“…which is translated…”

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Newsletter article for February 2026

The phrase “Which is translated” (NKJV) or “which means” (ESV), other similar phrases, occur several times in the New Testament. It is used to mark translation of Hebrew words or phrases into Greek. This happens with names, places, and titles. Here are just a few examples: “God with us” for “Immanuel” (Mt 2); “Rabboni” for “[my] Teacher” (Jn 20); “Christ” for “Messiah” (Jn 1); “Sent” for “Siloam” (Jn 9); and “Son of Encouragement” for “Barnabas” (Acts 4).

Translating is an ancient practice. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, was produced about 200 years before Christ. Jerome translated the entire Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin around 400 years after Christ. Martin Luther translated into German the New Testament in 1522 and finished the Old Testament by 1534. William Tyndale produced the first English Bible from the Greek and Hebrew in the early 1500s, and in 1611 the King James Version (a.k.a. The Authorized Version) was produced.

“Of making many books there is no end.” (Eccl 12:12) So it could also be said of Bible translation. Today, there are around 50 English Bible translations, depending on how you want to count them, and when you include revisions and updates to translations the number almost doubles!

After the King James Version came on the scene in 1611, there wasn’t an explosion of English translations until the 1900s, and only revisions to the KJV in the 1800s. It was the version used in the LCMS after the move to English. (Before that the official Bible of the LCMS was Luther’s translation.) There was an official move to a different translation in the 1980s, the NIV. After that the ESV was adopted in 2006. The New King James Version is also used by many in the Missouri Synod. All three are fine translations, with different goals. Let us consider each then “What does this all mean?”

NIV

The NIV New Testament was published in 1973 and the entire New International Version in 1978. It has a few alternate versions like New International Reader’s Version. The NIV has gone through a few editions: 1978, 1984, 2011. It was used in the LCMS, most notably for the Concordia Self-Study Bible (1986). The NIV was the main text for the LCMS during the era of Lutheran Worship (1982), until the arrival of Lutheran Service Book (2006).

Why not still use it? The NIV (1984) is a fine translation, but by 2011 Zondervan had begun using gender-inclusive language, and so a version you pick up at store will not be the same as your faithful NIV, Concordia Self-Study Bible if you have. The NIV itself is a sense for sense translation, which means, it seeks to modernize some Greek and Hebrew idioms into a more natural English way of speaking. This is, of course, is a fine method of translation, which Luther himself employed at times.

ESV

With the arrival of Lutheran Service Book in 2006, a new translation was adopted within the LCMS: the English Standard Version, which was produced by Crossway. Now, the ESV differs from the NIV in that the ESV is a word for word translation, rather than sense for sense. This means that the ESV keeps most Hebrew or Greek idioms, while the NIV would update them for sense. This isn’t always the case for the ESV, but it’s a general guiding principle.

The ESV was derived from the Revised Standard Version (1971). The ESV was first published in 2001, with subsequent minor revisions in 2002, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2025. (Crossway has the desire to continue revisions.) The ESV you can find on a shelf or at Amazon will be different than what is used in the printed material of the Missouri Synod (Bibles, Catechism, Lectionary, etc.). As noted with the NIV there are several revisions to the ESV, and the LCMS adopted the ESV before most of them. That, however, is only part of the story. The LCMS also uses its own version of the ESV. With permission of Crossway, the LCMS changed certain words or phrases to line up with our own principles with translation. One example is “just decrees” (LCMS) vs “righteous rules” (ESV), like in Psalm 119:7.

NKJV

The New King James Version (1982) is exactly what its name implies. It is an update to the King James Version (1611). There is only one edition of the New King James Version—the one printed in 1982. (Only a minor revision/correction occurred in 1984, but didn’t warrant even a change in the copyright date.) Thus, the NKJV is the same no matter when you bought it, or where you buy it now. From Walmart to Amazon to Thomas Nelson to the Bible app on your phone, the NKJV text is the same.

