Thanks and Appreciation from Christian Leaders.

• Freddy Boswell
  On behalf of SIL International, I want to extend our organization’s appreciation for the work of the Committee on Bible Translation. You all have blessed untold millions! Not only is this true for English speakers and readers, but our organization was granted permission to use the NIV as a base text for preparing translation helps for mother-tongue translators worldwide. Hundreds and hundreds of languages have been blessed through these helps that have been and are still being prepared and used.

  
  

  On a personal note, Dr. Roy Hayden was a college professor of mine. His association with the NIV, and my awareness of his role, is something that caught my interest in my development as a student and as an aspiring translation professional. Thank you, Dr. Hayden, for playing a role you may not have even known you had! Your influence was good seed, brother!

  — Freddy Boswell, SIL International

• Kate Coleman
  The NIV’s faithful translation, attention to detail and easy accessibility is not only key to its enduring popularity but make it one of my all-time favourite bible translations for personal devotion, study, preaching and teaching.

  — Rev Dr. Kate Coleman, Founding Director of Next Leadership

• Andy Crouch
  Of the many gifts of the NIV, the one that stands out to me, and has been most valuable in my ministry and personal spiritual life, is the exceptional quality of its poetry. I am just not aware of another translation in English that so lyrically represents the poetic voices of Scripture in contemporary English, yet without ever being intrusively or self-consciously poetic in tone. When I am teaching or leading worship from the Psalms, I almost always turn to the NIV to give voice in English to the prayers, laments, and praises of God’s people.

  Such apparently effortless art requires incredible, intentional, frequently invisible craftsmanship. The whole English-speaking church, especially those of us who love rhythm, poetry, and song, owes the translators of the NIV a great debt for their care for both the biblical languages and our own.

  — Andy Crouch, Executive Editor, Christianity Today

• Bob Creson
  Wycliffe Bible Translators USA joins with Biblica, and the global Church, in praise to God on the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the New International Version of the Bible. The NIV has been used to point countless hearts and minds to God, remaining one of the world’s most popular and beloved translations in English. Its success is a testament to the incredible impact a clear, accurate, and natural translation of Scripture can have on people who engage with the Bible in a language that speaks to their heart.

  — Bob Creson, President/CEO, Wycliffe Bible Translators USA

• Roy Crowne
  A Bible was given to the Queen, at her majesty’s coronation; it was described then as the world’s most valuable gift. On the occasion of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, we wanted churches, schools, and individuals to mark this moment by giving the same gift, but we wanted a contemporary, authentic translation that schools and individuals could understand. The NIV was the one we chose and on that one occasion, over 3/4 million copies were given to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

  Personally, I have always used for my devotions and reflection and teaching the NIV translation – I find it the most inspiring translation of the text and its impact continues to change lives. We can never underestimate the power of God’s word and I am so grateful to the group of scholars that went back to the original text to present it in such understandable English for people to be able to allow this word, by the presence of the Spirit, to transform lives. We will never fully realise the impact of God’s word and the transformation that it can bring and the stories that will be written in individual lives and eternity.

  — Roy Crowne, Executive Director, HOPE

• Ron Forseth
  It was 1973 when Miss Stiemsma first started reading the NIV to our 7th grade class. It still gives me tingles recalling the experience of hearing God speak to us with such clarity. We were all so attentive. It was like we were bushmen hearing the word of God for the very first time.

  — Ron Forseth, Vice President, Outreach, Inc.

• Bob Fryling
  I have used this translation almost all of my adult life, and I have found it invaluable for personal devotions and in ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. I appreciate its clarity and depend on its authoritative scholarship. I also deeply appreciate its gender inclusiveness. So thank you for all of your diligent work in translating the Bible in a wonderful and faithful way.

  — Bob Fryling, Publisher, InterVarsity Press

• Anne Graham Lotz
  The NIV has been my go-to Bible in the pulpit ever since it came out. I still use the ’78 version that my father gave me. It reads aloud easily and can be clearly understood by any audience. It also puts familiar passages in a fresh light. I feel at home in its pages. I celebrate the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the NIV.

  — Anne Graham Lotz, Author and Evangelist

• Pete Greig
  The global 24-7 Prayer movement is indebted to the Committee on Bible Translation for giving the NIV Bible translation to the Body of Christ. Its blend of clean prose, sound theology, and poetic sensibility has made this the preferred translation for thousands of young intercessors and missionaries in more than 100 nations as we have interceded continually in 24-7 prayer rooms for more than fifteen years. I have seen the NIV graffitied on prayer room walls, I have heard it rapped in dance tracks, and I have used it in my own preaching and writing for more than a decade. Thank you.

