What is the KJ21®?
The 21st Century King James Version (KJ21®) is neither a new translation nor a revision, but an updating of the King James Version (KJV) of A.D. 1611. While no attempt has been made to "improve" the timeless message or literary style of the KJV, words which are either obsolete or archaic, and are no longer understood by literate Bible readers, have been replaced by carefully selected current equivalents. Also updated spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and paragraphing have been used. These changes have been painstakingly made so as not to alter the meaning or beauty of the King James Version in any way. They simply make the KJ21® easier to read and understand.
This 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" volume is printed in a totally modern, single-column format. Many key passages which deal with the requirements of godly living appear in emphasized type, making the KJ21® superlative for teaching morals and values. The use of emphasized type also enables the reader to locate the most familiar and most-often-quoted passages of Scripture more quickly. Over 1880 pages long, the KJ21® is available in both hardcover and bonded leather editions. All Bibles have sewn bindings which make them more durable than most Bibles available today.
How is the KJ21® different?
Our updaters have relied on the as yet unmatched scholarship, skill, dedication, and inspiration of the original translators of the King James Version, which have withstood the test of time for nearly four centuries.
The updaters have used as their principal authority in matters of English usage the greatest and most complete of all American dictionaries, namely, Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, Unabridged, published by the G&C Merriam Co., and in print from 1933 to 1967. This monumental volume, for brevity referred to as Webster II, purports to contain over 620,000 words (almost twice as many as in currently published unabridged dictionaries) and to include every word in the English language since Chaucer. The Webster II is the favorite American dictionary among language experts and, being out of print, is highly sought after by writers, authors, and collectors. The Webster II contains hundreds of quotations from the King James Version to illustrate word usage, a practice expressly avoided in more recently published dictionaries.
Why have we produced the KJ21®?
We have four objectives in mind in updating the King James Version.
- To honor and celebrate the King James Version's four centuries of acceptance as the most beautiful, most powerful, most trusted, and most widely read book in the English language.
- To update the text of the King James Version by the elimination of obsolete and archaic words which today are not readily understood by the literate Bible-reading public, and otherwise to adapt Biblical English to accommodate, when necessary, to language changes which have evolved over the course of almost four centuries.
- To preserve the glorious language of worship and prayer found in the King James Version against the onslaught of so-called "modern" translations with all of their simplifications and commonalities of expression.
- To keep inviolate the
Word of God as contained in the King James
Version from efforts to alter its meaning and
redirect its emphasis to conform to current
social trends and philosophies which are
essentially alien to the tenor and spirit of the
KJV.
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