The NKJV seeks to stand the tradition of the King James Version (1611). Thomas Nelson, the publisher of the NKJV, states, “The NKJV Bible preserves the authority and accuracy, as well as the rhythm and beauty, of the original King James Version while making it understandable to current readers. The result is a Bible translation, scrupulously faithful to the original, yet truly updated to enhance its clarity and readability.”

As the King James Version (1611) was translated for use in worship for the public reading of Scripture, it has a cadence and rhythm to that aids in reading and hearing. It avoids what some call “Yoda-isms” in the ESV, like when parole say “Here am I.” Its modern use of punctuation, unlike the KJV, does hurt its readability only slightly. Luke 2:4–5 is a good example. (Read both out loud, and you’ll see what I mean.)

King James: And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

New King James: Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

Finally, the NKJV has an interesting history within the Missouri Synod. It was used in the test materials for Lutheran Service Book (2006). In fact, the NKJV is used from time to time in the Rites of LSB. A few often encountered examples are Mark 10:13–16 (Holy Baptism, LSB 270); Matthew 28:18b–20 and 10:32–33 (Confirmation, LSB ); and Job 19:23–27 (Committal, LSB Pastoal Care Companion). The choice of the ESV over the NKJV, from the way it was recounted to me, was made in just about the eleventh hour from release by CPH. Moreover, there has been some constant and growing usage of the NKJV within the LCMS. In fact, at the 2025 South Wisconsin District Convention it passed to “ask Concordia Publishing House to produce additional resources—id est Bibles, Commentaries, Devotionals, et cetera—using the New King James Version.”

What does this all mean?

Well, by and large, most modern translations that we have used in the Missouri Synod are fine translations. Any change should be taken with the utmost care. It falls under the same logic as Luther when considering the text of the Catechism.

He says, “First, the pastor should most carefully avoid teaching the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, the sacraments, etc., according to various texts and differing forms. Let him adopt one version, stay with it, and from one year to the next keep using it unchanged. Young and inexperienced persons must be taught a single fixed form or they will easily become confused, and the result will be that all previous effort and labor will be lost. There should be no change, even though one may wish to improve the text.” (Small Catechism, Preface)

This, of course, makes sense with the Catechism which is geared toward memorization, even of a whole household. It makes no sense to change the text with each child, for example. Thus, CPH has kept the Catechism the exact same since 1986.

What of the Bible? It shouldn’t be changed all that often. Of the above three translations, only the NKJV stands out as actually accomplishing that goal. Granted the CPH ESV also remains unchanged since 2006, but the ESV itself will continue to diverge from that text as the NIV did from when it was used in the LCMS. (If only the Synod had adopted the NKJV, we’d still be on the same translation of Scripture since the 1986!)

For myself, I don’t like different versions running around. It can lead to not knowing which version you know. Yet, because I’ve lived through ESV and NIV, along with learning the originals in Seminary, I’m never sure what version I’m quoting when doing so from the heart. I’m not sure that actually matters all that much. It might be ESV, NIV, NKJV, the Fenker version, or some mixture of all of them at once!

My personal preference is to use the NKJV and supplement it with liturgical texts we have memorized. For a couple examples, when you read Matthew 6:8–13, you swap in the Lord’s Prayer that we pray all the time, or swap in the Catechism translation when you get to Matthew 28:19. Most of the time, my “issues” are not translation. If it does, it makes the same choice as the ESV. In fact, in a most important passage, 1 Corinthians 10:16 is far superior in the NKJV vs ESV (“communion of” instead of “participation in”). My “issues” are more “comments” in regard to the different Greek manuscripts that the NKJV uses from the ESV.

And besides all that the NKJV is at a slightly lower reading level than the ESV. The NKJV is 7th Grade (ages 12+), the ESV 10th Grade (ages 15+). (The NIV is roughly the same as NKJV.)

Anyway, there’s no reason to burn your Bibles. (Though that’s a fine practice for disposing of an unusable one). If you’re comfortable with your Concordia Self-Study NIV, or your Lutheran Study Bible CPH ESV, great! Many Pastors in Synod, and I would be one of them, are eyeing the NKJV. Not in a desire to change willy-nilly, but looking for a text that is reliable, whose publisher won’t make more changes, and will indeed be available unchanged for generations to come.