When the King James Version (KJV) was translated in 1611, errors in the version of the Greek New Testament text that was used by the KJV translators resulted in errors in the KJV text. Listed below are some of the modifications needed to help make the KJV agree with the original texts of the New Testament. These modifications are not simply alternatives to the wording used by the KJV translators; rather, they represent actual corrections to the Greek texts (the so-called Textus Receptus) from which the KJV was translated. (These corrections are already reflected in the New Revised Standard Version, the Today's English Version, and most other modern translations.)

The texts now comprising the New Testament were first written in Greek, somewhere between the middle of the first century A.D. and the middle of the second century A.D. (Many scholars believe that 1 Thessalonians was the first book written, around 49 or 50 A.D., and that 2 Peter was the last New Testament book to be written, sometime between 110 and 140 A.D.) All of the texts were hand-copied from the first century up to 1516, when the first printed New Testament Greek text was published. The Greek New Testament text used by the KJV translators was mostly based upon incomplete, twelfth-century copies of earlier Greek texts. These twelfth-century copies themselves had been hand-copied from many generations of earlier copies. For more details on the history of the transmission of these texts and for more details on their influence on the KJV, browse http://www.bibletexts.com/kjv-tr.htm.

Those corrections below comprise only a partial listing. Additions to this list will be made as time is able to be devoted to further comparing and contrasting the texts of Stephanus' 1550 Greek New Testament text (generally consistent with the Textus Receptus) and the United Bible Societies' 1993 The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition.

For a more comprehensive listing of King James Version verses that require corrections to the underlying Hebrew and Greek text, browse the commentaries on each individual book of the Bible at http://www.bibletexts.com/bt.htm.

The following comprises a very small sampling of words, phrases, and verses that were not in the original Greek texts of the New Testament:

• Mat 5:22 - without a cause
• Mat 6:4,6,18 - openly
• Mat 6:13 - For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Please note the following:)
• In the Textual Commentary of the Greek New Testament, Second Edition (NY: United Bible Societies, 1994, page 13-14), Bruce Metzger writes, "The ascription ["a form of prayer ascribing praise to God spoken by a minister, usually after a sermon" (Webster's Third)] at the close of the Lord's Prayer occurs in several forms... The absence of any ascription in early and important [ancient manuscripts], as well as early patristic commentaries on the Lord's Prayer... suggests that an ascription, usuallly in a threefold form, was composed (perhaps on the basis of 1 Chr 29:11-13) in order to adapt the Prayer for liturgical use in the early church."
• Mat 12:35 - of the heart
• Mat 17:21 - (omit entire verse)
• Mat 18:11 - (omit entire verse)
• Mat 19:29 - or wife
• Mat 23:14 - (omit entire verse)
• Mat 27:35 - that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
• Mar 7:16 - (omit entire verse)
• Mar 7:24 - and Sidon
• Mar 8:26 - nor tell it to any in the town.
• Mar 9:23 - believe
• Mar 9:29 - and fasting
• Mar 9:44 - (omit entire verse)
• Mar 9:46 - (omit entire verse)
• Mar 10:21 - take up the cross
• Mar 10:24 - for them that trust in riches
• Mar 10:29 - or wife
• Mar 11:26 - (omit entire verse)
• Mar 13:33 - and pray
• Mar 15:28 - (omit entire verse)
• Mar 16:9-20 - (please note the following:)
• Bruce Metzger (ibid., page 105-106) writes, "On the basis of good external evidence and strong internal considerations it appears that the earliest ascertainable form of the Gospel of Mark ended with 16.8. At the same time, however, out of deference to the evident antiquity of the longer ending and its importance in the textual tradition of the Gospel, the Committee [the Editorial Committee of the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament, of which Dr. Metzger is a member] decided to include verses 9-20 as part of the text, but to enclose them within double square brackets in order to indicate that they are the work of an author other than the evangelist."
• Luk 1:28 - blessed art thou among women
• Luk 5:17 - them
• Luk 7:28 - prophet
• Luk 8:45 - and all they that were with him
• Luk 9:54 - even as Elijah did
• Luk 9:55-56 - and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
• Luk 11:11 - ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he
• Luk 17:3 - against thee
• Luk 17:36 - (omit entire verse)
• Luk 22:68 - nor let me go
• Luk 23:17 - (omit entire verse)
• Luk 24:42 - and of a honeycomb
• Joh 3:13 - which is in heaven
• Joh 3:34 - unto him
• Joh 4:24 - a
• Joh 5:3 - waiting for the moving of the water
• Joh 5:4 - (omit entire verse)
• Joh 6:47 - on me
• Joh 7:53-8:11 - (please note the following:)
• Bruce Metzger (ibid., page 187-189) writes that there is overwhelming and conclusive evidence that the text from John 7:53 to John 8:11 was not part of the original text of John. It was absent from important early and diverse New Testament manuscripts. He writes, "At the same time the account has all the earmarks of historical veracity. It is obviously a piece of oral tradition which circulated in certain parts of the Western church and which was subsequently incorporated into various manuscripts at various places... Although the Committee was unanimous that [this passage] was originally no part of the Fourth Gospel, in deference to the evident antiquity of the passage a majority decided to print it, enclosed within double square brackets, at its traditional place following Jn. 7.52."
• Act 5:32 - his
• Act 8:37 - (omit entire verse)
• Act 9:5 - it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks
• Act 9:6 - And he trembling and astonished, said, Lord what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him,
• Act 15:34 - (omit entire verse)
• Act 20:15 - and tarried at Trogyllium
• Act 22:9 - and were afraid
• Act 23:30 - Farewell.
• Act 24:6-8 - and would have judged according to our law. But the chief captain Sysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto thee:
• Act 28:29 - (omit entire verse)
• Rom 3:22 - and upon all
• Rom 8:1 - who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit
• Rom 11:6 - But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
• Rom 14:9 - and rose
• Rom 14:21 - or is offended, or is made weak
• Rom 16:24 - (omit entire verse)
• 1Co 6:20 - and in your spirit, which are God's
• 1Co 7:5 - fasting and
• 1Co 10:28 - for the earth is the Lord's and the fulness therof
• 1Co 15:47 - the Lord
• Gal 2:6 - in conference
• Gal 5:21 - murders
• Eph 5:30 - of his flesh, and of his bones
• Col 1:2 - and the Lord Jesus Christ
• Col 2:2 - and of the Father, and
• 2Th 2:4 - as God
• Heb 3:6 - firm unto the end
• Heb 9:9 - then
• Heb 11:13 - and were persuaded of them
• Heb 12:20 - or thrust through with a dart
• 1Pe 4:14 - on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified
• 1Jo 5:7-8 - in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth
• 1Jo 5:13 - and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God
• Rev 1:11 - I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and,
• Rev 2:15 - which thing I hate
• Rev 6:1,3,5,7 - and see
• Rev 11:1 - and the angel stood
• Rev 14:5 - before the throne of God
• Rev 21:24 - of them which are saved
• Rev 22:21 - Amen.

