah is
also unruly against God, Even against the Holy One who is faithful.
 
(CSB) Ephraim surrounds me with lies, the house of Israel, with deceit. Judah still wanders with God and is faithful to the holy ones.
 
In this portion of Hosea, the NASV states that Judah is also unruly against God but the Christian Standard Bible states that Judah is faithful.  How can you be unruly and faithful to God at the same time?
 
James 1:7
(NASV) For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
 
(ESV) For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
 
(RSV) For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.
 
John 5:4
(ESV) Omitted
 
(NASV) for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]
 
Matthew 21:44
(RSV-1946) Omitted
 
(NRSV-1989) The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
 
Luke 24:12
(RSV) Omitted
 
(NRSV) But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.
 
Luke 24:40
 
(RSV) Omitted
 
(NRSV)  when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
 
Mark 1:39 & Luke 4:44
 
Mark 1:39 (ESV) And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
 
Luke 4:44 (ESV) And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
 
Mark 1:39 (KJB) And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.
 
Luke 4:44 (KJB) And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.
 
The ESV has Jesus preaching in Galilee and Judea, which is 70 miles (113 km) south of Galilee, at the same time.  Mark 1:39 & Luke 4:44 are the same event!  In Luke 5:1 we read Jesus was by the Sea of Gennesaret which was the Sea of Galilee and it was here where Jesus called Simon Peter, James, and John because they were fishermen.  Luke 5:1 (ESV) On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,
 
Summary
The modern versions do not even agree with each other yet we are told they are sourced in the oldest and best manuscripts.  It seems the oldest and best manuscripts cannot make up their own mind as to what is the correct translation of the above passages and there are others.  This is the problem that the modern versions used different sources which they included at the time of translation.  They used the Targums, Septuagint, Syriac Peshitta, Dead Sea Scrolls, Leningrad Codex for the Hebrew, Samaritan Pentateuch, Biblical Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the eclectic text of Hort and Westcott for the Greek.  The King James Bible used the 1524-25 Bomberg Edition of the Masoretic Text and the 1598 Greek text of Theodore Beza which underwent 12 refinements prior to usage in the King James Bible.  If I was a Christian who used multiple versions in the mythical belief that I will gain better understanding, then the above examples prove that you will gain an inferior understanding along with massive confusion and God is not the author of confusion.  You are deluding yourself if you believe the modern counterfeits will benefit you.  The only ones who benefit from modern versions are the publishers who couldn’t care less about your spiritual growth as long as you feed their coffers.
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