Missing Verses as a Guide

The KJV Onlyist will often site a list of missing verses in translations as proof that the KJV is the correct Bible. The inference is that the other translations are inferior or not the correct Bible.

The KJV Onlyist claims, “These omissions often diminish the basic doctrines.”1

My first introduction to the missing verses in modern translation argument was when I began using the NIV instead of my KJV Thompson Chain Reference Bible. At that time the preachers and teachers were telling us that we could use the missing verses as a guide to knowing if it was the “true word of God” or not.

Key Missing Verses

I was zealous in examining the various translations that others were using, as well as those that were on my bookshelf. I wanted to know if they were or were not the Word of God. The pastors and teachers of the KJV Only had instructed that there were two specific key verses to look at.

The Missing Verse

The first was 1 John 5:7 and was the first verse that I would turn to. This is the verse that as an evangelical witness for the Lord would be used to define Trinitarian Theology.

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1 John 5:7 KJV

In looking at the other translations on my shelf it was discovered that they did not have this verse. Those translations are:

NIV, ASV, NASB, RV, Living Bible, and the Good News Bible.

The Missing Phrase

The second check that the pastors and teachers of the KJV Only gave to us was a missing phrase. The first part of Revelation 1:11 was missing in the modern translations. This phrase again was part of showing the Trinity of God.

The missing phrase we were told was, “Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:”

Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Revelation 1:11 KJV

This phrase spoken by Jesus would show His equality to God the Father by reference to Revelation 1:8 where God makes the same claim.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:8 KJV

It is missing

So, again looking at the various translations on my bookshelf it was revealed that this phrase is missing. Each of the translations that did not have 1 John 5:7 were also missing the first part of Revelation 1:11. Those translations are:

NIV, ASV, NASB, RV, Living Bible, and the Good News Bible.

Following The Guide…

New King James Tested

One day, I came across the NKJV. Skeptical that this was a good translation I flipped to the first test scripture that we were to use as a guide. Looking at 1 John 5:7 I discovered:

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

1 John 5:7 NKJV

So, the first test in the guide was there. This was good, but what about the missing phrase? Quickly, I turned to the second test verse:

saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

Revelation 1:11 NKJV

Proven Reliable Translation

There it was. The phrase that linked Jesus to the Father. Both test verses showed that the NKJV did not remove the trinity teaching found in the scripture.

According to the original preachers and teachers of the KJV Only doctrine these two tests would reveal if it was a reliable translation. Of course, at the time they taught this the NKJV had not yet been published. None of the other modern translations passed their test.

Yet, here was a translation that now passed their test. By their own guide the New King James Version (NKJV) was a reliable translation of the original scripture.

Change in Translation Usage

This along with other considerations I changed from using the KJV to using the NKJV.

A New List of Verses

The KJV Onlyist has doubled up their effort to discredit modern translations and to guilt Christians into using only the KJV. In this effort, they have continued to issue lists of verses that are missing in the modern translation.

FaceBook Attack

In 2013 someone on Facebook sent me a list of missing verses to prove that my quoting of a verse from The Message2 was using a poor translation. Actually, they told me that it was an evil Satanic version. Checking the list it was revealed that The Message indeed did not have those verses.

And the NKJV?

It was not surprising to me that the verses in the list were not included in The Message’s translation.2 The reason is not because Pastor Peterson purposefully removed them. The reason is the same as that for the other translations that do not contain these verses. Simply, they use a different copy of the original language.

But what about the NKJV? After all, it stood up to the original test. Would it stand up to today’s list?

Would the verses the KJV Onlyist sent to me demonstrate that the NKJV was a faulty translation? I looked up each verse in both the KJV as well as the NKJV for comparison.

The Readers Homework

The KJV Onlyist maintained that the translations missing these verses were not the real and true Word of God. The conclusion may be that the translation that does contain these verses is the real and true Word of God.

The Additional Verses to Check

Instead of displaying both the KJV and the NKJV verse here, we will leave it up to the reader to do the research. Here are the verses that he sent to me:

• Matthew 17:21
• Matthew 18:11
• Matthew 23:14
• Mark 7:16
• Mark 9:44
• Mark 9:46
• Mark 11:26
• Mark 15:28
• Luke 17:36
• Luke 23:17
• John 5:4
• Acts 8:37
• Acts 15:34
• Acts 24:7
• Acts 28:29
• Romans 16:24
• 1 John 5:7