Hell Diminished or Missing(4)

Section 4

Hell Diminished or Missing

The doctrine of eternal hell is a
fearful Bible truth. The word itself has, from the beginnings of the English
language, always had a fixed and established meaning. "The wicked shall be
turned into hell and all the nations that forget God" (Psalms 9:17) is very
plain. In fact, for many (including preachers and Bible translators) it is
apparently too plain. Many people today do not mind using the word in their
daily conversation, but do not like seeing it in the Bible.

Modern translations have tried to
make the Bible more palatable and socially acceptable by taking some of the
terror out of the fact that a man or woman who dies outside of faith in Jesus
Christ goes to an eternal and conscious hell. Translators do this in two ways.
First, the word is often left in its untranslated Hebrew or Greek form (Sheol or
Hades), thus greatly diminishing its impact upon an English reader. The New
American Standard version frequently reverts to this practice. Secondly, some
simply translate sheol as "death" or "grave". The Jehovahs Witness "Bible" does
this and (if you can believe it!) the New International Version is guilty of the
same stratagem.

In the previous lists, the point at
issue has been the underlying Greek text of the New Testament. Nearly all
modern versions are founded on a radically different text from the KJB. This is
the reason for the many omissions which we have noted in appendices AÑC. Here,
though, it is a question of the philosophy of the translators. In the case of
the NIV, this philosophy has led to their having completely removed "hell" from
the Old Testament!

King James Bible	New International Version
DEU 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.	For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that burns to the realm of death below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains.
2SA 22:6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;	The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
JOB 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?	They are higher than the heavens- what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave-what can you know?
JOB 26:6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.	Death is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.
PSA 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.	The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God.
PSA 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.	because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
PSA 18:5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.	The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
PSA 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.	Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the grave, for evil finds lodging among them.
PSA 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.	For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.
PSA 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.	The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.
PSA 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.	If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
PRO 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.	Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.
PRO 7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.	Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.
PRO 9:18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.	But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
PRO 15:11 Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?	Death and Destruction lie open before the LORD - how much more the hearts of men!
PRO 15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.	The path of life leads upward for the wise to keep him from going down to the grave.
PRO 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.	Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.
PRO 27:20 Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.	Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man.
ISA 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.	Therefore the grave enlarges its appetite and opens its mouth without limit; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers.
ISA 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.	The grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you- all those who were leaders in the world;É
ISA 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.	But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.
ISA 28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement;	You boast, "We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement.
ISA 28:18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand;	Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the grave will not stand
ISA 57:9 and didst debase thyself even unto hell.	you descended to the grave itself!
EZE 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit:	I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the grave with those who go down to the pit...
EZE 31:17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword;...	Those who lived in its shade, its allies among the nations, had also gone down to the grave with it, joining those killed by the sword.
EZE 32:21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.	From within the grave the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.
EZE 32:27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell...	Do they not lie with the other uncircumcised warriors who have fallen, who went down to the grave...
AMO 9:2 Though they dig into hell thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:	depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.
JON 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.	He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
HAB 2:5 who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:	grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.

The word "hell" is present 22 times
within the New Testament of the Authorized Bible, compared with only 13
occurrences in the text of the New International Version. The real shock,
however, is to see that this new popular translation completely removes the word
from the Old Testament. Yes beloved, the modern versions of the Bible have
gotten rid of the "thees" and "thous"... and
much, much more!