The Holy Bible

By Richard Rothschild and Gustave Doré

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” --Joshua 1:8

The editors of Canterbury Classics have chosen to print the King James version of the The Holy Bible, which contains both the Old and New Testaments. The Holy Bible was first copied by scribes and, because of its length and the time it took to hand write each book, only the elite had a copy. It wasn’t until the 1440s when Johannes Gutenberg invented his revolutionary printing press that the first printing of the Bible made copies available to the lower class. Only forty-eight copies of Gutenberg’s original Latin print run exist, and they are considered to be the most valuable books in the world.

 

* The Holy Bible is the world’s best-selling book, to date.

 

The Holy Bible is a divinely inspired book that transcends time.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Canterbury Classics
• Release date: Nov 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781607109594

Richard Rothschild

Richard Rothschild is a book producer who works and lives in New York City.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

The Bible is unquestionably the most beautiful book in the world." So wrote the notorious curmudgeon H. L. Mencken in his Treatise on the Gods, and the specific text to which he referred was the King James Bible. The King James Bible (KJB) or King James Version (KJV), also known as the Authorized Version (AV), has been one of the most influential texts in the English language, rivaled only by the works of William Shakespeare for the sheer number of quotations and turns of phrase it has bequeathed to modern English. Perhaps it is no wonder that this book and this playwright were paired together as the paragons of edification in Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn:

Before they went to bed, Francie and Neeley had to read a page of the Bible and a page from Shakespeare. That was a rule. Mama used to read the two pages to them each night until they were old enough to read for themselves. To save time, Neeley read the Bible page and Francie read from Shakespeare.

Granted, this also meant that they tended to use words like begat to the great confusion of their neighbors. But such words, sounding archaic to the modern ear, are one of the hallmarks of the KJV, the elements that elevate the text out of the mundane and connect the reader with something more majestic—the words of divinity.

Of course, as many biblical scholars will tell you, the KJV is not the preferred version to use if you are actually trying to study the Bible itself. It is a translation, and translations are notoriously filled with misconceptions and badly understood colloquialisms (the skin of one’s teeth), not to mention words that refer to concepts that have no equivalents in other languages (just what is a qedesha?). The translations themselves come from generations upon generations of copies of copies, meaning that they are based upon texts that are somewhat suspect to begin with. Add to this the political dimension of the KJV, the need to justify the Anglican Protestantism of Renaissance England, and one may come to the realization that there are some problems with the KJV. Of course, one could also point out that Shakespeare was a terrible speller, that all great works are imperfect, and that this does not ultimately diminish their value.

SOME BIBLE BASICS

The King James Bible is a Christian Bible, meaning that it consists of a Hebrew Bible—also known as the Old Testament—followed by the Christian New Testament. Technically, then, the KJV, as all Christian Bibles, consists of two originally separate compilations: the Hebrew scriptures and the Christian. These texts were originally written in different languages in different periods of history and underwent different processes of transmission. Ultimately, they came to represent two separate but related religions. To understand how the KJV emerged, it is worthwhile to consider briefly the texts and histories that make up the tome as a whole.

The Hebrew Bible, written in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages, begins with Genesis and, in the KJV, ends with the book of Malachi. The first five books—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—are known in Hebrew as the Torah (Instruction) and in Greek as the Pentateuch (Five Scrolls). The earliest of the Hebrew texts were probably written in the eighth century BC, including stories such as the Garden of Eden, the tale of Noah and the flood, and Deborah’s song of victory in the book of Judges. Although it is often difficult to tell from the way they were smoothed together in the Bible, there were evidently different versions of these stories circulating over the centuries, some claiming, for example, that Noah took two of every animal on board the ark, while another notes that he led up two of every unclean animal, but fourteen of every clean animal, leading them aboard two by two. These early legends grew side by side with historical chronicles, songs and poetry, and prophetic rants, sometimes involving whoring and sometimes involving Assyrians. In the sixth century BC, the Babylonians destroyed Judah and deported its population to Mesopotamia—the so–called Babylonian captivity. Although they went home about fifty years later under the auspices of the Persian king Cyrus, this period had a profound influence on how the Jews viewed both their God and their sacred texts. From this point forward there was an attempt to collate their texts into a coherent unit, to smooth together those disparate accounts, and to have a core text around which their distinctive brand of monotheism could grow. New texts emerged after the Babylonian captivity, such as the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which recorded life in Judah after the return, or the tale of Esther, famous for marrying the Persian king and saving her people from annihilation. Additional texts were added to the Hebrew Bible until well into Hellenistic times (after the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC), such as the apocalyptic book of Daniel.

