Believers Beware of Counterfeit King James Bibles
By Nic Kizziah
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Nic Kizziah, President, The Believers Organization, P. O. Box 40862, Tuscaloosa,
AL 35404, phone: (205) 462-1873, email: TheBelievers@charter.net, visit
their website: www.thebelieversorganization.org. King James Bible believers are faced with an array of problems to day. Of course we all know that the multiplicity of all the new modern versions are a big problem but another big problem is the fact that many of the worldly publishing companies are publishing Bibles and calling them King James Bibles when in actuality they are not. They are counterfeits. Because the King James Bible is in the publick domain and not copyrighted, these worldly publishing companies think they can make minor changes to the standard text so that they can please certain groups which translates into extra sales for them. That's the way the modern world operates to day. All the common ordinary Bible believer wants is the same Bible that his grandmother had and the same Bible her grandmother had and the same Bible her grandmother had etc. that's all.
Just give us the text that has established itself as the standard text of the Holy Bible, an old fashioned, Christ exalting, devil kicking, Authorized King James Bible. To the best of my understanding this is the 1769 edition of the 1611 King James Bible with a few minor printing errors and spellings corrected along the way in the 1800's.
Until the twenty-first century you could get a copy of it in any nickel and dime book store. To day you can still find it but you must proceed with caution. You will be hard pressed to find it at all in any typical Christian book store without some alterations to the text.
The Bible of our forefathers which we received through process of time comes with three specific warning labels. One is near the front. The other is near the middle and the last one is at the very end. Let's read them:
WARNING LABEL # 1 - Deuteronomy 4:2
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
WARNING LABEL # 2 - Proverbs 30:5-6
5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
WARNING LABEL # 3 - Revelation 22:18-19
18 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:
19 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.
I would like to think these worldly publishing companies are just ignorant to the seriousness of what they are doing. However in some cases I'm sure that these deceptive maneuvers are being done with fore thought. In other words they are aware of the warning labels but choose to ignore them. They have hardened their hearts against the standard text of the Holy Bible.
Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. It was approximately six months ago I purchased a King James Bible from a popular on line book store. It was a straight text (advertised as the standard text) meaning it had no notes, no references, no helps, and no maps. It was just what I wanted. Just give me the Bible and if I need help with a difficult passage I'll ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and I'll check other scriptures for references.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not against some of the commentaries and other Bible study tools. In fact I consider some of them a necessity, for example a good dictionary. It's just that commentaries, dictionaries, concordances and the like are the words of men and not the words of God. They are not infallible. Therefore I do not believe they should be mixed together under the same cover and be called the word of God. In actuality it is the word of God plus the words of a man or a group of men. In my opinion the Holy Bible should be just the word of God only from cover to cover. That is why I prefer a straight text.
At any rate I had bought the Bible I thought I wanted. It had been published by Cambridge. They have always been the giant in the industry. In fact they are the oldest Printer and Publisher in the world. They are supposed to be the gold standard for dependability according to many King James Bible believers. This Bible had a nice black French Morocco leather cover with golden coloured gilt edges. It was very nice on the outside but when I started checking out the inside I was shocked. This particular edition of the Cambridge Bible that calls itself a King James Bible is not genuine. IT'S A COUNTERFEIT! It's not the Bible of my forefathers!
Here are some of the changes I located: Asswaged has been changed to assuaged. Basons has been changed to basins. Chesnut has been changed to chestnut. Cloke has been changed to cloak. Enquire has been changed to inquire. Further has been changed to farther. Jubile has been changed to jubilee. Intreat has been changed to entreat. Morter has been changed to mortar. Ought has been changed to aught, and rereward has been changed to rearward.
