New International Version Bible
by Elizabeth Heike and Peter Toon
Ranked 2 of 6 bible translations by recommenders
A widely read modern English Bible translation, praised for being easy to understand and for its popularity. Critics say its translation choices reflect theological bias and prefer reading the original Hebrew.
A widely read modern English Bible translation, praised for being easy to understand and for its popularity. Critics say its translation choices reflect theological bias and prefer reading the original Hebrew.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easy to understand
“compared against others like NIV and NLT which are written for comprehension”
Comment from 22 Feb 2026 in “How far back in time can you understand English?” Most popular English-language version
“It is still the most popular English-language version”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Seven books I keep close because I love them” Translated through long scholarly work
“working for years to translate the Old Testement for the NIV”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Seven books I keep close because I love them” Used for daily reading
“My wife and I read through the "Daily Bible" by F Lagard Smith (NIV).”
Comment from 16 Aug 2026 in “Seven books I keep close because I love them”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Reflects theological or ideological bias
“the NIV translation into English reflects ideological interpretation that one can avoid by reading the original Hebrew”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Seven books I keep close because I love them” “The NIV has so many inexcusable translations that reinforce a theological worldview”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Seven books I keep close because I love them”
Other bible translations people recommend
The four most recommended other bible translations, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Revised Standard Version Bible | 6 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| New International Version Bibleby Elizabeth Heike and Peter ToonThis page | 5 | 5 | 50% | 3 | — | — |
| New King James Version Bibleby Thomas Nelson | 4 | 1 | 80% | 4 | — | — |
| New Living Translation Bibleby Tyndale House Publishers Staff | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| English Standard Version Bible | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
9 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“My wife and I read through the "Daily Bible" by F Lagard Smith (NIV).”
“It is still the most popular English-language version”
“the NIV translation into English reflects ideological interpretation that one can avoid by reading the original Hebrew”
“The NIV has so many inexcusable translations that reinforce a theological worldview”
“working for years to translate the Old Testement for the NIV”
“I kind of tired of it because of that”
“Problem is NIV is not open source, technically I would need a license.”
“compared against others like NIV and NLT which are written for comprehension”
“I have caught it on several occasions flat-out making something up”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.