The Colorado Springs-based International Bible Society has completed revisions to an adaptation of the New International Version (NIV) Bible. The revisions address recent concerns about gender-inclusive language.
The Bright Beginnings New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) is an adaptation of the NIV for children and people for whom English is a second language.
The new NIrV text treats gender exactly as the NIV. For example, the new version says in Genesis 1:27 that God created man in his own likeness. The earlier version said God created human beings in his likeness. The IBS agreed last year to revisions following pressure from concerned groups (CT, June 16, 1997, p. 52).
A 40-member team that included professors from the Assemblies of God and the Southern Baptist Convention, two of the denominations that expressed concern about the original NIrV, tackled the gender-related revisions.
The updated version is scheduled for release in August.
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