Are There Verses Missing from Your Bible?

This is a question that pops up now and then. Maybe someone is reading along in their Bible and notices a number missing. Or more often, it shows up as something a bit more suspicious—a whisper that maybe someone is out there, stealing verses, trying to corrupt the word of God.

But the truth? It's far less dramatic and far more thoughtful. This isn't about conspiracy. It's about scholarship. Something called textual criticism.

What Is Textual Criticism?

Textual criticism is the academic process by which scholars work to uncover the most accurate version of ancient texts. It's not about rewriting scripture. It's about getting us as close as possible to the original words written by the authors of our sacred texts. From there, translators work to bring those words into English.

And yes, this means that sometimes verses go missing. Or more accurately, they were never part of the original in the first place.

In fact, there are sixteen such verses that are not included in many modern translations like the NIV. I recently had the chance to teach through John 5, and in that chapter we encounter one of these "missing" verses. It's a great example of why this kind of scholarship matters.

The Case of John 5:4

Here's how it goes. In John 5, there's a story of a man waiting at the Pool of Bethesda. Jesus comes across him, and the man says, "Sir, I have no one to help me get into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."

It’s a strange detail, right? Stirred water? What does that even mean?

Well, if you look carefully at the text, you might notice something missing: verse 4. It’s probably down at the bottom of your page in a footnote. And it reads: "From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had."

Context, Myth, and Marginal Notes

This missing verse gives context to the man’s words. It points to an old myth about the Pool of Bethesda. Presumably, the first readers of John’s Gospel would have known about this legend. The author doesn't explain it—he assumes his readers understand.

And maybe he’s doing more than that. Maybe the author knows the myth is nonsense. Maybe he intentionally avoids giving it credence. God isn't sending angels to stir up races between vulnerable people. The superstition is part of the man's story, not necessarily part of God's.

How Did It End Up in Some Bibles?

Over time, as the Gospel of John spread into new places, readers unfamiliar with Jerusalem and its healing pool myths found the man’s comment confusing. So somewhere around the fifth century, a helpful scribe added an explanatory note in the margins.

Eventually, that note was copied into the main text. And by the time the Bible was divided into chapters and verses, it had become verse 4.

But with the rise of textual criticism, scholars realized this verse didn't belong in the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. So, modern translations moved it back to the margins, where it began.

Still, the numbering remained. So today, most Bibles go from verse 3 to verse 5. Not because anything was removed, but because we now know better what was there to begin with.

A Better Way to Trust the Text

So no, verses are not being stolen from your Bible. Instead, careful and faithful scholarship is helping us get closer to the heart of the story. To the real words, the original voices, and the enduring truths they share.

And that’s something worth trusting.