The Christian Bible was originally written in Greek, precisely because of that conquest by Alexander. The entire eastern Mediterranean, and much of the Middle East, became Greek–speaking, at least as a second language if not a mother tongue. Even though the events recorded in the Christian Bible take place after the initial Roman conquest of Israel and Judah, Greek remained the lingua franca in the area, rather than Latin, which was more popular in the West. The first four books of the Christian Bible are the Gospels, accounts of the life of Jesus as written by the evangelists (bearers of good news) Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There were originally more gospels than just the four, such as the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, and the Coptic (Egyptian) Gospel of Thomas. At one point or another in the early history of the church these texts were deemed unacceptable for various reasons, often because they contradicted a popular policy of the day, and so were left out of the official canon. The four evangelists had different aims and audiences in mind when composing their texts. Matthew, for example, aimed his texts at the Jewish population of Israel, drawing comparisons between Jesus and Moses. Thus, it is only in Matthew that one will find an account of the slaughter of the innocents, Herod’s command to murder all children born in Israel in order to slay the new king of the Jews. This parallels the birth story of Moses in Exodus, when Pharaoh ordered the massacre of all Hebrew boys in Egypt. Following the Gospels are the Acts of the Apostles, several Epistles (letters written by early church leaders) and even some apocalyptic literature. All of these were written in the late first and second centuries, long after the life of Christ, which they record.

TRANSMISSION AND TRANSLATIONS

The tradition of translating the Bible into more user-friendly languages began in the third century BC in Alexandria Egypt, when a group of seventy scholars translated the Hebrew Bible from Hebrew into Greek, starting with the Torah, thus making it more accessible to the Greek–speaking community prevalent in the eastern Mediterranean since Alexander’s time. This translation is known as the Septuagint, the work of the Seventy, and may be found indicated by the Roman numerals LXX. It was this version to which the authors of the New Testament had access when writing their own texts. The Septuagint not only contains the standard works of the Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Judges, etc.), but also texts known as the Apocrypha, the noncanonical tales that are nevertheless seen as relevant to the religious history of the Jews, such as the tales of the Maccabean revolt against the Greek monarchs of Israel.

Hebrew editions of the Hebrew Bible also continued, of course, with the standard version being the Masoretic Text (MT), edited by a school of medieval Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes. This version dates to the ninth or tenth century, with the oldest surviving versions being the tenth–century Aleppo Codex and the Leningrad Codex.

The Christian Bible started in Greek and remained almost exclusively in that language for some 300 years. Other languages, such as Egyptian Coptic or Ethiopic Amharic, were mostly weeded out of the corpus early on. It is important to remember that for about 300 years Christianity was mostly an illegal religion in the Roman Empire, from its separation from Judaism in the first century until the Edict of Milan in 313, when Emperor Constantine lifted the ban. As such, reading and writing the Christian Bible was a dangerous endeavor, and the task was mainly taken up by devout if not necessarily well–educated volunteers. It was not until the fourth century that a professional scribal class could openly set to work on New Testament scriptures, making copies of the various texts that had emerged in the previous centuries, including or excluding them as deemed appropriate by the new church hierarchy, and passing them along to the various religious communities for storage, copying, and further dispersal.

Perhaps the most important translation of the Bible (both the Old and New Testaments) occurred in the late fourth or early fifth century, when St. Hieronymus (or, if you prefer the Latin version, St. Jerome) translated the Bible into Latin. This was not the first attempt to translate the Good Book into the official language of the Roman Empire, but it was eventually the most complete, and became the standard Latin edition of the Bible in use for the next thousand years. Jerome started with the Gospels, translating them from their original Greek into Latin. Later, when he had moved to Bethlehem, Jerome got access to the Hebrew originals of the Old Testament texts, along with the Greek Septuagint versions. With these primary sources he achieved a translation of what today would be deemed the full body of the modern Bible, including Apocryphal books such as Judith. This version is known as the Vulgate. The earliest extant complete Latin Bible dates to circa 700 and was produced in the monastery of Wearmouth–Jarrow in Britain.

The Bible was thus disseminated in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, with individual sections usually hand–copied by religious personnel such as monks and nuns. Even after Hebrew, Greek, and Latin died off as spoken languages (medieval and modern Greek are very different from the dialect of the biblical period), they continued to be the languages of scripture, meaning that for several centuries the common folk could not actually understand what they were hearing in church. Pictorial representations probably helped a bit, as on the stained-glass windows in churches, but in Christianity especially the average worshipper was utterly dependent on the priests and bishops to relate what God had said. Translations into the vernacular—the spoken languages—did not become popular until the fifteenth century, aided considerably by Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1450, and even more so in the sixteenth century with the Protestant Reformation. One of the priorities of the Protestants was to give everyone access to the word of God, diminishing the reliance on the clergy. Between Gutenberg and Martin Luther, German Bibles paved the way for vernacular editions, followed soon after by French and, of course, English.

THE BIBLE IN ENGLISH

The Bible first came to England along with Christianity in the sixth century. As one might expect, these were copies of the Vulgate, readable to the remnants of the Roman population still living on the island, as well as to members of the clergy and the more educated Anglo–Saxons. Everyone else had to make do, including those priests and monks with only rudimentary understanding of Latin. From the ninth century onward some texts of the Bible, such as the Psalms and the Gospels, were complemented with interlinear word–for–word glosses of Anglo–Saxon (e.g., morte became deode). Not a translation per se, but it did help with individual bits of reading comprehension. The first real attempt at translation into Anglish was begun by King Alfred the Great in the ninth century, when he translated the Psalms into the local dialect. By the eleventh century it was possible to find translations of the Psalms, the Gospels, much of the Torah, and the books of Joshua and Judges in Old English, all translated from the Vulgate original. Keep in mind that these were never complete Bibles or books as we think of them today. It would be better to think of them as handwritten pamphlets, and Latin Bibles continued to dominate.

