Small changes in the wording of the Scriptures can often result in major changes in meaning. Christians who claim that all Bible versions are equally good have usually not bothered to check the facts.

Following is a small excerpt from "Which Bible Is God's Word?" by Gail Riplinger, in which she shows how the identity of Mystery Babylon is hidden in many new versions ... and it's done oh, so simply.

"Renewal" is a word that was introduced into the New American Standard Version; there is no such word in any Greek text, so the NASB had to put it in italics.

This is just one example of the Roman Catholic vocabulary that has been introduced into the new versions.

In the Roman Catholic Church, a "renewal" is merely a time when a member renews their baptismal vows and enthusiasm for God. the bible, however, says we "must" be born again (John 3:7).

Roman Catholics believe that at infant baptism one is saved and they merely renew their enthusiasm periodically.

Just as Jesus Christ has a bride, his church, so Satan, the great counterfeiter, has a whore, his church. She is described in Revelation 17:5 as MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

Revelation 17:9 says she sits on seven hills ("seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth"). To hide the identity of this harlot church, the NIV and NASB make five changes in the new bibles.

1. They omit the word "city" from Revelation 14:8 so you will not know it is a city.

2. In Revelation 17:9-10, they changed something very serious, and this has directly affected the exegesis on Revelation 17 throughout the body of Christ today. The King James Version says, "The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth." Period.

A new sentence starts in verse ten, "And there are seven kings." Verses nine and ten are about different things. New versions change it and say, "The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits and they are seven kings."

They are trying to make a connection between the hills and the kings so you will not notice that the seven hills are the city of Rome.

During the Dark Ages (A.D. 500-1500), Rome burned Bibles along with their owners. Revelation 19:2 says that God will avenge "the blood of his servants at her hand."

The words "at her hand" have been omitted in the NIV so the harlot will not be caught red-handed.

The pope put the Textus Receptus, that is, the traditional Greek text, on the Index of Forbidden Books.

It was so different from the Catholic Church's Vulgate Bible, which is based on the Vaticanus manuscript.

Protestants have reworked their Greek text to match Rome's Vaticanus manuscript. Roman Catholic cardinal Carlo Martini is even on the Protestant Greek New Testament committee.

The prefaces to the Roman Catholic New American Bible, the NASB, and the NIV, all tell the reader that they are based on the same Nestle/UBS Greek text. It is no wonder, after twenty years of reading Roman Catholic Bibles with NIV/NASB covers, that evangelical leaders signed a pact with Rome (March 1994).

In her thought-provoking book, Riplinger details many more modern version changes that lend themselves to Roman Catholic theology. Saved out of Catholicism herself at the age of 26, she knows whereof she speaks. After reading her books, so will you!