Romans 16:24 — the benediction that moves around
Romans 16:24 is missing from some modern Bibles because reading A omits the benediction there, while reading B prints it as verse 24. The difference reflects a closing grace that appears in different places across the manuscript tradition.
What the APB prints.
Every witness, on the record.
What a blind committee did here.
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Whatever it did at this verse, it did on the language alone — and its record is public.
“Included from the Faithlife/SBLGNT apparatus at Romans 16:24 as the final doxology. Witnesses: WH, Treg, NA28.”
The blind committee record identifies the phrase as "Textual supplement: Romans 16:25." Its note states: "Included from the Faithlife/SBLGNT apparatus at Romans 16:24 as the final doxology. Witnesses: WH, Treg, NA28." The audit verdict for the pericope is recorded as "clean." The record describes the committee's handling of the supplement and the witnesses named in that note.
The case for each reading.
If verse 24 is an echo
Reading A treats verse 24 as absent: after Romans 16:23, the letter closes with the doxology in verses 25-27. Westcott-Hort (1881) supports this arrangement, and its witness note explains the omission by observing that the grace had already fallen at verse 20. The apparatus likewise sets the benediction against a minus sign for WH, Treg, and NA28. On this account, the wording printed by the APB at verse 24 is not a separate closing verse in this location; the ending moves directly from the greetings to the doxology. The question is therefore not whether the closing grace is recognizable wording, but whether it belongs here as a distinct verse in this arrangement.
If the benediction belongs
Reading B prints the benediction at Romans 16:24: Ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν, followed by Ἀμήν. Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform (2005) supports this form, and its witness note says that the Byzantine text repeats the grace here. The APB likewise prints: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." between the greetings of verse 23 and the doxology beginning at verse 25. In the apparatus, RP is aligned with the benediction and with Ἀμήν, while the other listed sigla move directly to the doxology. This case understands verse 24 as a retained closing benediction, even though the doxology has a different position in parts of the tradition.
The packet establishes that the grace is placed after verse 20, after verse 23, or after the doxology in the manuscript arrangements described, but it does not resolve why those placements differ. The immediate uncertainty is the location and status of verse 24. What does not hinge on this variation is the wording of the displayed APB greetings in Romans 16:23 or the opening of its verse 25 doxology.
More places where the manuscripts argue.
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. Nothing on this page declares a winner — the evidence is the point.
Weigh it yourself.
The registry doesn't tell you which reading is true. It puts every witness on one page, shows what a blind committee did with the same language, and leaves the verdict where it belongs — with the reader.