It was not until the fourteenth century that an English–language translation of the whole Bible became available. This was the Wycliffe Bible, translated into Middle English by the followers of Oxford theologian and convicted heretic John Wycliffe. The earlier version was a direct and literal translation of the Latin, while the later version was a bit more idiomatic, using a clearer rendering of the English language. It can be argued that the Wycliffe Bible was the first true forerunner of the KJV, particularly in terms of process: The translators sought the most authoritative versions of the texts to be translated, distinguished between canonical and Apocryphal chapters, and even noted when there were differences between the Hebrew and Latin texts. Although the Wycliffe version was banned in England, it remained popular on the island, and some of its translations were eventually incorporated into the KJV.

A major event in the translation of the Bible occurred in 1453, when the Ottoman Turks defeated the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire, occupied the city of Constantinople, and forced hundreds of Greek teachers westward looking for work. For the first time since the sixth century, access to Greek scholarship and literature became available in the West, and more scholars had access to the Greek texts of the Old and New Testaments. With access to the original biblical languages—Hebrew, Greek, and Latin—European scholars created new translations based on new texts. Desiderius Erasmus, a famous Dutch humanist, published in 1516 a bilingual New Testament in both Latin and Greek (improving the quality of the Latin from the Vulgate original, as far as he was concerned). His work strongly influenced the English scholar William Tyndale, who used Erasmus’s Greek and Latin, as well as Hebrew, as the basis for his own new translation of the Torah and Gospels. Tyndale’s translation became wildly popular in England, with some 16,000 copies in England by 1536.

In spite of Catholic furor against this new translation (and translation of the holy scriptures generally), the Tyndale Bible, in various incarnations, became the standard English Bible for close to a century. After Tyndale himself was put to death in 1536, his work was continued by an Augustinian friar named Miles Coverdale, thus giving his name to the Coverdale Bible—the enlarged and annotated version of the Tyndale. After additional refinements, the Coverdale came to be known as the Great Bible in 1541, dedicated to Henry VIII as the leader of the recently created Anglican Church. In 1568 the final touches were put on the Great Bible, which henceforth came to be known as the Bishop’s Bible, and was the officially sanctioned Bible for use in Anglican church services.

The problem was that the Bishop’s Bible was giant and unwieldy. It was fine for lectern reading, but impossible to read in bed. It also lacked maps. Thus demand grew for a more portable Bible in English, and this demand was filled by the Geneva Bible, originally published by Protestant refugees in Geneva. Small, filled with maps and charts and marginal annotations to explain difficult readings, the Geneva Bible became an instant hit in England from the 1570s onward. Thus, in the sixteenth century, there were two common Bibles in England: the Bishop’s Bible for church and the Geneva Bible for home.

THE KING JAMES BIBLE

In 1604 King James I decided it was time for a new translation. The main problem was a lack of consistency in the various vernacular translations, both in England and abroad, and this was proving troublesome for a form of Christianity that insisted that humanity could approach divinity directly through the word of God alone, with no need of the apostolic succession promoted by the Catholic Church. At the extreme end of the Protestant spectrum, the Puritans were using the inconsistencies in the Bibles to argue for the misreadings, misinterpretations, and basic sinfulness of those using such Bibles. People’s souls were at stake; proper translations were critical. As Miles Smith and Thomas Bilson wrote in their preface to the KJV, Happie is the man that delighteth in Scripture, and thrise happie that meditateth in it day and night. . . . But how shall men meditate in that, which they cannot understand? How shall they understand that which is kept close in an unknowen tongue?

In January 1604, King James convened a council at Hampton Court in London to address the matter of religion in general in England. Here John Rainolds, the Puritan president of Corpus Christi College of Oxford University, convinced the king to commission a new translation of the Bible. The task of translating went to six separate committees, all composed of men educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, including Rainolds himself. Two committees were located at Oxford, two at Cambridge, and two at Westminster, comprising approximately fifty men in all.

The First Oxford Company was led by John Harding, president of Magdalen College and the Regius Professor of Hebrew. They were charged with translating the Old Testament prophets. The Second Oxford Company was led by Thomas Ravis, the dean of Christ Church, and was responsible for the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the book of Revelations. The First Cambridge Company translated Chronicles through the Song of Solomon under the authority of Edward Lively, the Regius Professor of Trinity College. The Second Cambridge Company, led by John Duport, the master of Jesus College and a doctor of divinity, translated the Apocrypha. The First Westminster Company translated the Old Testament books Genesis through 2 Kings under the authority of Lancelot Andrewes, the dean of Westminster and a polyglot who knew about fifteen languages. The Second Westminster Company was responsible for Romans through Jude of the New Testament, working under William Barlow, the prebend of Westminster Abbey.

