You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the LORD your God I am giving you.
Deuteronomy 4:2, HCSB
No one has the right to change God’s Word in anyway—adding to it or taking out, not just words, but words that will change the meaning of the passage. This can be done in two ways—in a written form like The Passion Translation (a false Bible translation) and when preaching about God to someone that does not match with what the Scriptures says about Him.
To preach the gospel correctly, you have to be in God’s Word as much as you possibly can.
I would like to warn everyone of a false Bible translation called: The Passion Translation.
The translator [Brian Simmons] said that he got special revelation from God about how to translate the Bible. The Passion Translation adds words to the passage that does not exist in the original language. For example:
The Passion Translation
Ephesians 1:19 “I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power”
The Passion Translation adds “Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you!”
Now, let us see the same passage in a different but faithful Bible translation.
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Ephesians 1:19 “and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.”
This Bible translation is taking the Pentecostal world by storm. They are being entrapped by this translation that is not God’s Word to make them slip away from having a pure devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Pentecostal denomination is under demonic attack.
2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.”
The devil wants to take away your personal devotional time with the Lord by attacking the very thing that will link you to Christ, His Word.
Conclusion: Stay away from The Passion Translation that is obviously not from God. A good Bible translation is one that is not too watered down but sticks close to the Hebrew and Greek and is readable. A word for word translation can be as bad as a watered down translation. Why do I say that? If you cannot understand a literal translation, then you won’t get to live out the Word of God. The same goes for a paraphrase bible translation. If it is too watered down, then the meaning of the message is gone and you will end up living out someone’s interpretation of what he thinks the Bible says instead of what God really said.
The best Bible translations that are literal but can be understood would be—The NJKV, the ESV, the NASB 2020, and the MEV. For a less literal but still being faithful to the original manuscripts would be—The HCSB, the CSB, the BSB, and the NIV. These are my personal preference, but nonetheless, they are trustworthy. If you don’t have a problem reading a literal translation, that would be the best choice. Regardless which Bible translation you pick, the most important thing is that you read it everyday.
Spiritual Minefield 