Brother Nic, why get so upset? These are just minor changes in spelling. Well maybe they are, but have you never read "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" You see I believe God wrote the Bible through sinful men. I believe God copied the Bible through sinful men. I believe God translated the Bible through sinful men, and I believe God edited (purified) the Bible through sinful men. So therefore I believe God gave us the exact words in the exact order He wanted us to have them in. If that's the case then He spelled the words exactly the way He wanted to spell them, and gave them to us in a pure language, and that language is the standard text of the King James Bible. This is the Bible that has stood the test of time without any editing whatsoever and this is the Bible The Believers organization, with God's help, intends to preserve for all future generations.
Beside all this, Cambridge has also taken the liberty of making doctrinal changes. Notice the following: The capital S in the word Spirit has been changed to a lower case s in numerous passages. The capital S refers to the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead, whereas the lower case s in the word spirit could have multiple definitions such as simply referring to a mood or emotion. Its primary definition means to breath. All living self moving creatures have a spirit within them. So many definitions could apply to the word spirit when it is not capitalized.
To change the capital S in the word Spirit to a lower case s is an attack against the Godhead, the most powerful threefold cord in heaven and earth: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Cambridge has made this critical error in the following places: Genesis 1:2, 41:38, Judges 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, 13:25, 14:6, 14:19, 15:14, 1 Samuel 10:6, 10:10, 11:6, 16:13, 16:14, 19:20, 19:23, 2 Samuel 23:2, 1 Kings 18:12, 22:24, 2 Kings 2:16, 2 Chronicles 15:1, 18:23, 20:14, 24:20, Job 33:4, Isaiah 40:13, 48:16, 61:1, 63:10, 11, 14, Ezekiel 11:5, 24. For hundreds of years Cambridge published these verses with a capital S, but now in the twenty-first century it has been changed. Actually this so called standard text edition first hit the market in 1993 and is being endorsed by many King James Bible believing websites to day. I assume that they are not aware that it has been modernized.
Here is another change that has been made in this particular edition: the word twoedged has become two-edged. They added a hyphen. This word is only in the King James Bible four times (Psalms 149:6, Proverbs 5:4, Hebrews 4:12, and Revelation 1:16.) Now check this out: they added the hyphen in only three of the four verses. They left it without a hyphen in Hebrews 4:12. Why? Was this a mistake or did they mean to do it that way? Why tamper with it in the first place? Don't say you were trying to help us Cambridge. If that's the case then please don't try to help us any more. All we want you to do is to publish the same standard text of the King James Bible as you have done so very well for hundreds of years. Don't publish something that is not the standard and call it the standard. Once you modernize spelling, change capital letters to lower case letters and add hyphens, you are changing the standard text in order to please modern society.
Here are some other ploys that some of these other worldly publishing companies are pulling on an unaware publick. One thing a lot of them do is change the spelling of words that end with the letters o-u-r to the more modern American spelling of o-r. For example armour becomes armor. Behaviour becomes behavior. Clamour becomes clamor. Colour becomes color. Endeavour becomes endeavor. Favour becomes favor. Honour becomes honor. Labour becomes labor. Neighbour becomes neighbor. Odour becomes odor. Rigour becomes rigor. Rumour becomes rumor. Valour becomes valor and vapour becomes vapor. Well Brother Nic what's wrong with that? Remember what we said about the warning labels? Remember what the scripture said about a little leaven leaventh the whole lump?
Now the very worst of this battle of o-u-r vs. o-r comes when dealing with the only begotten Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The modern day counterfeiters have changed Saviour to Savior. They have given us a six-letter Savior in place of a seven-letter Saviour. In Bible numerics seven is the number of completeness, purity, and spiritual perfection. On the other hand six is the number of man which is earthly not heavenly. Every one has heard of 666. It has a bad connotation and is not highly esteemed in Bible numerics.
The seven-letter Saviour is the only begotten Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The six-letter Savior is the son of perdition, the anti christ. He wants to be like the most High (Isaiah 14:14,) but not in a good way, but in an evil way. He is not a follower. He's a counterfeiter. Therefore his final destination is the lake of fire. The new versions, along with the new age movement, and some of the King James Bible counterfeits are preparing the way for this six-letter so called Savior. That's the way he will spell his name, S-a-v-i-o-r not S-a-v-i-o-u-r. No thank you Satan. I'm sticking with the seven-letter Saviour as portrayed in the old black Book that I inherited from my forefathers.
