Zondervan has sold more than 11 million units in print and digital formats of the updated New International Version (NIV) since its release two years ago. The NIV has maintained its status as the most-read modern English translation—with more than 450 million copies in print since its initial debut nearly 35 years ago, according to the publisher.

"We are elated that the NIV remains the translation of choice for millions of people around the world who want to read and understand God's unchanging Word in today's language" said Chip Brown, senior vice president and publisher at HarperCollins Christian Publishing and Zondervan. "Since its debut in 1978, the NIV has become and remains the world's best-selling Bible by God's grace and because the NIV translation philosophy uniquely translates directly from the original Bible languages into the way English is spoken today."

In the past two years, Zondervan has released more than 500 products featuring the updated NIV, which has been buoyed by the popularity of The Story—an abridged, chronological version of the Bible that has sold more than 1 million copies. The Story, which condenses the Bible in 31 chapters in the format of a novel, has repeatedly topped the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Bible best-sellers.

Additionally, the updated NIV Study Bible, released in October 2011, has sold more than a 250,000 copies. The NIV Thinline Bible, one of the first print products to release with the updated NIV text, has sold nearly 1.1 million copies, while the NIV Bible e-book has sold more than 500,000 units.

Translated by the Committee on Bible Translation, the updated NIV, which replaced the 1984 NIV and the 2006 Today's New International Version (TNIV). The revision of the NIV was announced in September 2009 and its translation was completed in a year, with the new text made available online for review and comment. The TNIV—beset by criticism for some of its gender-related changes—was phased out.

LifeWay Christian Resources decided early last year to continue selling the updated NIV in its LifeWay stores, despite an appeal to stop doing so. A nonbinding resolution presented in the Southern Baptist denomination's 2011 convention argued that the revised NIV was "inaccurate" and used "gender-neutral methods of translation."

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