WASHINGTON —  A new Bible translation, aimed at younger readers, is drawing fire from some scholars.

Today's New International Version (search), or TNIV, has just been published in complete form by Zondervan Publishing. It's meant for the prime-time demographic: adults 18 to 34 years old.

In this new translation, some masculine references are made more gender-neutral.

Genesis 1:27, "so God created man in his own image" in the more traditional New International Version, is changed in the TNIV to "so God created human beings in his own image."

"In situations in the Bible where it is very clear from the original language, and also from the context, that the writer or the speaker was talking to men and women, that is simply provided accurately and specifically in the TNIV," explains Paul Caminiti of Zondervan, which is owned by the parent company of FOX News.

God remains a "he" in the TNIV. But some critics say this translation changes the meaning of some Old Testament verses that may foreshadow Jesus' life.

For example, Psalm 34:19 in the more traditional New International Version (search) reads: "A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken."

Many Christians believe this verse predicts the Crucifixion, in which it is said none of Jesus' bones were broken.

But the TNIV reads: "The righteous may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers them from them all; He protects all their bones, not one of them will be broken."

"It obscures the prediction of a specific man — that is the Messiah, Jesus — that would be fulfilled in the New Testament, and now it's pluralized," says Wayne Grudem, research professor of Bible and theology at Phoenix Seminary (search) in Arizona.

Click in the video box above for a full report by FOX News' Molly Henneberg.