Restore the 1984 NIV

Two of my original quizzing books

When I was a teenager, I was part of a Bible Quizzing program. Over the years, I committed a fair amount of the New Testament to memory. The scripture translation we used was the New International Version.

A few years ago, Biblica updated the translation and for the past few years had been giving the online bibles and apps (biblegateway, youversion) the option of selecting the latest NIV or the 1984 version.

Now however, they have quit selling the 1984 and have made all of the online versions use the "2011" only. On February 28, the 1984 disappeared from websites, tablets, and phones around the world.

So how different is it? Plenty! As an example, here are the first four verses from Romans 2 in the 2011:

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Here is the 1984 version (typed from memory):

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things. Now we know that God's judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you,a mere man, pass judgement on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgement? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

I know... the differences seem pretty minor; but to someone quoting, they are huge.  When one already has the text memorized, these subtle changes are like a mosquito buzzing in your ear - utterly distracting.

I understand the desire to use the latest knowledge and linguistic research to keep the language of the scriptures as accurate as possible. I would just request that Biblica make the 1984 NIV available as an option for the scores of people who have committed these texts to memory.

If this is an issue that matters to you, Biblica can be reached here.