| Is the King James Bible Harder to Understand? |
| "In the last days. . .men shall be HEADY, HIGHMINDED" II Timothy 3:4 |
At the intersection of Bible Boulevard, Madi$on Avenue and Wall $treet, there are many crooked turns of the truth. Advertising campaigns create a cloud of confusion, calling the KJV "obscure, confusing and sometimes incomprehensible." While they crown the NIV's "clarity and ease of reading" and the NASB's "contemporary English." Christians are coerced by full color ads written to color the plain facts by advertising, not English majors.
The Flesch-Kincaid research company's Grade Level Indicator betrays the strictly black and white nature of the issue showing the new version's true colors. The KJV ranks easier in 23 out of 26 comparisons. (Their formula is: (.39 x average number of words per sentence) + (11.8 x average number of syllables per word) - (15.59) = grade level. The first chapter of the first and last books of both the Old and New Testaments were compared. (All complete sentences, whether terminating in a period, colon, or semi-colon, and all incomplete phrases ending in a period, were calculated as 'sentences'.)
| KJB Grade Level | NIV Grade Level | NASV Grade Level | TEV Grade Level | NKJV Grade Level | |
| Gen. 1 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 5.2 |
| Mal. 1 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 4.6 |
| Matt. 1 | 6.7 | 16.4 | 6.8 | 11.8 | 10.3 |
| Rev. 1 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 6.4 | 7.7 |
| Grade Level Average | 5.8 | 8.4 | 6.1 | 7.2 | 6.9 |
To extend the inquiry, one each of the three book-types (Gospel, Pauline epistle, General epistle) were surveyed. The resulting data confirms the readability of the KJV.
| KJB | NIV | NASB | Good News (TEV) | NKJV | |
| John 1:1-21 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 5.9 | 3.9 |
| Gal. 1:1-21 | 8.6 | 9.8 | 10.4 | 6.7 | 8.9 |
| James 1:1-21 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 6.4 |
Why is the KJV easier to read? The KJV uses one or two syllable words while new versions substitute complex multi-syllable words and phrases. Their "heady, high-minded" vocabulary hides the hope of salvation from simple saints and sinners.
Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. (KJB) II Cor. 3:12
The NASB substitutes "lividness of speech" here and carries this confusing and condescending vocabulary from cover to cover. Children and church members need to change to the KJV for "clarity." An extensive list is given because Christians have been so extensively brainwashed to 'believe a lie'.
| NASV vs. KJB | ||
| HARD WORD (NASB) | EASY WORD (KJB) | |
| Matt.1:11, 1:17 | deportation | carried away |
| Matt.1:20 | considered | thought |
| Matt.2:1, 2:7 | magi | wise men |
| Mark. 2:21 | unshrunk | new |
| Matt. 2:16 | environs | coasts |
| Luke 3:17, Matt. 3:12 | winnowing fork | fan |
| Luke 11:33, Matt. 5:15, Mark 4:21 | peck-measure | bushel |
| Matt. 5:19 | annuls | break |
| Matt. 5:21 | murder | kill |
| Luke 5:29, Matt. 8:11 | recline at the table | sat |
| Matt. 8:32 | begone | go |
| Matt. 9:13, 12:7 | compassion | mercy |
| Matt. 9:17 | wineskins | bottles |
| Matt. 9:18 | synagogue official | certain ruler |
| Mark 5:25, Matt. 9:20 | hemorrhage | issue of blood |
| Matt. 9:20, 14:36 | fringe | hem |
| Matt. 9:38 | beseech | pray |
| Matt. 10:1 | summoned | called |
| Matt. 10:10 | tunics | coats |
| Matt. 10:16 | shrewd | wise |
| Matt. 11:26 | well pleasing | good |
| Mark 14:3 | vial | box |
| Mark 14:3, 14:18 | reclining | sat |
| Luke 1:22 | mute | speechless |
| Mark 15:18 | acclaim | salute |
| Luke 3:5 | ravine | valley |
| Luke 6:17 | descended | came down |
| Luke 5:5 | bidding | word |
| Luke 6:22 | ostracize | separate you from their company |
| Luke 6:48 | torrent burst | stream beat |
| Luke 6:49 | collapsed | fell |
| Luke 7:2 | highly regarded | dear |
| Luke 7:32 | sang a dirge | have mourned |
| Luke 8:15 | perseverance | patience |
| Luke 8:31 | the abyss | the deep |
| Luke 8:33 | rushed | ran |
| Luke 9:39 | seizes | taketh |
| Luke 9:42 | dashed him to the ground | threw him |
| Luke 9:45 | concealed | hid |
| Luke 10:2 | plentiful | great |
| Luke 10:2 | beseech | pray |
| Luke 10:20 | recorded | written |
| Luke 10:21 | well-pleasing | good |
| Luke 11:21 | undisturbed | in peace |
| Luke 11:28 | observe it | keep it |