Each committee member would work on a specific text, using the Bishop’s Bible as the standard translation but carefully working with available Greek, Latin, and, where appropriate, Hebrew texts. Particularly obscure passages would be studied among all available languages: Aramaic and Arabic for understanding the closely related Hebrew; classical pagan texts such as Aristotle and Cicero to tease out the precise meanings of the original Greek and Latin. The members of each committee would gather among themselves to consult and debate the various translations they devised, and at a general meeting, the six committees convened to discuss all aspects of translation. The whole process took seven years, and it is perhaps worth mentioning that only one translator—Edward Lively, who had thirteen children—was known to be, and remain, married over the course of the project.

The translation was finally completed in 1611 and published by Robert Barker, the king’s official printer, who eventually went bankrupt because of the endeavor. By 1612 a smaller version of the book became available for home use, thus rivaling the Geneva Bible when the larger version displaced the Bishop’s.

At first, the KJV received only a lukewarm reception. People were used to their Bishop’s and Geneva versions and saw no reason to change over to this new upstart. However, with the arrival of the KJV, English publishers stopped printing the Bishop’s version, and eventually the KJV became popular out of pure endurance. It did not, in the end, completely replace alternate text such as the Geneva Bible (which was the preferred texts for Puritans and Baptists), and it certainly had little influence on Catholics who stuck to the Catholic versions. But it did become the standard version for the English people over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and came to the New World aboard the Mayflower in 1620 in the possession of one John Alden of Southampton.

There were some problems with these seventeenth–century publications, though. Several different publishing houses came to print their own versions, each using the spelling and grammar of their own choosing. Mistakes crept in, like the notorious Wicked Bible of 1631 that accidentally printed Thou shalt commit adultery. (In spite of continual demand, this edition has never been reprinted.) By the 1760s there was a desire for a corrected and more authoritative version. Thus in 1769 Benjamin Blayney of Hertford College, Oxford, conducted a full revision, including a number of corrections (not always accurate) and additions, as well as modernized spellings. Almost the entire first run was destroyed in a warehouse fire, but eventually this 1769 edition came to be the standard version of the KJV, the one continually published unto the modern day.

SO, WHAT’S WRONG WITH IT?

Considering all the care that went into this new translation, and the exquisite beauty of the language, why is the KJV not the best translation for actual Bible study? The main problem is the source material to which the committee members had access, the original Hebrew, Greek, and Latin texts. It must be remembered that for the first 1,400 years of transmission (longer for the Hebrew Bible), all biblical texts were handwritten. Inevitably, mistakes made their way into the texts. Imagine trying to copy these lines:

vocavit autem Mosen et locutus est ei Dominus de tabernaculo testimonii dicens loquere filiis Israhel et dices ad eos homo qui obtulerit ex vobis hostiam Domino de pecoribus id est de bubus et ovibus offerens victimas si holocaustum fuerit eius oblatio ac de armento masculum inmaculatum offeret ad ostium tabernaculi testimonii ad placandum sibi

. . . after waking up at five in the morning, going to prayers, having no coffee or tea (which had yet to arrive in Europe), with exclusively natural lighting and a pen that had to be dipped frequently, thus breaking your concentration. Some say that there are as many typos in the Bible as there are words. To correct these typos, a master scribe would write corrections in the margins: a letter or a word. When the next scribe had to make a copy of the previous one, he would incorporate the correction into the body of the text. Sometimes, however, annotations or explanations would also appear in the margins—thus called marginalia—and these also might get incorporated into the text. Thus, some Bibles could have words or entire verses absent in others. Most famous in this regard is the story of the adulterous woman in the Gospel of John. This was apparently an oral tale told about Jesus that wound up as a marginal anecdote that some scribe then included in the actual text of the Gospel. The tale does not appear in very early versions of the text, and appears in different places in the Gospels when it does.

To get a good translation, one needs to have a good source text, preferably old enough to have the fewest possible later additions and revisions. The men translating the KJV did not have such good source materials. For example, the Greek New Testament was based primarily on Erasmus’s edition of 1516. But, being in a bit of a hurry, Erasmus himself did not take the time to find the best possible Greek texts. He worked from a few twelfth–century editions he had on hand, and a borrowed copy of Revelations that, it turned out, was missing the last page. So Erasmus translated those passages from the Vulgate into Greek and tacked it onto his edition! As Erasmus himself later confessed, the whole work was rushed more so than edited. The KJV, then, could be no better than Erasmus’s text.

More relevant to the modern reader is the fact that the KJV does not incorporate the texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls are a collection of biblical (and other) texts written sometime between 408 BC and AD 318, and discovered in 1947 in the caves near Qumran on the Dead Sea. These texts are the oldest versions of the Hebrew Bible, predating the Aleppo Codex by a millennium. As such, they do not contain all the errors and supposed corrections that occurred over the centuries, and thus they provide the most accurate version of the Hebrew texts available. How significant are the differences? Consider these verses from Deuteronomy 32:8–9:

KJV: When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

NRSV: When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods; The LORD’S own portion was his people, Jacob his allotted share.