There are many other things going on by the worldly publishing companies. Almost all of them have hardened their hearts against the standard text of the Holy Bible. They do not believe God actually had His hand upon it much less wrote it. They treat it as a product of men. That is why they do not hesitate to publish all the different new versions. Nor do they hesitate to change the old King James and still call it the King James. If a person can't see the fingerprints of God upon this Book then he is either clouded in the cabassis or he is as lost as a duck in the desert with his head in the sand!
The rules of English grammar may change but the King James Bible is fixed in a moment of time (the 1800's, the 1900's and for ever more) and is unchangeable. This is the standard text and there is no other. This is the Book that spread the gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. This is the Book my grandmother had and her grandmother had and her grandmother had without any alterations (editing) whatsoever. It is basically the same Book that rolled off the printing press in 1611. The only differences being it was changed from Gothic type to Roman type, printer's errors were corrected and spelling was stabilized. The King James Bible is a very old Book.
Now consider this: the scriptures have been translated into over 1,200 languages. Of all these over 800 languages had it translated straight from the Elizabethan English of the King James Bible. Not from the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Not from the Latin, not from the German, but straight from the Authorized King James. Now some of these people have learned English as a second language. They are not familiar with these modern Americanized spellings nor are most of the other English speaking people of the world. Can you see what God has woven together through process of time? The Holy Bible is from above and is a finished book from God. It is written in a pure language. Furthermore this language is very peculiar and has been used and still is being used in a very unique way. Let's preserve it as we received it and quit trying to change it!
QUICK CHECK LIST WHEN BUYING A KING JAMES BIBLE
Scripture Reference
|
The Real Bible
|
Counterfeit
|
|
GENESIS 1:1 |
heaven |
heavens |
|
GENESIS 1:2 |
Capital S (Spirit) |
lower case s (spirit) |
|
GENESIS 8:1 |
asswaged |
assuaged |
|
GENESIS 11:3 |
throughly |
thoroughly |
|
GENESIS 11:3 |
morter |
mortar |
|
GENESIS 12:1 |
shew |
show |
|
GENESIS 21:26 |
to day |
today |
|
GENESIS 23:8 |
intreat |
entreat |
|
GENESIS 24:57 |
enquire |
inquire |
|
GENESIS 30:37 |
chesnut |
chestnut |
|
GENESIS 31:42 |
labour |
labor |
|
GENESIS 41:38 |
Capital S (Spirit) |
lower case s (spirit) |
|
EXODUS 8:23 |
to morrow |
tomorrow |
|
EXODUS 24:6 |
basons |
basins |
|
EXODUS 25:30 |
shewbread |
showbread |
|
EXODUS 25:30 |
alway |
always |
|
LEVITICUS 25:9 |
jubile |
jubilee |
|
NUMBERS 10:25 |
rereward |
rearward |
|
NUMBERS 22:26 |
further |
farther |
|
1 SAMUEL 18:6 |
musick |
music |
|
PSALMS 149:6 |
twoedged |
two-edged |
|
ISAIAH 59:17 |
cloke |
cloak |
|
MATTHEW 1:19 |
publick |
public |
|
MATTHEW 4:1 |
Capital S (Spirit) |
lower case s (spirit) |
|
LUKE 2:11 |
Saviour |
Savior |
|
PHILIPPIANS 3:17 |
ensample |
example |
|
1 TIMOTHY 6:20 |
so called |
so-called |
|
JAMES 4:14 |
vapour |
vapor |
The best place I know to purchase a good Bible at a reasonable price is at Bearing Precious Seed Ministry. They sell them at cost. However they do expect a donation with each purchase. This is a church ministry, not a business.
