
I offer this post tongue in cheek, in light of the King James Onlyism that pervades many Laestadian churches. Growing up, our only options were either the King James Version or a Finnish translation. Since I don't read Finnish, I was stuck with the King James. The Finnish version some churchmembers used was a modern translation! I'd hear things like, "it's so much clearer in the Finn." Irony!
Hurrah! At long last, I've finally found an online King James Bible. What's that you say? It's easy to find the KJV online? You could not be more wrong. Not this King James Bible, the original and best:
Original 1611 King James Version
What's the difference? Well, the original KJV contains a whole lot of prefatory and commentarial matter not found in your average off-the-shelf pseudo-KJV, as well as the Apocrypha. But more relevant to me is that your garden-variety KJV has been updated, reworded, and worst of all re-spelled, so that it no longer provides any adequate hint of the original language and pronunciation of 1611.
For example? Well, your namby-pamby, watered down, fit-only-for-Evian-drinking-fundamentalists fake KJV will start out something like this:
Genesis 1
1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
1:2 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.
1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Whereas the REAL KJV starts out like this:
THE
FIRST BOOKE
OF MOSES,
called GENESIS
CHAP.I.
1 The creation of Heauen and Earth, 3 of the light, 6 of the firmament, 9 of the earth separated from the waters, 11 and made fruitfull, 14 of the Sunne, Moone, and Starres, 20 of fish and fowle, 24 of beasts and cattell, 26 of Man in the Image of God. 29 Also the appointment of food.
IN* (*Psal. 33.6. and 136.5. acts.14.15. and 17.24. hebr. 11.3.) the beginning God created the Heauen, and the Earth.
2 And the earth was without forme, and voyd, and darknesse [was] vpon the face of the deepe : and the Spirit of God mooued vpon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, * (*2.Cor.4.6.) Let there be light : and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good : and God diuided+ (+Hebr. betweene the light and betweene the darknesse.) the light from the darknesse.
5 And God called the light, Day, and the darknesse he called Night: + (+ Hebr. and the euening was, and the morning was &c.) and the euening and the morning were the first day.
So if you're man -- or woman -- or Christian enough to take your Bible STRAIGHT UP, without any dilutions or distortions, go read it in Hebrew manuscript. No, no! I mean, go check out this site. It's really cool.*
*italicized portion originally posted by Vanity in the Bible and Christianity forum on ISCABBS
-ttg