Preservation
Preservation of the Bible refers to God keeping the original media on which they were originally recorded and copied or written down as well as God maintaining the scripture currently. Preservation extends to translation work, too. God did promise to preserve his word -- however he did not promise to preserve it in every language.
Isaiah 40:3-8
[3] The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
[4] Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
[5] And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
[6] The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
[7] The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
[8] The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Matt. 5:18
[18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Jer. 36:21-32
[21] So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
[22] Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
[23] And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
[24] Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
[25] Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.
[26] But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.
[27] Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
[28] Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
[29] And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim the king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
[30] Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
[31] And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
[32] Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.
During the time of the second temple which included the time of the life of Jesus and his disciples, the universal written language was common Greek. The most common spoken language was Aramaic. Hebrew was still spoken but it was not common.
Even in Judah and Jerusalem the synagogues would have contained Scrolls of the Hebrew scriptures in the Greek language. When the New Testament authors quote Old Testament scriptures most of the time it matches the reading from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament).
God will preserve his word even when men try to burn it and he will preserve his word when it is translated into different languages.
The apostles and early Christians adopted the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Common Greek was a language that they knew and understood and it was worldwide. Of course, the New Testament was written in Greek as well.
In more recent history, English became the predominant international language. Beginning in the 17th century, "the Bible" became almost universally synonymous with the authorized King James Version.
Which translation can you absolutely trust?
I personally prefer to read what is commonly called the King James Version. I was saved as a result of reading it. Although some people claim that it is the very Word of God today and the only translation that should be read, I do not agree with that. I am providing a link below that will take you to some wonderful content created by defenders and promoters of the King James Version that disagree with me.
I listen to the Bible a lot, typically several hours a day. When I listen, I listen to other translations than the King James Version, usually.
I have discovered that this helps me listen more carefully and pay better attention. In my mind I routinely will compare what I'm hearing versus what I had memorized through the decades of reading the Scriptures in the King James Version.
The content and research that they have done is excellent and noteworthy, in my opinion.
Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and the King of kings and Lord of lords is the Living Word of God.
The translation of the Word of God that you can absolutely trust is the One that was translated into the Living Flesh of the Son of God.
John 1:1-14
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[2] The same was in the beginning with God.
[3] All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
[4] In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
[5] And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
[7] The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
[8] He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
[9] That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
[10] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
[11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
[12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
[13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
[14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
If you are one of God's sons, His Holy Spirit lives within you and therefore the Word of God is within you and written upon your heart by His Holy Spirit. The Word that you can absolutely trust is the Word that became flesh. We must trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us into truth and will confirm the truth of the Scriptures that we read. Whatever Bible you have in your hand, regardless of the language that it is in, is a human compilation of a canon. You've got the Word but most importantly is, "Do you have the Word in your heart?" The Scriptures are the revelation of God as they have been written down. During the apostolic times they were reading things as Scripture that may not be included in the Bible that you may have in your hand. I would encourage you to be thoroughly acquainted with the Scriptures that you've got in your hand. I personally love the King James Version, but I'm not convinced that it is the only Scriptures that are available that we could read if we had copies of them.
Allow me to provide some of the Word of God for you as an example:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - KJV, English
On my heart, something like this is written: God loved the world so much that He sent His Son, Jesus to die a sacrificial death for me so my sins could be forgiven and I could live forever with God. - DNV, Texan
Note: the DNV is the Doug Nevill Version of this moment. ... and I believe that both are the Word of God, faithfully.
We do not worship paper, we do not worship a book, we worship the Living Word!
1 Pet. 1:23-25
[23] Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
[24] For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
[25] But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
We are saved by believing in a person, not a book!
Jesus Christ IS the Word of God that lives and abides forever, and He lives in my heart through the presence of His Holy Spirit!
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