King James 21st Century Version (KJ21)

The King James 21st Century Version (KJ21)

The King James 21st Century Version (KJ21) is published by Deuel Enterprises, first released in 1994. The KJ21 is not a new translation, but an English language update to the 1611 KJV (probably to the Oxford 1769 edition). The KJ21 uses no new source manuscripts and does not reinterpret any content, but only updates capitalization, punctuation, and (some) obsolete language. This is a nice version for those who want to keep King James, but just want more modern language. The intent of the KJ21 was not to change the KJV in any substantial way.

Unfortunately, many archaic words are still retained. I actually could not find any wording differences at all until I referenced a list of archaic KJV words and phrases, and even then I found only very few word replacements. Two examples are 'braided hair' instead of 'broided hair' (1 Timothy 2:9) and 'clamor' instead of 'bruit' (Jeremiah 10:22).

The KJ21 is out of print and apparently only available as an electronic edition, but it is availble at no cost from Olive Tree Bible Software, or online at BibleGateway. I am not aware of any other ways to access this version.