< DAVID'S REVIEW OF THE SIMPLIFIED KJV Perhaps the most beautiful and literary book in history is the King James Version. I have an healthy respect for the KJV, as it kept the church afloat during the 270 years when it was the only major English translation. There are many accurate modern Bible translations, but not many match the literary beauty of the KJV. However, the KJV is an very outdated Bible translation. English has changed in 400 years and the KJV has over 800 words that have changed meaning or no longer used. For example, "prevent" in the KJV meant "precede," the opposite of what "prevent" means today. As much as the KJV is beloved, it gives off the false impression that the Bible itself is hard to read, when it is just the KJV's outdated English that is hard to read. The Simplified King James Version by Barbour Publishing fixes those 800 words and is a beautiful Bible to read. The SKJV was first published in 2022 and an updated edition came out in March 2025. The difference between the SKJV and the New King James Version, is that while the NKJV re-translates the same Hebrew and Greek manuscripts as the KJV, the SKJV merely edits the existing KJV text itself without translating ancient manuscripts. The result is the SKJV retains the beauty of the KJV better than the NKJV. If the KJV was updated to reflect the English of today, one would appreciate how much easier it is to read. The KJV was easy to read in 1611, and the SKJV is easy to read today. The SKJV leaves the KJV idioms mostly intact, except when it is non-sensible to today's reader. For example, in 1 Peter 1:13, the KJV says "Gird up the loins of your mind." The SKJV has "Prepare your minds for action." Some KJV idioms are like KJV words, some needed to be updated for the understanding of the modern reader. But such idioms as "cleanness of teeth" in Amos to express lack of food to eat, and someone with "a double heart" in Psalms to express deceit remain unchanged. There are minimal changes in the SKJV overall, as changing the KJV too much will result in a Bible that does not sound like the KJV, I can tell that the editors of the SKJV kept all words and phrases from the KJV if it made sense to us today. Other changes are the words ye, thee, thou, and verbs ending in -est and -eth are now updated. Personal pronouns referring to the Deity are capitalized, as it is in the NKJV and NASB. The spellings of names of Old Testament people are kept the same in the New Testament. Modern punctuation is used, including the use of quotation marks. Most of the SKJV is in paragraph format, but verse format is sometimes used. My chief complaint about the SKJV is that it does not format Psalms and other poetry like most Bible translations, but indented poetry is a feature that has modern origins, and was not in the original KJV. The SKJV is based on the KJV, which New Testament is based on the Greek Textus Receptus. Translations today use the modern Greek Critical Text, with the exception of the NKJV. Many KJV lovers think it is the only faithful word of God and that all the others are unfaithful, while many who use modern translations belittle the KJV. I have a more balanced view. The differences between the TR and the CT are minor, and do not change any doctrine. There is a website that compares the current KJV to what the KJV would look like if it used the CT. The link is at the bottom of this page. Having seen the differences, I am confident that versions like the KJV and SKJV are every bit the complete Word of God as the modern translations, and vice versa. One needs to be reminded that the KJV saved souls for 270 years before the Revised Version, the first major translation to use a critical Greek text. One can properly obey the Gospel, live a Christ-like life that pleases God, and go to Heaven with Bibles based on either the TR or CT. I think that we can benefit from both modern translations or Bibles like the Simplified KJV, an update of the classic. In the appendix of the SKJV is a detailed descrption of the updating process, along with a list of most of the words in the KJV that were updated. I am currently using the SKJV as my devotional Bible. I highly recommend getting the Large Print version, which is also thumb indexed. This Bible is great for KJV lovers who have a hard time with 17th century English, or those who go to a church which uses the KJV. So far, I think the SKJV is better in the style department than the NKJV or the Modern English Version that try to update the KJV and retain its beauty. I may decide to use the SKJV as my "daily driver." Read the SKJV. All the differences between the TR and CT, using the KJV