Zondervan-which publishes both the NIV and Today's New International Version (TNIV)--and Biblica, holder of the NIV copyright, made the announcement earlier this week at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa, which has more than 4,200 participants attending from nearly 200 countries.

"The NIV has become part of our culture-part of the shared experience of millions of people," said Keith Danby, international CEO of Biblica. "This is the reason why we felt it was appropriate to make the update available online as soon as it was ready. We're responding to the desires of scholars, pastors and Christians across the globe who are eager to experience the updated text."

Moe Girkins, president and CEO of Zondervan, said that it seemed "especially fitting" to announce the move at the Lausanne Congress "because the shared purpose of this gathering and of the NIV is to reach more people with God's Word."

With more than 300 million copies sold since its first publication in 1978, the NIV is being updated by the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) to reflect changes in English usage and advances in biblical scholarship. The CBT is comprised of the global biblical scholars who translated the NIV and TNIV.

Zondervan plans to release the first wave of new NIV print Bible products in March 2011. The NIV update was announced in September 2009, when it was also revealed that the controversial TNIV is to be phased out after the revision.

A previous effort to remake the NIV for contemporary audiences was dogged by controversy. Zondervan released a New Testament of the TNIV in 2002 and the complete Bible in 2005, although critics decried it for changing gender-specific pronouns in some references.

Click here for more information on the 2011 NIV.

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