"The truth is that if we are to
have translation at all we must have periodical re-translation. There is no
such thing as translating a book into another language once for all, for a
language is a changing thing. If your son is to have clothes it is no good
buying him a suit once for all: he will grow out of it and have to be
re-clothed."
From Lewis’ preface to J. B.
Philips, Letters to Young Churches: A Translation of the New Testament Epistles (London:
Geoffrey Bles, 1947). Reprinted as ‘Modern Translations of the Bible’ in C. S.
Lewis, First and Second Things (London: Fount, 1985), 87
[For a reflection on the latest NIV, see here]