List of New Testament verses not included in modern English translations

New Testament verses not included in modern English translations are verses of the New Testament that exist in older translations (primarily the King James Version), but do not appear or have been relegated to footnotes in later translations of not only English, but other languages as well. Scholars have generally regarded these verses as later additions to the original text, based on the study of ancient Greek manuscripts and earlier translations into other languages such as Armenian, Christian Palestinian Aramaic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Georgian, Gothic, Latin, Slavonic, and Syriac.

Although many lists of missing verses specifically name the New International Version as the version that omits them, these same verses are missing from the main text (and mostly relegated to footnotes) in the Revised Version of 1881 (RV), the American Standard Version of 1901, the Revised Standard Version of 1947 (RSV),Example, the Today's English Version (the Good News Bible) of 1966, and many others released since the 1970s. Lists of "missing" verses and phrases go back to the Revised Version and to the Revised Standard Version, without waiting for the appearance of the NIV (1973). Some of these lists of "missing verses" specifically mention "sixteen verses" – although the lists are not all the same.

The citations of manuscript authority use the designations popularized in the catalog of Caspar René Gregory, and used in such resources (which are also used in the remainder of this article) as Souter, Nestle-Aland, (NA27) and the UBS Greek New Testament (UBS4). (which gives particular attention to "problem" verses such as these). Some Greek editions published well before the 1881 Revised Version made similar omissions.Catalog of Eduard Reuss, Bibliotheca Novi Testamenti Graeci (1872, Brunswick)

Editors who exclude these passages say these decisions are motivated solely by evidence as to whether the passage was in the original New Testament or had been added later. The sentiment was articulated (but not originated) by what Rev. Samuel T. Bloomfield wrote in 1832: "Surely, nothing dubious ought to be admitted into 'the sure word' of 'The Book of Life'." The King James Only movement, which believes that only the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible (1611) in English is the true word of God, has sharply criticized these translations for the omitted verses.

In most instances another verse, found elsewhere in the New Testament and remaining in modern versions, is very similar to the verse that was omitted because of its doubtful provenance.

The sixteen omitted verses

Matthew 17:21

KJV: "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." Reason: The verse closely resembles Mark 9:29, but it is lacking in Matthew in Codex Sinaiticus (original handwriting), Codex Vaticanus, Codex Koridethi, and some Italic, Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic manuscripts. It is, however, found in this place in some Greek manuscripts not quite so ancient – Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, Codex Bezae, Codex Cyprius, and Codex Regius – as well as some other manuscripts of the ancient versions. It is believed to have been assimilated from Mark.

Matthew 18:11

KJV: "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." Reason: This verse is lacking in Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Regius (original handwriting), Codex Koridethi, Family 1, Family 13, some old Italic, Syriac, Coptic and Georgian manuscripts, and such ancient witnesses as the Apostolic Canons, Eusebius, Jerome, and others. It is found in some other sources, not quite so ancient, such as Codex Bezae, Codex Cyprius, Codex Washingtonianus, Codex Monacensis, and the Latin Vulgate. It is not found in any manuscript before the 5th century. According to biblical scholar Bruce Metzger, "There can be little doubt that the words[...] are spurious here, being omitted by the earliest witnesses representing several textual types... [This verse was] manifestly borrowed by copyists from Luke 19:10."

Matthew 23:14

KJV: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation." Reason: This verse is very similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47. This verse is lacking altogether in Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Bezae, Codex Regius, Codex Dublinensis, Codex Koridethi, Family 1, Ethiopic, Armenian, several Italic, Syrian, and Coptic manuscripts, and the writings of several early Church Fathers. It appears before verse 13 in Codex Cyprius, Codex Washingtonianus, and several New Testament minuscules. It appears after verse 13 in Family 13, and some Italic, Syriac, and Coptic manuscripts. The fact that it is absent from the most ancient sources of multiple text types and that the sources that do contain the verse disagree about its placement, as well as the fact that it is a repetition of verses found elsewhere, show "that verse 14 is an interpolation derived from the parallel in Mark 12:40 or Luke 20:47".

Mark 7:16

KJV: "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." Reason: This verse is nearly identical with verses 4:9 and 4:23. This verse here is lacking in Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Regius, Codex Sangallensis (original handwriting), and some Coptic manuscripts. It is included in manuscripts only slightly less ancient, Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Bezae, Codex Cyprius, Codex Washingtonianus, Family 1, Family 13, some Italic manuscripts, the Latin Vulgate, and some other ancient versions. As it is missing in the very oldest resources and yet is identical to verses that remain, many editors seem confident in omitting its appearance here.

Mark 9:44 and 9:46

KJV: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." (The verses are identical to each other, and to 9:48, which is still in the main text) Reason: Both verses 44 and 46 are duplicates of verse 48, which remains in the text. Verses 44 and 46 are both lacking in Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, Codex Regius, Codex Washingtonianus, Family 1, and some manuscripts of the ancient versions, but appear in somewhat later sources such as Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Bezae, Codex Cyprius, Codex Koridethi, some Italic manuscripts and the Latin Vulgate. It is possible that verse 48 was repeated by a copyist as an epistrophe, for an oratorical flourish. The UBS text assigns this omission a confidence rating of A.

Mark 11:26

KJV: "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." Reason: This verse is very similar to Matthew 6:15. This verse appeared in the Complutensian Polyglot and most Textus Receptus editions but Erasmus omitted it and noted that it was missing from 'most' Greek manuscripts. The verse is not in Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Regius, Codex Washingtonianus, Codex Sangallensis, Codex Athous Lavrensis, some Italic, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic manuscripts, and the Armenian and Georgian versions. The UBS edition gave the omission of this verse a confidence rating of A.

Mark 15:28

KJV: "And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, "And he was numbered with the transgressors."" Reasons: This verse is similar to Luke 22:37. It does not appear here in any New Testament manuscript prior to the end of the 6th century.

Luke 17:36

KJV: "Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left." Reason: It is possible that this verse is a repetition of Matthew 24:40. Even the King James Version had doubts about this verse, as it provided (in the original 1611 edition and still in many high-quality editions) a sidenote that said, "This 36th verse is wanting in most of the Greek copies." This verse is missing from Tyndale's version (1534) and the Geneva Bible (1557). Among major Textus Receptus editions, this verse does not appear in the editions of Erasmus (1516–1535), Aldus (1518), Colinaeus (1534), Stephanus 1st–3rd editions (1546–1550), but it did appear in the Complutensian (1514), the margins of Stephanus' 4th edition (1551), and all of Elzivir's and Beza's editions (1565–1604).F.H.A. Scrivener, Novum Testamentum, Textus Stephanici (1902, London) loc.cit.; Eduard Reuss, Biblioteca Novi Testamenti Geaeci ..., (1872, Brunswick) passim. In modern conservative Greek editions it is also omitted from the main text of biblical scholar Frederick H. A. Scrivener's Greek NT according to the Textus Receptus, and the two Majority Text editions. Verse 36 is included by very few Greek manuscripts of the Western text-type and by Old-Latin and Vulgate manuscripts.

John 5:3b–4

KJV: "[...] waiting for the moving of the water. For an Angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had." (Not only is verse 4 omitted, but also the tail end of verse 3.)