Working on a Minimal Update to the KJV in 2023

The Holy Scriptures Bible Society is conducting this project to faithfully and definitively update the antiquated language of the King James Version (KJV) of the Holy Bible for our generation. Our goal is to alter as little of the text as possible to bring it up to date. The purpose of the project is to help readers and hearers of the KJV to better and more easily understand the word of God. As it is written, “So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.” (1 Corinthians 14:9) Imagine the KJV 2023; that should paint a good picture of the vision for this work. A modern KJV that keeps the same meaning as the original could be an enormous blessing for millions of people. This project includes retaining the distinction between singular and plural pronouns that is present in the KJV and important for many of its readers. For students of God’s word who primarily use a different translation, this work may prove to be a useful study resource. Other KJV updates have been faulty. With respect to being an adequate modern edition of the KJV, they have significant flaws, such as translating parts with a different meaning, lacking quality, and keeping much archaic language. The New King James Version (NKJV) in fact is not a strict update of the KJV into contemporary English, for it contains new translation from the original languages and significantly differs in meaning from the KJV in many places (e.g. Genesis 49:6, 2 Kings 23:29, Job 17:6, Psalm 139:16, Isaiah 9:3, Matthew 6:13). Other substantial differences in the NKJV include the loss of distinction between singular and plural pronouns, and textual notes regarding variant readings from different source texts. To date, a satisfactory and definitive KJV update has not been found to exist, which is why this project is needed.

By God’s leading, this project to update the KJV began in April, 2019. A project Committee is presently laboring to complete the work. The Lord is with us in this project. We now have a draft of the update for the whole Bible, praise the Lord. If you believe that a faithful modern edition of the KJV would be a blessing to you and others, then please support the project in some way. There are a variety of ways that you can help. Pray for the Lord’s blessings upon the work and laborers. The Bible Society is earnestly seeking support and partners to complete the project, including institutional backing from churches and other organizations, as well as project volunteers. Additionally, there are Editor and Advisor positions that are open on our project Committee. If you are interested in serving on the Committee, please contact us. The vision for the project is that the update would be completed by a large committee of Christians. This is an enormous project, and the final product should be of the utmost quality. Having additional Committee members could be very helpful. The Bible Society is trying to raise funds in order to pay Committee members for their labor to update the text; as the Lord said, “The labourer is worthy of his hire” (Luke 10:7). If the body of Christ desire an excellent modern version of the KJV, then we as God’s people should provide the laborers and funds needed for this enterprise.  The Bible Society does not currently have the funds to pay Committee members for their service. And it is difficult to find highly qualified individuals willing to do the scholarly work without payment for their labor.  However, the purpose of the project is not to make money, and no project members are to gain any financial profit from the work. Also, the Bible Society that is conducting the project is a U.S. non-profit organization. If you would like to contribute financially to help make this vision a reality, you can donate via the GoFundMe fundraiser page by using the following link:  Help Produce a Faithful Update of the KJV (gofundme.com). If you would like to receive project updates by email, please send us an email and let us know to add you to our newsletter list. May the blessings of the Lord abundantly be upon you.

Contact

Please note: we may not answer all the questions received about the project, especially casual inquiries, as we have limited resources.

Email (preferred): contact@thsbiblesociety.org

Phone (U.S. number): 1-352-580-8396