How come every single Bible I have ever seen (I mean every kind, every version, every one) has a verse missing. The verse is Matthew 23:14. It’s like it doesn’t exist, the Bible goes 13 then 15 but no 14. Look at any Bible and I can almost guarantee that it is not there!<\/p>\n\t
You will find the verse in the footnotes on that page in the versions that do not include it in the main text. The reason some of the modern versions remove it is discussed in the NET Bible: “The most important mss (? B D L Z T \u00cb1 33 892*\u00a0pc<\/em>\u00a0and several versional witnesses) do not have\u00a023:14<\/strong>\u00a0“Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.” Part or all of the verse is contained (either after v. 12 or after v. 13) in W 0102 0107 \u00cb13 \u00cf and several versions, but it is almost certainly not original. The present translation follows NA27 in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations. Note also that Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are very similar in wording and are not disputed textually.”<\/p>\n Basically, some of the older manuscripts that are felt to be more reliable don’t have this verse. The question then is did someone long ago forgot to copy it and the omission got repeated in several manuscripts or did someone accidentally copy a note a person made from one of the parallel accounts. Since it is close to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47, a number of scholars lean toward the accidental insertion theory.<\/p>\n Since it is debated, there are different ways it is handled. The more conservative versions: the New King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, the English Standard Version, and the Holman Christian Standard note the dispute with brackets around the text or a footnote. The more liberal versions: The New International Version, the Revised Standard Version, the New Revised Standard Version, and the New Century Version leave the verse out but put it in their footnotes.<\/p>\n Whichever way is the actual truth, the point to remember is that it doesn’t make much difference. As noted, it is in the parallel accounts of Mark and Luke, so no information is being lost or added.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: How come every single Bible I have ever seen (I mean every kind, every version, every one) has a verse missing. The verse is Matthew 23:14. It’s like it doesn’t exist, the Bible goes 13 then 15 but no 14. Look at any Bible and I can almost guarantee that it is not there!…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[708,311],"class_list":["post-28669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-matthew","tag-translations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88983,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/modernizing-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":28669,"position":0},"title":"Modernizing the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Michael Ray Baggett When King Jehoiakim of Judah heard the writings of Jeremiah read to him, he destroyed the scroll. The King did not simply disagree with what he heard but took his penknife and cut off three or four pages and threw them in the fire until the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19382,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-translations-god-breathed\/","url_meta":{"origin":28669,"position":1},"title":"Are the translations “God-breathed?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does II Timothy 3:16 \"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,\" apply to reputable translated versions of the Bible, not just the original copies?\u00a0 I want to use this verse to\u00a0state\u00a0my point to\u00a0someone\u00a0that Acts 2:38 is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18458,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-an-angel-actually-stir-the-waters-at-bethesda-or-was-it-only-a-local-tradition\/","url_meta":{"origin":28669,"position":2},"title":"Did an angel actually stir the waters at Bethesda, or was it only a local tradition?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about one of the study lessons on your site. In 'Jesus' Authority Questioned', it talks about the Pool of Bethesda, and in the lesson, it says that 'angels stirred the waters'. My question is: Where or how do we know this to be true? I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38308,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-want-to-read-the-bible-daily-but-i-have-a-hard-time-digesting-what-i-have-read\/","url_meta":{"origin":28669,"position":3},"title":"I want to read the Bible daily, but I have a hard time digesting what I have read","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to read the Bible every day and abide by it, but I have a hard time knowing where to go when I start reading. I usually just open it and read it, but I don't necessarily digest what I'm reading if that makes sense. Because of that,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7794,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-matthew-fabricate-a-prophecy-to-support-his-claim-that-jesus-was-the-messiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":28669,"position":4},"title":"Did Matthew fabricate a prophecy to support his claim that Jesus was the Messiah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have another question.\u00a0 It may seem like I am attacking Christianity with this one, but I'm not.\u00a0 I'm just very interested in studying the Bible and every now and then I come across an objection I need help answering.\u00a0 So here is the objection I found on another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46648,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-jesus-birth-be-a-fulfillment-of-isaiah-714-when-he-was-named-jesus-and-not-immanuel\/","url_meta":{"origin":28669,"position":5},"title":"How can Jesus’ birth be a fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 when he was named Jesus and not Immanuel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I checked in 31 different Bible versions and they all say the same thing about Matthew 1:21, They all use the word \"Jesus\" which means \"saves.\" Matthew goes on to say that the Old Testament verifies this and quotes in Matthew 1:23 (and in the same 31 different Bible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28669\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}