The New Revised Standard Version, which uses the Dead Sea Scrolls, notes that the division was made according to the number of gods. The idea that there were numerous deities in ancient Israel, however, went contrary to the belief that the early Jews were strictly monotheistic. As a result, later biblical editors corrected the text, replacing those gods with the number of the children of Israel. Problem solved, technically—but it does give a radically different understanding of early Israelite religion, and thus the God of the Bible generally. For the most accurate versions of the Hebrew Bible, nothing published before 1947 will do.

CONCLUSIONS

The King James Bible is not necessarily the version you want to bring with you when debating the finer points of theology. But this does not detract from the work’s aesthetic value, the beauty of its prose, and the phenomenal impact it had on later English literature. As the historian Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote in 1828, the King James Bible was a book which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.

—Stephanie Lynn Budin, PhD

THE

Old Testament

THE FIRST BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED

Genesis

CHAPTER 1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

² And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

³ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

⁵ And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

⁷ And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

¹¹ And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

¹² And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

¹³ And the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

¹⁵ And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

¹⁶ And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

¹⁷ And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

¹⁸ And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

¹⁹ And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

²¹ And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

²² And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

²³ And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

THE CREATION OF LIGHT

THE CREATION OF LIGHT

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.—Genesis 1:3

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

²⁹ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

³¹ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

CHAPTER 2

THUS the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

² And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

³ And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

⁴ These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

⁵ And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

⁶ But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

⁷ And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

⁸ And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

⁹ And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

¹¹ The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

¹² And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

¹³ And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

¹⁴ And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

¹⁵ And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

¹⁸ And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

¹⁹ And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

²⁰ And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

²¹ And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

²² And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

THE FORMATION OF EVE

THE FORMATION OF EVE

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam … And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.—Genesis 2:21–22

²³ And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

²⁴ Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

²⁵ And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

CHAPTER 3

NOW the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the L ORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

⁸ And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

⁹ And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

¹⁰ And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

¹¹ And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

¹² And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

¹³ And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

¹⁴ And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

¹⁶ Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

¹⁸ Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

¹⁹ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

²⁰ And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

²¹ Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

²² And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

²³ Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

²⁴ So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

ADAM AND EVE DRIVEN OUT OF EDEN

ADAM AND EVE DRIVEN OUT OF EDEN

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.—Genesis 3:24

CHAPTER 4

AND Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the L ORD .

² And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

⁵ But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

⁶ And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

⁸ And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

⁹ And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

¹⁰ And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

¹¹ And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;

¹² When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

¹³ And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

¹⁴ Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

¹⁵ And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

¹⁶ And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

¹⁸ And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

¹⁹ And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

²⁰ And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.

²¹ And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.

²² And Zillah, she also bore Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.

²³ And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

²⁴ If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

²⁵ And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

²⁶ And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

CHAPTER 5

THIS is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

² Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

³ And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:

CAIN AND ABEL OFFERING THEIR SACRIFICES

CAIN AND ABEL OFFERING THEIR SACRIFICES

And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.—Genesis 4:4–5

THE DEATH OF ABEL

THE DEATH OF ABEL

… Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel they brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?—Genesis 4:8–9

⁴ And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

⁵ And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

⁶ And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

⁷ And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

⁸ And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

⁹ And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

¹⁰ And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:

¹¹ And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

¹² And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel:

¹³ And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:

¹⁴ And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

¹⁵ And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:

¹⁶ And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:

¹⁷ And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

¹⁸ And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:

¹⁹ And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

²⁰ And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

²¹ And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

²² And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

²³ And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

²⁴ And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

²⁵ And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech.

²⁶ And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:

²⁷ And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

²⁸ And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:

²⁹ And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

³⁰ And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

³¹ And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

³² And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

CHAPTER 6

AND it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

² That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

³ And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

⁴ There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

⁵ And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

⁶ And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

⁷ And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

⁸ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

⁹ These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

¹⁰ And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

¹² And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

¹³ And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

¹⁴ Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

¹⁵ And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

¹⁶ A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

¹⁷ And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

¹⁸ But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

²⁰ Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

²¹ And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

²² Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

CHAPTER 7

AND the L ORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

² Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

³ Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

⁴ For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

⁵ And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

⁶ And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

⁷ And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

⁸ Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

⁹ There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

¹⁰ And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

¹² And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³ In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

¹⁴ They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

¹⁵ And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

¹⁶ And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

¹⁷ And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

¹⁸ And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

¹⁹ And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

²⁰ Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

²¹ And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

²² All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

²³ And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

²⁴ And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

CHAPTER 8

AND God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;

² The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

³ And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

⁴ And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

⁵ And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

⁶ And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

⁷ And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

⁸ Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

⁹ But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

¹⁰ And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

¹¹ And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

¹² And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

¹³ And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

¹⁴ And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

¹⁵ And God spake unto Noah, saying,

¹⁶ Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

¹⁷ Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

¹⁸ And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him:

¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

²⁰ And Noah built an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

²¹ And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

THE WORLD DESTROYED BY WATER

THE WORLD DESTROYED BY WATER

And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.—Genesis 7:24

THE DELUGE

THE DELUGE

And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. And the ark rested … upon the mountains of Ararat.—Genesis 8:3–4

THE DOVE SENT FORTH FROM THE ARK

THE DOVE SENT FORTH FROM THE ARK

And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.—Genesis 8:11

²² While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

CHAPTER

Reviews for The Holy Bible

[swampygirl-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Finally decided to read the entirety of the original King James version this year for my NT and OT classes.
Don't take me wrong, I believe in the Bible. I just feel that the translations we have made since there are probably more accurate (since we have more manuscripts then ever before), and considering the language was archaic at the time of original translation, I feel like people are suffering some romantic delusions when they say they hold on to it so strongly....

