ESV vs NIV (Matthew 4:19)

 (Matthew 4:19) "And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (ESV)

(Matthew 4:19) "Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people." (NIV) 

In this verse the ESV has "fishers of men" while the NIV has "fish for people."  The ESV rendering is more literal and traditional.  The Greek word "anthropoi" is masculine in the original language so the ESV translates it as "men."  

On the other hand the NIV 2011 edition regularly uses gender neutral language.  So it translates the Greek word "anthropoi" as "people."  The NIV is less literal and traditional than the ESV.  It is interesting to note that the NIV 1984 edition had "fishers of men."  

ESV, NASB 1995, NKJV, KJV, all have "fishers of men."  

NIV, CSB, NLT, NASB 2020, NRSV, all have "fish for people" or something similar. 

Pride Month

 In case you did not know June is Pride Month.  The purpose of Pride Month is to celebrate the LGBTQ community.  The LGBTQ movement is being promoted by government, corporations, the education system, the entertainment industry, the news media, the sports media, and even some inside the church.  There seems to be a lot of confusion in our society.  So to clear things up we turn to the Lord Jesus himself.  

(Matthew 19:4-5)"He answered, Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?"  (ESV) 

In this passage Jesus quotes from Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24.  Here we have the Son of God affirming the authority of Scripture because it is the Word of God.  

"He who created them from the beginning made them male and female", just think about that.  This one verse alone refutes the whole notion of transgenderism.  God made you male or female, man or woman.  You are who God created you to be and have no authority to try and change that.  Transgenderism is a sin, it is rebellion against God's creative design.  

God created them male and female, Adam and Eve.  A man is to marry a woman and have sexual relations with her.  People of the same sex cannot get married or become one flesh.  Homosexuality is a violation of God's design for marriage and sexuality.  It is a sin, rebellion against God's creative design.  

Pride Month is simply a celebration of sin and rebellion against God.  All those in the LGBTQ community and all those who give their approval to such things need to repent of their sin and trust Christ alone for salvation.