"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; and Luke 21:33)

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

So, what are these verses talking about? Very simply, that the words of God will not pass away. There are no exceptions, His words shall not pass away.

Mt 5:17-18:

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets (the Old Testament): I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

Jesus said that not one letter will pass away from the Word of God. Jesus is God; and God cannot be wrong. 2Timothy 3:16:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

Let’s think about this for a second. The Almighty God of the universe is going to communicate with his creation. He is going to do this through a book. He gave it to us by His direct inspiration, and promised to preserve it in that His words will not pass away.
So, how many errors do you think He would allow in this book? How many are too many? How small is small enough? Would He just give His word to men and let them fill it with errors? It is true that God inspired the original manuscripts through inspiration; but do not forget that His intervention didn’t stop there--He preserved His word. God’s promises mean that we have the perfectly preserved word of God today.

Comparisons

Now let’s look at two very popular versions of the Bible, the NIV (New International Version) and the KJV (King James Version), and compare a few verses.

"This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."

This is a very essential verse in the Bible. It shows the truth that God is three in one. The Lord tells us plainly here about Himself.

1John 5:6-8, (NIV):

"This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the spirit, the water and the blood and the three are in agreement."

Something is missing; an important truth is not found in this version of the Bible. Well, let’s look at another verse.

Matthew 18:11, (KJV):

"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."

What a wonderful verse; it shows us that Jesus came to seek us and to save us from our sin. It is a very important verse to us.
So, what does the NIV say? Nothing. The whole verse is omitted.

The Baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch is one of great importance to us because it is one of the few passages that give a complete example for baptism. The eunuch wonders what would hinder him being baptized, and Philip replies:

(KJV)"And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Baptism is only for those who have believed on Jesus Christ; this too is a very important doctrinal verse for us, but the NIV omits this verse as well.

Matthew 9:13, (KJV):

"But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Repentance is an important part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn’t want to come into your life, to be an add-on to other idols, He wants to change your life.

2Corinthians 5:17,"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Matthew 9:13, (NIV):

"But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Repentance is gone.

Jesus is God the Son. It is important for us to realize that God redeemed us; that was no angel on the cross, it was God himself paying for our sins. A good verse to see this truth is 1Timothy 3:16,(KJV):

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

"God was manifest in the flesh." There is no doubt; but the NIV says:

"Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory."

"He appeared in a body"? That is not nearly close enough to "God was manifest in the flesh" to be clear. There is something wrong here.

The Bible is full of prophecy; this is one way we can see that it is of God, because of fulfilled prophecy. Who else can completely know the future?

Mark 1:2-3 tells us of two prophecies of John the Baptist from the Old Testament (KJV):

"As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."

The first one is found in Malachi 3:1, and the second one is found in Isaiah 40:3. But the NIV says:

"It is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘I will send My messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way’ ‘a voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord make straight paths for him.’"

Here is a short list of a few other verses that have been changed (bold face words are the ones that are omitted in the NIV):

Mark 10:21, "...come, take up the cross, and follow me."

Luke 4:8, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan...."

Matthew 19:9, "...and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."

1Corinthians 11:24

(KJV) "...Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you..."

(NIV) "...This is my body, which is for you..."

Mark 15:28 "And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors." (the whole verse is omitted)

Matthew 27:35, "And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots."

So, we have seen that these two version are not the same; there are some major differences. But these are only a few examples of the errors found in many new versions, there are hundreds more; and although I am using the NIV for these examples, almost all other versions (NASB, ASV, RSV, LIVING, PHILLIPS, etc...) have similar errors and omissions. This is because of the manuscripts that they were translated from, and the method that the translators used.

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