[auntieknickers · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Although newer translations are often more accurate, there is nothing like the language of the King James Version. Beatrix Potter is said to have read it whenever she needed "to chasten her style."

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

To my mother, the KJV was always the best Bible text, for literary rather than scholarly reasons.

[vicarofdibley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

translation i grew up with not the best but most beautiful language

[melannen_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The definitive anthology of Ancient Hebrew poetry and literature - my favorites are the bits attributed to David and Luke, but there's a lot of good stuff in here. This is the classic 17th century translation which suffers a bit in clarity and accuracy but has its own poetry to it, and is worth reading just because of its allusive power - when you're reading it and stumble across a phrase you've heard in an X-Files episode or seen on a billboard, it just adds so much to the experience.

[szarka_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Holy Bible is a compilation of the texts thought to be most relevant to the Christian faith. Authorities differ regarding the material that should be included, as well as its authorship, provenance, and interpretation. This edition is based on one of the two or three widely-accepted standards, being comprised of 66 documents thought by many to have been composed by authors with unique insight into their faith.Although some of the material suffers from the plodding pace of The Silmarillion's less interesting chapters, the Bible also contains gripping tales of love, hate, lust, heroism, folly, and sacrifice. From the arrogance of King David, to the cowardice of the prophet Jonah, to the erotic longing of the writer of The Songs of Songs, to the zealotry of a martyred carpenter and his followers, the entire gamut of human experience is contained within this single, short volume. Of course, drawing material from dozens of authors writing in several genres over a long span of time does result in inconsistencies. Some critics (e.g. G.K. Chesterton) might claim that this diversity is a strength of the work; still, one can't help wondering whether, for example, the author of Genesis might have benefitted from the guidance of a good editor, given that the book is essentially cobbled together from multiple pre-existing stories. Likewise, the main character--known variously as Jehovah, The Lord, etc.--is portrayed in a variety of inconsistent ways; and it's unclear whether we are to take this as indicative of changes in his personality or changes in the perspective of the books' authors.The "Authorized" or "King James" version is, of course, the classic translation of this text into English. Although much of the language is now archaic and difficult for the modern reader to comprehend at first glance, the sheer poetic force of its best passages have shaped English literature in the centuries since its publication. Even for those who question its relevance, it remains required reading for those who aspire to call themselves "educated".

[shabacus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My childhood Bible. Not a lot of features in modern terms, but I loved poring over the maps in the back, and reading the glossary with all the unusual words defined.

[jamescostello_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's not the bible if it's not King James

[bobhayton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have always been fascinated by the history of the English Bible. I remember being astonished when I first learned that the original 1611 King James Bible had marginal notes referencing variant readings, the literal Greek and Hebrew, and offering alternative renderings. Then came the day I got my hands on a reprint of an original 1611 King James Bible: I devoured my copy and enjoyed every minute I spent looking at it.If you are looking for a good gift for the studious, theology geek in your life (or for any pastor or Bible teacher, for that matter), a new mass-market reprint edition of the 1611 King James Bible from Zondervan is sure to please. This edition, published in honor of the 400th anniversary this year of the King James Version, has a soft feel to its hardcover which mimics both the look and feel of the original leather. This Bible is a more handy size at 8" x 5.4" than the original 12" x 16". It comes with the original typeset - Gothic letters for the main text, and Roman for what modern Bibles have in italics. And all 7,400 plus original marginal notes are also preserved. In addition, this edition includes what some of the other reprints leave out, namely the decorative genealogies and maps that precede the book of Genesis.The big omission of this book, is the Apocrypha. I guess since the volume is already 2.6" thick, they didn't want to make it even more bulky. And most Protestant readers won't miss it. Unfortunately there are some King James Only advocates who seem to be unaware that the original KJV contained the Apocrypha, and if they don't look too closely, this edition may bolster their mistaken assumption.That being said, the original maps, decorations and typeset, and all the strange archaisms -- like "ye" for "the", "f"s for "s"s, and the interchange of "i" and "j" and "u" and "v" -- will absolutely delight the lover of old books. It also illustrates that almost no one today truly uses a 1611 King James Bible.This Bible is inexpensively priced if you can still find it. Walmart was selling this over the summer for around $7.99. You may also be interested in "Visual History of the King James Bible, A: The Dramatic Story of the World's Best-Known Translation" by Donald Brake, if this title has caught your eye.Disclaimer: This book was provided by Zondervan. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

[pre20cenbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Though this is an older copy, containing the family history going back to the 1800s, it still holds up. It is obvious that the previous owner used it well. Old style Bibles have lovely classy character of the old days. This copy has a concordance, and other bible helps such as maps, charts of key events, and a suggested yearly reading schedule. Truly this older copy makes me think about what the times were like during the early 20th century. There is no copywrite page.