  — Pete Greig, 24-7 Prayer International, Guildford, UK

• Dan Kimball
  When I was exploring Christianity during my college years, I went into a bookstore and found a little brown NIV Bible. I scanned a few Bibles, not owning one at the time, and even from glancing through it and reading sections, it felt “right,” and I can’t really explain why. It was written so the flow of words would resonate with a college-aged person who never read the Bible before—resonating with how I read in general and connecting to the world I was in.

  I carried that little Bible with me to London, England, where I played in a punk band and would take it everywhere. My drumsticks, usually some beers, and that little NIV Bible were in my bag as my band played all around London. The more I read it, the more it felt I was being drawn to Jesus. At some point through reading that NIV Bible and learning about the overall story of the Bible, I ended up placing my faith in the Jesus I was reading about. God used his word and the NIV translation to shape my mind and understanding of salvation, life, and what it meant to follow Jesus.

  I took that NIV Bible with me to Israel where I lived for four months after London and read it totally through for the first time cover to cover. I had that NIV Bible at the Jordan River where a pastor was baptizing people, and I was sitting there reading about baptisms to see what he was doing. He talked to me, and I ended up getting baptized by him right there.

  The NIV went with me as I traveled to Egypt, Greece, and Europe, often even serving as a pillow when I was in hostels or sleeping on rooftops as young travelers do. By the time I came back home to the States, that NIV Bible was well read and had quite an adventure with me.

  I moved to California, and as I searched and found a Bible-teaching church, I then bought my first bigger-sized Bible—the NIV Study Bible. So once again, the NIV translation, now with some study helps, furthered my growth as a Christian. There were so many days reading that NIV, going to another level of learning God’s inspired words and guidance for my life. The NIV helped me develop what felt like an intense hunger for knowing Scripture. One time I even left that Bible on the roof of my car when it was raining, and it flew off when I pulled out. Realizing what I did, I went back. That NIV got so soaked in rain, it swelled up and curled up into a mass of stuck-together, wet pages. It was time to get another Bible. It was NIV again; I didn’t even consider others. By this time I did know to read other translations. I read solid translations and ones that are respected, but the NIV was the one that spoke most clearly to me and made sense not just for study but for devotional times of going through the ups and downs of life.

  While at the church I was part of, I got so immersed in ministry, I ended up going to seminary, and my NIV Bible went with me. It was the translation I now used to study God’s word more intensely, looking up word meanings, getting into theology, Greek, and Hebrew in depth, and it was helpful to be reading. As I graduated seminary and became involved in youth and college ministry, I found some terms confusing to say to a younger generation. When the text said “brothers” such as in Romans 12:1, I knew enough to add “sisters” when I was addressing a mixed audience. I knew the original Greek was only “brothers,” but the intended audience was male and female. So to my delight, I got the most recent version of the NIV, which made revisions, not changing any of the original meaning or theology, but updated it to be more accurate to the intended original meaning and added “sisters” to the “brothers.”

  Now my NIV is filled with many notes and colored pencil lines as I’ve developed a unique coding system. I am a lifelong NIV reader now as a pastor and author, and I can’t thank enough those who dedicated their lives to translating and getting the NIV Bible into the hands of people. I can’t thank enough the scholars who pored over how to translate ancient languages into today’s meaning without compromising the integrity of truth. The ones who helped design it, picked what fonts to use, knew what ways to print it in Bibles. The sales people who got it into stores and all those who made it available.

  The NIV was part of my becoming a follower of Jesus, part of my growing experience as a disciple (and still is), part of my seminary training, and is part of my day-to-day life as a pastor now teaching others from the NIV. It is the translation our church now uses. I thank you as someone whose heart was changed eternally by the NIV, and I still use it to this day to lead and see God change others through the teaching of his word.

  — Dan Kimball, Vintage Faith Church, Santa Cruz, CA, Author

• Jack Kuhatschek
  The NIV has been extremely important in my life and ministry. I switched from the NASB to the NIV as soon as the latter came into print, and I use it in my personal devotions, teaching, and (occasional) preaching. The NIV has also been the translation of choice in the many commentaries and reference works I’ve helped to develop over the years, such as the NIV Application Commentary Series, The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, and the Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary. I truly appreciate the dedication and excellence of the Committee on Bible Translation!

