Acts 7:59 NASB: And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
Acts 7:59 NIV: While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Acts 7:59 NWT: As they were stoning Stephen, he made this appeal: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Here we have 4 different translations of this one Scripture.
The King James Version has the word "God" here...a word that is NOT in the Greek text or any Greek Manuscript so it should not be used here.
The New American Standard Bible, you know, that great literal Bible that is supposedly the most accurate, has "called upon the Lord" here. Here as well, the word "Lord" is NOT in the Greek text or any Greek Manuscript so it should not be used here also.
The New International Version has the word "prayed" here for EPIKALEW. How else has the NIV used this word?
Go to Acts 25:11 "I appeal [EPIKALEW] to Caesar!"
The NIV also uses EPIKALEW in the next verse (Acts 25:12) "You have appealed [EPIKALEW] to Caesar."
The NIV also uses EPIKALEW at Acts 25:21 "But when Paul made his appeal [EPIKALEW] to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar."
So Stephen actually "appealed" (not PRAYED) to Jesus, just as Paul "appealed" to Caesar.
So it appears that the New World Translation is the most correct translation above.
As is often the case, the only way that these mainstream Protestant Bibles can make a Scripture read in such a way as to promote the deity of Christ is to either manipulate the underlying text or manipulate the translation.
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