[markbstephenson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Of course this is really not a book, but a marvelous and challenging library of very ancient documents written, compiled and edited over many centuries by Jewish prophets, musicians, priests and sages. To regard it as fiction is to ignore the scholarship of many careful and highly accomplished historians, archaeologists, prelates and critics. To view it as complete or inerrant is to ignore its own content and testimony. The Jews have the distinction among all other nations of having (through Mary) brought forth Jesus, the Messiah whom I (among so many other witnesses) know to be the only begotten son of our Father in Heaven. The natural man resists and disbelieves this testimony and is at times only willing to point out the errors and contradictions which seem evident among these texts. And it was inevitable that through so many centuries some omissions and errors as well as uninspired interpolations must have occurred. Nevertheless there is a remarkable overall unity to this great collection which has brought many millions of many nations to worship our Heavenly Father and to testify that through faith in Jesus, repentance, baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit their hearts have been changed so that they have no more desire to do any wrong but only to love and serve God and man. And at this point these wonderful scriptures become so much more understandable, inviting, motivating and comforting.

[anagarika · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is full of things most people don't even know are in the Bible. War, slaughter, slavery, prostitution, etc. Anyhoo, one has too look past these cultural differences, and inconsistencies of the texts due to the various writers experiencing the Word of God in different ways. I give it an A-. I will read it again soon.

[janeaustennut · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Poor physical condition but was the personal Bible of Mrs. Laura Lola Martin Venable { My Mother's personal Bible }The Bible my mother used to read to me as a child!! Very precious indeed! The King James Version...Red Letter Edition.

[ghost_boy-691444 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Thanks to a long power outage, I managed to get threw the New Testament. Most of this I think is an impart read. Some parts I thought got a little boring. So many list and repetitiveness. You can tell sometimes this was written by different people. I'll probably end up rerrreading this again, but not any time soon.

NOTE: I read Genesis in college and started Exodus this year. My date read is only this year.

[arthur_kenned-102747 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a difficult read.I would classify it as an historical account in passing.note: I in fact read the NKJV by Thomas Nelson publishers around 836pgs, non-red letter, black mock leather bound cover, not the one shown. The publishing date was recent also.

[sfcc_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The inspired word of God. A classic.

[ethanlu121 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Poorly written. Too many paradoxes and contradictions. The author of every book is different. Also, it is very boring.

[jonimfisher · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The most banned book in history was not what I expected. It has history, philosophy, war, sex, crime, the supernatural, prophesy, and more. It changes lives for eternity.

[banjaxe-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Jesus dies and comes back as a zombie.

[erickibler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not even a believer any more, to be honest. But nevertheless, the Bible contains more great stories, history and wisdom than countless other books. Likewise, it's chockful of quotes we take for granted nowadays, and it's illuminating to see where they actually come from.

[jarvenpa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I grew up in a household in which this was the version around, and one of the few books around. So..I've read and reread. I think even if it is not to your religious taste it is an important thing to have read, to have tasted the glories of the psalms and the beauties of so many of the stories, the harshness of others, the bewildering complexity, the inspiration.

[homekeepingheart_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The one and only instruction book to life.

[labwriter · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The language of the King James has never been equalled, IMO. I collect different versions of bibles, and the one I use for study is the New RSV. But I love to read aloud from the King James.

[scwilson-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lot of rubbish actually!

[kaethe_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Some lovely passages, but the story doesn't really hold together, and is directly contradicted by itself within the text.

this business of having bibles in the church pews should maybe be re-thought. Because most people sit in the same place every week. And if you're not engrossed in whatever is going on at any given moment, you can read from the bible and not get in trouble, sitting there quietly. So, if you sit in the same place all the time you can steadily work you way straight through, week by week. And if you do that? You won't like it nearly as much as if you just study little bits out of context. Well, your mileage may vary.

[garypatella · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

EXTREMELY tedious. Some of the stories are interesting, but for the most part it just drags on and on. I wouldn't recommend it.

[shirezu · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

What can you say about one of the most boring books of all time, yet still tops the charts for best-selling fiction. Firstly the writing style is atrocious. It's like twenty guys were only given part of the story and told to make it up and make it all fit. The inconsistencies are everywhere. They really needed a better editor.

And with so many different cooks the styles are everywhere. From dry accountant listing everything person and every thing in exacting detail, to a fantasy nut who introduces magical staffs and mythical beings who communicate through burning botany.

What happened to the plot? For the first section there is this evil overlord controlling every aspect of his minions life. What they can eat, what they can wear, who they must kill and subjugate next. I kept waiting for a big rebellion and maybe a lightsaber battle but they kept praising this guy. Can't they see they are just his puppets? And it goes on and on and on and on and on and... you get the drift. But thankfully it isn't all just lists, and doom and gloom and wait yes it is. There's some comedy pieces like this guy Noah who forgot all the dinosaurs and left them to die instead of taking them on his super arc. Must have been a cold-hearted guy and let them drown like the chick in Titanic did to Leo. So did Noah paint the dinosaurs like one of his "French girls"?