  — Jack Kuhatschek, Executive Vice President & Publisher, Baker Publishing Group

• Max McLean
  I am eternally grateful for Committee on Bible Translation’s work on the NIV Bible. I received my first NIV Bible in the winter of 1980. It immediately became my personal Bible that I read from, made notes in, and memorized from extensively. I still own that Bible, and it is one of my most treasured possessions. Wishing you every blessing on your Golden Anniversary.

  — Max McLean, Narrator, The Listener’s Bible

• Scott Munger
  The NIV has enriched not only its vast, English-speaking audience, but also many other peoples. I’ve witnessed how the Committee on Bible Translation’s bravery—its desire to communicate rather than to simply preserve centuries-old, conventional wordings—has encouraged translators in languages around the world to put first the needs of their own audiences. True respect for the past replicates not its temporal, external forms but its eternal, divine

  — Scott Munger, VP of Translations, retired, Biblica

• Harold Myra
  I well remember the introduction of the NIV at the Christian Booksellers convention. It was greeted with great enthusiasm.

  Some time later, I found myself in an airplane seat in Grand Rapids holding a copy in my hands, posing for a photographer. I was happy to be endorsing the translation for an ad, for it had proven to be all it claimed and was personally stimulating, bringing great enrichment.

  I was raised on the KJV and still appreciate its strengths. Yet I read somewhere that Ben Franklin considered it woefully outdated. The NIV provides equal authority and felicity of expression, yet in contemporary language.

  Working with various editions co-published with Christianity Today provided many rich experiences. It’s wonderfully satisfying to know that so many individuals have been challenged and deepened by this fine translation for our times.

  — Harold Myra, Author, CEO, Christianity Today International, retired

• Kristen Padilla
  The NIV is a trustworthy Bible translation that faithfully renders the original languages in a way that is clear and understandable for the English-speaking church today. I often hear from women in the church who are seeking a Bible translation that does not translate the text in such a way that minimizes female contributions to the kingdom of God. The NIV is what I recommend to them.

  — Kristen Padilla (M.Div.), Author of Now That I’m Called: A Guide for Women Discerning a Call to Ministry and Manager of Marketing and Communication and Director of Women in Ministry Initiative at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University.

• Rob Parsons OBE
  I use the NIV every day of my life. I trust its accuracy, but it is much more than that: I find that time and time again God uses this translation to bring to life the words of the original text – and touch my heart. I am deeply grateful to the whole team that have given the world this incredible gift.

  — Rob Parsons OBE, Founder and Chairman, Care for the Family, UK

• John Partington
  I have read the New International Version translation for the majority of my ministry and found it to be very accurate and a great version to use for myself, my family, and my leadership teams.

  — John Partington, National Leader, AOG Great Britain

• Wayne Pederson
  My first copy of the New International Version was the small New Testament, copyright 1973. I did a radio interview on KTIS in Minneapolis with Earl Kalland, head of the original translation committee. He signed my NIV.

  It’s still a treasured gift. Since then I’ve used NIV consistently in personal study and speaking opportunities. I’ve found the translation an excellent blend of scholarly literal translation, while capturing the holistic and cultural relevance of the text. The NIV Study Bible with its very helpful notes is an invaluable resource for my own study and spiritual journey.

  One of my projects years back was to read the NIV through and underline key meaningful passages, and make personal notes in the margins. I gave each of my daughters a copy of my personal Bible, marked with favorite passages and personal notes. I believe to this day, they treasure “dad’s Bible.” Now I’m doing the same for each of my grandchildren as a graduation gift.

  Today, I use the digital version of NIV on my iPad and iPhone. So that way, my Bible is always with me. Different medium. Same beloved message. Thanks for this gift you’ve given to the church and those who serve.

  — Wayne Pederson, President, Reach Beyond

• J. Todd Peterson
  The NIV has been the primary translation of Scripture I have read for 25 years as a regular reader of several translations of Scripture. As a college athlete when I came to faith and then throughout my NFL career from 1993–2006, the NIV was the source of more daily truth, which I trusted the Holy Spirit to apply in my life, than any other Scripture translation. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path,” and I would declare that the NIV has helped my feet consistently move down the path that the Word has lit for me in these last couple of decades. Uniquely Psalm 32:8 says “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” I would contend the NIV has better helped me understand God’s path for my life than anything else I’ve turned to in my lifetime.

  Thank you to the Committee on Bible Translation for your faithfulness and diligence in your translation work.

