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The King James
Version By Bruce O'Neill |
...For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. —Psalm 138:2
On occasion when preaching to prisoners I have asked if anyone has used a law book to review his own legal situation. A surprising number of hands will go up. I then ask if they used an easy-to-read law book. No hands will go up. There are no such things.
Most people new to the Bible want an easy-to-understand version. Who can blame them? But let the reader beware, be careful, and be wise! Each new English version claims to con-tain the most current form of our language and also claims to be the most accurate. For someone who does not read often or well the King James can be a challenge. But should it be any different than a law book which has no easy-to-read counterpart?
The legal profession has its own unique vocabulary, as does the medical profession. What would you think of a lawyer who thought law books were too difficult to understand? Would you want him on your case? And a doctor who thought the medical journals were too technical. Would you want him to take a scalpel to your body?
Should we who study God and His Book seek the easy-to-read versions for the most important of all subjects? If the new versions were a clear improvement over the old there would be no argument. But this is not the case. In almost all of the new versions some verses are entirely or partially left out. Acts 8:37 and 1 John 5:7 are classic examples. Whole passages such as Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11 are omitted or brought into serious doubt in foot-notes. Sometimes God is changed to He causing confusion as to who is meant as in 1 Timothy 3:16. Holy is omitted in Matthew 25:31; 2 Peter 1:21; Revelation 22:6. Son or child is changed to Servant in Acts 3:13, 3:26, 4:27, 4:30. Clear evidence that the Lord Jesus received worship is eliminated in Matthew 18:26, 20:20. In Acts 17:29, Godhead may be changed to Divine Nature, thus demeaning the Trinity. Words such as hell, repent and damnation are replaced with weaker, less definitive words. There are scores of other examples.
Modern Bible versions have three things in common: they remove Jesus Christ from His throne, eliminate the torments of Hell, and create a contemporary God Who tolerates sinful men and does not hold them responsible for their behavior.
If I am going to study the Bible I want all the Bible. If something is too hard for me to understand I can look it up in a dictionary or other source book, just as a lawyer would do with a legal manual. If something is left out or improperly translated how can I honestly study? I much prefer having all the information before me whether I understand it or not! Truth omitted is at best an error and at worst intentional.
From the founding of our nation until the start of the twentieth century multitudes of child-ren were taught to read using the King James Bible. There were no such things as easy-to-understand Bibles. Teaching aids were scarce and the teachers themselves often had limited educations, so first graders used the KJV as their primers! John Jasper, the slave who became a famous Baptist preacher learned to read as an adult with the help of another slave, and by using a New York Speller and the King James Bible. Such stories were common. Why is the same Bible so hard to understand now that we have improved teaching methods and new teaching aids?
After preaching in a distant prison I often end up driving home late at night. I usually find a Christian radio station and listen to a sermon. Almost always radio preachers will use anything but the King James. But I have noticed time and time again when the preacher really gets down to preaching he will start quoting the King James. This tells me that as a boy in Sunday school he learned to memorize verses from the old King James. Strangely, now that he is a grown man and he has a Bible college education, the King James has become too hard for him and his listeners to understand. He could handle it as a boy, but now it is too difficult. That is until he really gets down to preaching.
Entire Verses Frequently Omitted from Modern Bible Versions
Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14; Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46, 11:26, 15:28; Luke 17: 36, 23:17; John 5:4; Acts 8:37, 15:34, 24:7, 28:29; Romans 16:24; 1 John 5:7.
Partial Verses Frequently Omitted from Modern Bible Versions
Matthew 6:13, 15:8, 19:9, 20:7, 20:16, 20:22, 25:13, 27:35; Mark 6:11, 10:21; Luke 1:28, 4:4, 4:8, 4:18, 11:2- 4; John 1:27, 3:13, 3:15, 11:41; Acts 10:6, 15:18, 20:24, 23:9; Romans 8:1, 13:9; 1 Corinthians 6:20, 11:24; 2 Corinthians 10:4; Galatians 3:1, Ephesians 5:30; Philippians 3:16; 1 Timothy 6:5; Hebrews 7: 21; 1 Peter 1:22, 4:14; 1 John 4:3, 5:13; Revelation 1:11, 5:14, 14:5, 21:24.
All told, some of the new versions eliminate more than 64,500 words from the Bible. This equivalent to ripping out every third page of your New Testament!
Discrepancies in The Old Testament
All of 1 Samuel 17 is dedicated to the victory of young David over the giant Goliath. Most new versions give credit to a man named Elhanan for killing Goliath in 2 Samuel 21:19!
Daniel 3:25 reads, "He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
Faithful preachers and reliable commentators have for centuries agreed that this "Son of God" is no one less than the Lord Jesus Christ. What do the new so called easy-to-understand versions do with this? They change "the Son of God" to "a son of the gods." This challenges the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. It also infers that our Saviour is the illegitimate child of pagan gods.
In Deuteronomy 23:17; 1 Kings 14:24, 15:12, 22:46 and 2 Kings 23:7 the King James properly uses the word "sodomite" in reference to homosexuals. Many newer versions change sodomite to "male shrine prostitute." This change is totally unwarranted. It completely changes the intended meaning of these verses.
The issue is not over words such as hath versus has, or thou versus you, but over content, accuracy, and honesty. The new versions are not the same as the King James with easier-to-understand language. Things that are different are not the same!
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I commanded you. —Deuteronomy 4:2
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. —Revelation 22:18-19
Use and promote the King
James Version.
You will be glad you did.
Charles H. Spurgeon on the King James Version
For our own part, we are always grateful for good marginal readings; but we are less and less disposed to countenance any tampering with the text. The older we grow the more conservative we become. We have had ten thousand messages from God to our soul in the very words of our English (King James Version) Bible; and we have prayed over and preached about the precepts and promises it enshrines, till we feel a vested interest in the volume as it is. —The Sword and the Trowel, 1884
Our Authorized Version, which will never be bettered, as I judge, till Christ shall come. —C.H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography, 1900
Interesting Facts about the King James Bible
In the whole Bible there are 66 books; 1,189 chapters; 31,173 verses; 773,746 words; 3,566,490 letters; the middle chapter is Psalm 117; the middle verse is Psalm 118:8.
In the Old Testament there are 39 books; 929 chapters; 23,214 verses; 592,493 words; 2,728,110 letters; the longest book is Psalms; the shortest book is Obadiah; the longest chapter is Psalm 119; the shortest chapter is Psalm 117; the middle book is Proverbs; the middle chapter is Job 29; the middle verse is 2 Chronicles 20:17; the longest verse is Esther 8:9; the shortest verse is 1 Chronicles 1:25.
In the New Testament the are 27 books; 260 chapters; 7,959 verses; 181,253 words; 838,380 letters; the longest book is Luke; the shortest book is 3 John; the longest chapter is Luke 1; the shortest chapter is 1 John 1; the middle book is 2 Thessalonians; the middle verse is Acts 17:17; the longest verse is Revelation 20:4; the shortest verse is John 11:35.
If you have a spiritual concern, a Bible question, please write us. lpm8998@core.com