Zonderkidz - The Holy Bible for ESL (English as a Second Language) Readers (NIrV)

Holy Bible for ESL Readers (NIrV)

New International Readers Version

Zondervan Publishing House

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Table of Contents

God has always spoken so people would know what he meant. When God first gave the Bible to his people, he used their languages. They could understand what they read. God wants us to understand the Bible today too. So we have worked hard to make the New International Readers Version easy to read and understand.

What Is the New International Readers Version?

The New International Readers Version (NIrV) is a new Bible translation based on the New International Version (NIV). The NIV Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) didnt produce the NIrV. But several members of CBT worked hard to make the NIrV possible. The NIV is easy to understand and very clear. More people read the NIV than any other English Bible. We made the NIrV even easier to read and understand. We used the words of the NIV when we could. Sometimes we used shorter words. We explained words that might be hard to understand. We made the sentences shorter.

We also did some other things to make the NIrV a helpful Bible version for you. For example, sometimes a Bible verse quotes from another place in the Bible. When that happens, we put the other Bible books name, chapter and verse right after the verse that quotes another place.

We separated each chapter into shorter sections. We gave a title to almost every chapter. Sometimes we even gave a title to the shorter sections. That will help you understand what each chapter or section is all about.

Sometimes the writers of the Bible used more than one name for the same person or place. For example, in the New Testament the Sea of Galilee is also called the Sea of Gennesaret and the Sea of Tiberias. But in the NIrV we decided to call it the Sea of Galilee everywhere it appears in the New Testament. We did it because that is its most familiar name.

We also wanted to help our readers learn the names of people and places even in verses where those names dont actually appear. For example, when we knew that the River meant the Euphrates River, we used those words even in verses where only the words the River are found. When we knew that the name of Pharaoh in a certain verse was Hophra, we wrote his name in that verse. We did all of those things because we wanted to make the NIrV as clear as possible.

Who Will Enjoy Reading the New International Readers Version?

We made sure that people who are just starting to read could understand and enjoy the NIrV. Children will be able to read it and understand it. So will older people who are learning how to read or those who are reading the Bible for the first time. So will people who have a hard time understanding what they read. And so will people who use English as their second language. We hope this Bible will be just right for you.

Is the NIrV an Accurate Bible?

At the time the Bible was written, Gods people used the Hebrew and Greek languages. So the first writers of the Bible used those languages. We wanted the NIrV to say just what the first writers of the Bible said. So we kept checking what the Hebrew and Greek said.

We used the best and oldest copies of the Hebrew and Greek. Some of the first English Bibles could not use those copies because they had not yet been found. But today we can check copies that are closer in time to the ones the first Bible writers wrote. We wanted to make sure we were giving you the actual Word of God.

There are two places in the NIrV where some verses are marked with long lines. We dont know whether the first writers of the Bible wrote those verses. They may have been added later on. You will find the long lines at .

What Is Our Prayer for You?

The Lord has blessed the New International Verison in a wonderful way. He has used it to help millions of its readers. Many have put their faith in Jesus after reading it. Many others have become stronger believers because they have read it.

We hope and pray that the New International Readers Version will help you in the same way. If that happens, we will give God all of the glory.

Verses That Were Not Found in the Earliest Greek New Testaments

Later copies of the Greek New Testament added several verses that the earlier ones dont have. An example is Mark 9:44. That verse is not in the oldest Greek New Testaments. So we put the number 43/44 right before . The verse for Mark 9:44 is listed below.

A

All people are sinners.

Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to Gods glory.

B

The Bible is Gods word of love and salvation.

But these are written down so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. If you believe this, you will have life because you belong to him.

C

The condition of sinners is serious.

Many will not believe the truth. They will take pleasure in evil. They will be judged.

D

Christ died to save sinners.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

E

Everyone who believes will have eternal life.

Anyone who believes in [Jesus] will not die but will have eternal life.

F

You are saved through faith.

The good news shows how God makes people right with himself. From beginning to end, becoming right with God depends on a persons faith.

G

Good works will not save you.

Gods grace has saved you because of your faith in Christ. Your salvation doesnt come from anything you do. It is Gods gift. It is not based on anything you have done.

H

Hell and punishment are waiting for those who dont believe.

He will punish those who dont know God. He will punish those who dont obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. They will be destroyed forever. They will be shut out of heaven. They will never see the glory of the Lords power.