  — J. Todd Peterson, Interim CEO, Chairman Emeritus, Seed Company

• Rev Simon Ponsonby
  I grew up in a Christian home and church tradition where the KJV was the norm. Beautiful, majestic, and poetic, it was to me as a young boy and teenager intimidating and impenetrable, keeping God at arm’s length. The lofty and archaic language made God seem distant and the Church’s faith obscure. On meeting Jesus as a young adult in the summer 1985, I bought and devoured a Thompson Chain Reference NIV.

  A whole new world opened up to me – it was truly extraordinary – I felt like a blind child seeing or a deaf woman hearing or a crippled man walking. All barriers of language that kept God and his truth remote were removed.

  The Bible became my book – its land my land, its people my family, its truths my foundation, its God my God. Jesus was directly speaking to me, teaching me, challenging me, directing me, changing me, thrilling me.

  Since then the NIV has been a central part of my life, journeying with me through seminary, graduate theology, ordained pastoral ministry, university chaplaincy, wider itinerant conference ministry, theological and devotional book writing.

  Other translations, Greek editions, and electronic versions have supplemented it – but my life, ministry, and journey with Jesus can be divided by my three main Bibles: in the 1980s a Hodder NIV Thompson Chain; in the 1990s a Hodder NIV Bold Print; in the 2000s Cambridge NIV Celebration edition. And I recently purchased an Allan Bold Print reference for the next part of the adventure.

  I thank God for the NIV – and I thank the NIV committee and translators for bringing me more of God.

  — Rev Simon Ponsonby, St Aldates Oxford, Theologian, Author, Conference Speaker

• Nabeel Qureshi
  The first Bible I ever read cover to cover was the NIV. I was a brand new Christian, and this dynamic equivalency translation helped me understand, memorize, and fall in love with Scripture. The NIV continues to be the translation I recommend to new Christians who want to read God’s word in an idiom that is accessible and memorable.

  — Nabeel Qureshi, author of the bestselling memoir “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus” and “No God but One: Allah or Jesus?”

• Susan C. Rowan
  My history with you goes back years to when I was a new Christian. It must have been about 1985. Ralph Earle, former member of the Committee on Bible Translation, came to our Sunday school class to talk about the NIV translation. I promptly went out and bought the NIV Study Bible, which had just been released. It was my first Bible as a new believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. Through this NIV Study Bible, the Holy Spirit quickened my understanding and love for biblical truth and for our great God and King. I have used the NIV as my primary Bible since that day.

  The NIV has proven to be a trusted and true translation that has opened God’s word to all who have attended Bible Study Fellowship classes around the world through the decades. Bible Study Fellowship has a diverse audience, approaching a half-million men, women, boys, and girls, representing a wide spectrum of nationality, culture, ethnicity, tradition, denomination, biblical literacy, and spiritual maturity. The NIV, used in all our materials, provides an accurate, readable, and accessible translation of God’s precious word to our multinational, interdenominational audience that ranges in age from infant to elderly.

  We are profoundly grateful to each person who has answered God’s call to serve on the Committee on Bible Translation. I am especially thankful for Dr. Mark Strauss’s help in communicating to our constituency Bible Study Fellowship’s choice to continue using the NIV after recent updates.

  Who knows the number of lives that have been transformed through God’s word and the diligent work you have done to put that power in their hands? God does, and may he continue to bless his good and faithful servants. And may the NIV continue to produce the most abundant fruit for the glory of God and the good of all people.

  — Susan C. Rowan, Executive Director, Bible Study Fellowship

• Randon Samelson
  God has clearly used the Committee on Bible Translation to impact the world in an amazing way. Further, I believe as you stay faithful to him, the most important days of God displaying his power through the NIV are yet to come.

  — Randon Samelson, Founder and President, Counsel and Capital

• Tim Stafford
  I was just out of college and working at Campus Life Magazine when the NIV New Testament appeared. I confess I had no idea why it was such a big deal. Just one more translation, right? But I got a copy—perhaps someone gave me one?—and began to use it.

  I continued to read other translations as well. But over the years, it was the NIV that stuck. I think it was that the NIV was so trustworthy. Others were more creatively eloquent—like Eugene Peterson’s Message, which I love. Others offered insights into what the original Greek and Hebrew sounded like. (On the advice of a college pastor I had adopted the NASB in college.) The NIV, however, had its eccentricities rounded off. It was consistently readable and understandable. In any passage that I knew background on in any depth, it proved to be very reliable in rendering the meaning.

  The NIV was like an outfit that you could wear on any occasion, and never be embarrassed. It would fit at a party and at a funeral and at a picnic. It’s great to have lots of translations, to gain a richer understanding of the text. But day in, day out, the NIV works for me.

