SPV Bible

Welcome to the Spirit of Prophecy Version Bible. What you have before you is a new Bible translation currently in progress. I believe it is the most accurate English translation of the books of the Bible. My highest goal and priority in this work is that the translation must be based on strict grammatical precision (specifically, syntactic and semantic precision). This means that the translation is highly literal; at the same time the translation has to match the grammar of the original Biblical languages. This two-fold priority results in the style of “literal as possible, free as necessary.” This translation uses the latest research of the original Biblical languages that has developed over the past several centuries up to our present time, with references to grammar (syntax), and lexicography (that is, the meaning of words).

Old Testament Translations

Genesis – January 2021
Judges – January 2020
Ruth – July 2019
Ezra – January 2020
Nehemiah – January 2020
Esther – July 2019
Daniel – January 2021
Jonah – July 2019

New Testament Translations

Matthew – January 2021
Mark – January 2021
Luke – January 2021
John – January 2021
Acts – January 2021
Romans – July 2020
1 Corinthians – July 2020
2 Corinthians – July 2020
Galatians – July 2020
Ephesians – January 2021
Philippians – January 2020
Colossians – July 2019
1 Thessalonians – January 2020
2 Thessalonians – July 2019
1 Timothy – July 2019
2 Timothy – January 2021
Titus – July 2019
Philemon – July 2019
Hebrews – January 2021
James – July 2020
1 Peter – January 2021
2 Peter – July 2019
1 John – July 2019
2 John – July 2019
3 John – July 2019
Jude – July 2019
Revelation – July 2020

The main reason for producing a new Bible translation is to finally have a translation that, for the first time in history since the time of the prophet Daniel, corresponds with the present truth. The present truth for our times is that the greatest threat in the book of Daniel is the Roman power in its second phase. All other translations which have ever been made are based on the incorrect premise that the obscure Greek Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who lived in the second century B.C., is the chief threat in the book of Daniel, and this is most notable in the key passage in Daniel 8:9–14 where all other translations add in words which are not in the original Hebrew text to make it look like Antiochus took away the continual [burnt offering] or the continual [sacrifice] during his persecution of the Jews in Jerusalem. These erroneous additions change the intended meaning of the text, and so have no right to exist. Daniel purposely wrote the word by itself as “the continuity” with no other qualifiers, because “the continuity” does not indicate the Jewish burnt offerings, but rather something that is inherent throughout the entire vision proper of Daniel 8:3–12. The proper interpretation is that the second-phase Roman power is present in all of Daniel 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12; not Antiochus IV Epiphanes. With this proper interpretation, never again should one apply all the events in the book of Daniel as ending in the 2nd century B.C. But rather the genuinely divine prophecies given to Daniel by God span the entire course of history from the time of the prophet Daniel, to the baptism and death of Jesus Christ, to the setting up of the second-phase Roman power, to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and beyond. Therefore, the prophecies in the book of Daniel have enormous salvational implications for the Christian believer today, because the present truth for our times is that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10.

For the New Testament, this English translation is based on the Textus Receptus, which is the Greek text underlying the King James Version. I have decided not to use the critical texts of the United Bible Society and Nestle-Aland, which are the Greek texts underlying virtually all modern English Bible versions.

Regarding the translation, there are three columns on each page. The right column contains the English translation of the King James Version (KJV). The left column contains my new English translation. I have named this Bible version the “Spirit of Prophecy Version” (SPV), for the reasons mentioned above. Finally the middle column is used to side reference my translation. The most common references are ones that deal with more than one possible translation. Firstly, the translation on the left column is the main translation. But if a main translation can be translated in another equally possible way (only if the other way is another possible legitimate interpretation of the text, such as in prophecy), then this possible alternative translation will be noted in the middle column. Nevertheless, please note that the main translation was chosen for a reason, therefore if one uses the alternative translation in the margin, then there needs to be good evidence for rejecting the main translation (which could be possible in future editions). This is to avoid people choosing whichever rendering sounds better to them. Secondly, due to the differences between English and the original Biblical languages, naturally at times a very literal English translation is not sustainable, either because the English rendering is just too awkward (we certainly don’t want to butcher the English text), or the literal rendering does not give its true meaning. In these cases, the main translation will give its idiomatic rendering in order that the real meaning can be understood, but a literal translation (noted in the margin as “lit”) of the idiomatic phrase will always be put in the middle column in order that the literal translation and the idiomatic translation can be compared. Obviously, these choices are solely mine from a subjective point of view. It’s possible that others may not see that the literal rendering as butchering the English, or that the literal and idiomatic translation give different meanings.

The English style used in this Bible version is “translation English” and not “colloquial English.” Translation English is different from colloquial English. With colloquial English it is impossible to maintain grammatical accuracy to the original languages. Since I firmly believe that grammatical accuracy is far more important to the Bible student than the “ease” of colloquialism, translation English has been used. If an English word is supplied into the translation when there is no equivalent Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek word (due to several reasons), the KJV translators italicized the English word to note this. I on the other hand prefer to use square brackets as it is easier on the eyes to spot supplied words immediately and it is not as subtle as using italics. Lastly, Jesus’ words are in red.

Finally, this translation is still a work-in-progress. This means that this translation in its current state is by no means the final product, and is not intended to serve as an official Bible version yet. It is at a stage where input is now needed on every aspect of the translation. If you see a correction that needs to be made, please let me know. Research is ongoing for Daniel and all the other books. Since God does not work only through one person, but through anyone who desires to continually seek the truth, such as yourself, I would be more than happy to hear about any new truths that you have found in your studies regarding translation/exegesis of any Biblical book, in order that we may together vindicate God’s word in its present-truth context with this new Bible translation.

All comments are welcome.

Jeffrey Ho