But then in the second half (or sequel I'm not quite sure. Maybe there was some writers strike between them) he just changes and it's as if he isn't even there anymore. Anti-climactic or what. Now his son is here to make the world a better place. I think the writers owe George Lucas some money for stealing his idea. This guy possesses all these superpowers but never comes up with a cool costume or superhero name. He just walks around, talking and occasionally doing little magic tricks. He could have headlined in Vegas! But no, he just tours the Middle East and forgets about the rest of the world. So in retaliation for not doing a gig in the Coliseum the Romans decide he has to die. And, lo and behold, he does! On a massive cross which must have hurt. But wait! He still has a magic trick up his sleeve (or robe or toga or whatever). He was only faking it. They take his "body" and put it in a cave and he does his Houdini trick and poof, he's gone. I'm thinking he was like the invisible man and ran off and married some little Arabian hottie. And story over.

So some minor magical fantasy pieces surrounded by the dullest of historical fantasy. At over 1000 pages, mostly with pretty small print, this tome makes for one hell of a paperweight and not much else. No wonder it's always left behind in hotels because people get 5 pages in and fall asleep. Do yourself a favour and go read some much better written historical fantasy. Or maybe Harry Potter. Hell maybe even Twilight. No scratch that, Twilight is still worse. Just.

[latefordinner · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

No one should have to be reminded, the map is not the territory.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm an atheist, but I emphatically believe everyone of every kind of belief should read the Bible from cover to cover for three reasons. First, because to not know it means you're handicapped in understanding the world around you. About two billion out of almost seven billion on Earth today are Christians, more than any other faith. Followed by followers of Islam who number one-and-a-half billion--and Judeo-Christian beliefs were a major influence on their founder Muhammad. Muslims consider themselves, Christians and Jews as "People of the Book" with many stories and beliefs in common. Five of the seven continents are by and large Christian and a sixth, Africa, is about half Christian and the other half Muslim. And Asia? Well, given the legacy of imperialism and colonialism, Christianity certainly made its mark on its history. You're also going to be culturally impoverished if you don't read the Bible--the allusions and influences on literature, music, and art are profound.The second reason I think everyone should read it is that parts of it can claim to be among the oldest of surviving human texts, dating to perhaps the second millennium BCE and making those portions almost 4,000 years old. Few works--some Sanskrit, Sumerian and Egyptian works, such as the Pyramid Texts and the Epic of Gilgamesh--can claim to be older. There's something compelling about reading something so close to the very start of civilization. Finally, there is intrinsic worth in many of the works in the Bible. From my secular point of view, of varied value, with each book almost certainly written by very different authors over centuries--and very possibly not by whom the book is ascribed. But yes, parts are beautiful. I especially loved several of the Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes--and my favorites are Ruth and the erotic poem (yes, you read that right) the Song of Songs. If there's the Good, there's also from my perch the Bad and the Ugly. I think what gets to the heart of my problem with the Bible and its believers is the story in Genesis of how God tests Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac--and is pleased when he proceeds to do so. As far as I'm concerned, if I was testing someone to be the chosen one, and they actually proceeded to sacrifice a child, I'd say, you most certainly DID NOT PASS THE TEST. The whole idea of obedience to God and "His Word" in the Bible as an ultimate good simply strikes me as repugnant. Furthermore, one of my more unpleasant surprises reading the Bible from cover to cover was the story of Jepthe's daughter in Judges. There a father makes a rash vow to sacrifice the first living thing to greet him when he comes home--who happens to be his young daughter. And this time God does not intervene. I think the story was such a shock to me because it's not a story that is emphasized in our culture. I may be an atheist, but I was raised a Catholic, attended catechism classes, and was required to take mandatory classes on Religion in my Catholic high school and college. I can't ever recall having heard of that story before coming upon it for myself. Leviticus also makes for unsettling reading. There is of course the much discussed passage condemning homosexuals to death. That's not the only Biblical law calling for the death penalty--it also falls on anyone taking the Lord's name in vain, breaking the sabbath, and of course "you shall not suffer a witch to live." About translations. Well, they make a big difference. I chose the Revised King James Version because it's the most widely used and influential among English-speaking Christians. However, seeking out other translations of the various books can really be illuminating. I remember in my high school religion class what we learned about Jesus' aphorism that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven." Well, according to our teacher, that's a mistranslation that allowed the church to interpret it as meaning it's hard for a loaded camel to make it through a narrow passage--so you must unload those money bags to the church! But as it turns out, "camel" is just the idiom for "camel hair rope." So the proper aphorism should be "it is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven." That's a lot harsher and bleaker--but also a much more elegant image. Finally, you're going to get more out of the Bible if you read through some guides and commentaries first or along with it. I read Asimov's Guide to the Bible--which was very readable and thorough in giving the historical and archeological context, but I'm sure is very dated now.

[tommi180744 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The collected works that are the core & essence of the Christian Faith: Inspired billions, affected & influenced every corner of the globe and its content remains the most read text within Christianity.