  — Tim Stafford, Author, Senior Writer, Christianity Today Magazine

• Richard Stearns
  Congratulations on 50 years of groundbreaking work! Your service to the Kingdom of God in the 20th century stands among the most important achievements. There is no higher calling than to help people know God’s word and to live it well. By first translating Scripture in an accurate and readable format and by continually keeping the translation fresh and readable, the Committee on Bible Translation is truly doing essential work for the Kingdom.

  At World Vision, we use the New International Version every day. It is the preferred translation in all of our materials, from our website to our magazine and to each and every one of our communications to more than a million supporters. When we published the Faith in Action Study Bible, we used the NIV. In all of my books, I quoted from the NIV. Every morning with my staff and in my own devotions, we read from the NIV, confident that it will make clear God’s word for us today. No other translation stands next to the NIV for readability and accuracy.

  I hope you are proud of what you have accomplished, knowing that God will do great things for his kingdom through your efforts. In the coming years, your work will remain essential, ensuring that God’s people can continue to understand and live out his word.

  — Richard Stearns, President, World Vision US

• Lysa TerKeurst
  I’m so thankful for all who worked so hard to make the NIV translation of the Bible a reality. I preach to thousands of people each year and my NIV Bible is with me every time I stand up to teach. But even more importantly, it is the version I’ve used to memorize and internalize God’s holy word. My greatest desire in life is to live in such a way that other people can tell I spend a lot of time with my Lord in his word. Thank you! Thank you for helping me have access to this translation.

  — Lysa TerKeurst, Author and Speaker

• Gary Walter
  It is with deep appreciation that I honor you for your work with the NIV, commemorating 50 years of scholarship in service to the accurate and accessible availability of the word of God to millions and millions of people.

  I am one of them. The NIV’s public availability more than 10 years after the careful work of translation began roughly coincided with my entry into full-time ministry in 1979. It has been my translation of choice ever since, used as my preaching version in its various iterations that whole time. Indeed, I still dig through my original NIV Study Bible for notes in the margins made in years past.

  More recently, as a denomination we distributed the TNIV to our entire clergy when it came out, especially appreciative for its sensitive handling of gender references. At our denominational clergy gatherings to this day, one sets down one’s Bible to his/her own peril lest it get mixed up with someone else’s. It remains the version I continue to use for my personal Bible reading and preaching.

  The NIV is in my observation by far the predominant version used throughout our entire denomination. The apostle Paul admonished Timothy to “correctly handle the word of truth.” We can do that with greater confidence because you have first worked diligently and humbly to handle it rightly in presenting it to us.

  And so, on behalf of our entire family of more than 850 congregations, please know of our gratitude.

  — Gary Walter, President, The Evangelical Covenant Church

• Christopher J. H. Wright
  I bought my first NIV as soon as it came out in 1978, when I was an assistant pastor in an Anglican church in the south of England. It quickly became the Bible of all our ordained staff and the pew Bible, and my own first choice for reading and study. Since no translation is perfect, and improvements can always be made and suggested, I am grateful that Committee on Bible Translation continues in existence and continues to oversee the living work of sustaining the high standards of the NIV. I am especially pleased that it is an international body and that two of the current members are Langham Scholars and personal friends from India who share my own deep love of the Old Testament Scriptures.

  — Christopher J. H. Wright, International Ministries Director, Langham Partnership

• Philip Yancey
  
  I want to extend my congratulations for the 50th anniversary of the New International Version. I have a whole shelf full of Bibles, and some of them have modern, contemporary language, which are kind of fun to read. Some of them work on accuracy, and they’re very stilted, and they’re not so fun to read. I’ve found that the NIV is a wonderful balance between these two things. It communicates well, I understand exactly what it’s saying, and yet it’s also accurate to the text. It strikes that balance, which is a hard thing for a Bible translation to do.

  I was privileged fairly early in my career to spend three years doing nothing but studying the NIV Bible. I was working on a study Bible called the NIV Student Bible. So for three years I went through every verse in the NIV. And at the end of the time, I came away impressed all the more with the feat, the achievement, of the translators. I was comparing other translations, and again and again, they nailed it, that balance between accuracy and communication.

  I am thrilled the NIV has had such an impact on the entire world, on the Christian community, because it is a trustworthy version. Again and again, the NIV communicates with that directness, with that force, and for the rest of us, it’s just a matter of obeying what it says.

  — Philip Yancey, Author