| Luke 23:45 | being obscured | darkened |
| (This has other implications. It states that the sun was darkened by being obscured, implying the natural phenomenon of an eclipse rather than a supernatural move of God.) | ||
| Luke 18:40 | questioned | asked |
| John 6:60 | difficult | hard |
| John 7:6 | opportune | ready |
| John 10:23 | portico | porch |
| John 10:24 | suspense | doubt |
| John 11:17 | tomb | grave |
| John 11:57 | seize | take |
| John 11:39 | stench | stinketh |
| John 12:45 | beholds | seeth |
| John 12:40 | perceive | understand |
| John 13:12 | reclined | set down |
| John 13:23 | reclining | leaning |
| John 14:27 | fearful | afraid |
| John 16:8 | concerning | of |
| I Thess. 2:17 | having been bereft of you | being taken from you |
| I Thess. 2:18 | thwarted | hindered |
| I Thess. 5:1 | epochs | seasons |
| I Thess. 5:14 | admonish | warn |
| 2 Thess.2:3 | apostasy | falling away |
| 2 Thess. 2:3 | lawlessness | sin |
| 2 Thess. 3:2 | perverse | unreasonable |
| 2 Thess. 3:6 | aloof | withdraw |
| I Tim.1:15 | foremost of all | chief |
| I Tim. 2:8 | dissensions | doubting |
| I Tim.2:9 | discreetly | sobriety |
| I Tim. 3:2 | prudent | sober |
| I Tim.3:2 | respectable | of good behavior |
| I Tim. 3:3 | pugnacious | striker |
| I Tim. 3:3 | uncontentious | not a brawler |
| I Tim.3:8 | sordid | filthy |
| I Tim. 5:12 | previous pledge | first faith |
| I Tim. 6:3 | advocates | teach |
| I Tim.6:4 | conceited | proud |
| I Tim. 6:10 | a pang | sorrows |
| 2 Tim. 3:2 | arrogant | proud |
| Titus 1:6 | dissipation | riot |
| Titus 1:7 | sordid | filthy |
| Titus 3:2 | to malign no one | to speak evil of no man |
| Titus 3:2 | uncontentious | to be no brawlers |
| Titus 3:10 | factious | heretick |
| Phil. 2:1 | consolation | comfort |
| Phil. 2:30 | deficient | lack |
| Heb. 2:17 | propitiation | reconciliation |
| Heb. 5:10 | designated | called |
| Heb. 7:2 | apportioned | gave |
| Heb. 12:1 | encumbrance | weight |
| James 1:2 | encounter | fall into |
| James 1:11 | in the midst | in his ways |
| James 5:11 | blessed | happy |
| I Pet.4:4 | dissipation | riot |
| I John 5:10 | borne | gave |
| Rev.1:3 | heed | keep |
| Rev. 1:9 | perseverance | patience |
| Rev. 2:2 | perseverance | patience |
| Rev. 2:3 | perseverance | patience |
| Rev. 3:10 | perseverance | patience |
| Rev. 2:23 | pestilence | death |
| Rev. 4:1 | standing | was |
| Rev. 5:11 | myriads of myriads | ten thousand times ten thousand |
| Rev. 6:8 | ashen | pale |
| Rev. 6:8 | famine | hunger |
| Rev. 6:8 | pestilence | death |
| Rev. 7:15 | spread His tabernacel over | dwell among |
| Rev. 9:11 | abyss | pit |
| Rev. 11:7 | abyss | pit |
| Rev. 11:9 | laid in a tomb | put in graves |
| (It refers to the two witnesses, so graves plural are needed.) | ||
| Rev. 11:11 | who were beholding them | saw |
| Rev. 12:3 | diadems | crowns |
| Rev. 13:1 | diadems | crowns |
| Rev. 13:5 | arrogant words | great things |
| Rev. 13:10 | perseverance | patience |
| Rev. 16:9 | fierce | great |
| Rev. 16:21 | severe | great |
| Rev. 17:1 | harlot | whore |
| Rev. 17:8 | abyss | bottomless pit |
| Rev. 17:16 | harlot | whore |
| Rev.18:1 | illumined | lightened |
| Rev. 18:2 | prison of every. . .bird | cage |
| Rev. 18:7 | mourning | sorrow |
| Rev. 18:8 | pestilence | death |
| Rev. 18:11, 18:12 | cargoes | merchandise |
| Rev. 19:12 | diadem | crown |
| Rev. 19:20 | seized | taken |
| Rev. 20:1, 20:3 | abyss | bottomless pit |
| Rev. 21:8 | cowardly | fearful |
| Rev. 22:7 | heeds | keepeth |
Dr. Waite continues: "Some people say they like a particular version because they say it's more readable. Now, readability is one thing, but does the readability conform to what's in the original Greek and Hebrew language? You can have a lot of readability, but if it doesn't match up with what God has said, it's of no profit. In the King James Bible, the words match what God has said. You may say it's difficult to read, but study it out. It's hard in the Hebrew and Greek and, perhaps, even in the English in the King James Bible. But to change it around just to make it simple, or interpreting it, instead of translating it, is wrong."
| Version | Words | Vocab | Verses |
| KJB | 790685 | 12784 | 31102 |
| NIV | 726109 | 14500 | 31085 |
| NKJV | 770930 | 13309 | 31102 |
| RSV | 760151 | 14110 | 31083 |
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