NOTE: When you are privately reading the King James Version, in order to more nearly read what was in the original text of the New Testament, do not read the words, phrases, and verses listed above. They are not based on the original Greek texts of the New Testament. (In my own King James Version Bibles, I have identified these words, phrases, or verses by enclosing them in square brackets, which I have written with a red pen. This enables me to easily and consistently recognize what not to read.)

This webpage represents only a small sampling of a much larger webpage project to enable Bible students to explore the original texts of the Bible. There are still many more corrections to the KJV texts that need to be added to the above list. Not yet addressed above are the many other verses where:

1. The original Greek words in the original texts were changed or replaced by later copiests or editors, and the deviations were found in the Greek texts used by KJV translators.
2. The original Greek words in the original texts were missing in the Greek texts used by KJV translators.
3. The original Greek word-order in the original texts was changed in the Greek texts used by KJV translators.

All of these deviations from the original texts affect the accuracy of the KJV.

To further enable you to adapt your reading of the KJV to better reflect familiarity with the original texts, you should browse http://www.bibletexts.com/bt.htm, where you will find a more comprehensive listing of King James Version verses that require corrections to the underlying Hebrew and Greek text. That webpage provides an index of and links to the BibleTexts.com's textual commentaries on all 66 books of the Bible. Those webpages include everything that is on this page, plus many, many more text corrections. As a whole those 66 webpages comprise the BibleTexts.com Bible Commentary.

The information on this webpage is entirely consistent with The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition. The texts I primarily consulted in preparing the above list are the following:

The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition (United Bible Societies, 1993) - This is the most reliable and most thoroughly documented Greek New Testament currently available.

A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition, by Bruce Metzger (United Bible Societies, 1993) - This is a companion volume to the Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition. It gives a verse-by-verse explanation of the textual decisions by the Editorial Committee of the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament.

Nestle-Aland Greek-English New Testament, Eighth Revised Edition (German Bible Society, 1994) - The Greek text is identical with the Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition. The English Text is from the Revised Standard Version. The footnotes give significant variants in the King James Version (1611), Revised Version (1881, New Testament), and Revised Standard Version (1946, New Testament).

The Zondervan Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Zondervan, 1975) - This includes the King James Version and New International Version English texts in parallel columns plus the Nestle Greek Text with the Reverent Alfred Marshall's Literal English Translation.

The Interlinear Literal Translation of the Greek New Testament, by George Ricker Berry (Zondervan, 1976) - This includes the King James Version English text interlinear with the Stephanus 1550 Greek text, also known as the Textus Receptus. This is essentially represents the Greek text from which the King James Version was translated.

Marginal Notes for the New Testament, Based on the text of Today's English Version, by Robert G. Bratcher (United Bible Societies, 1980) - This has both aids to translators and information often found in footnotes or marginal notes in many translations of the New Testament.

"Alternate Readings and Renderings" in the Holy Bible with Apocrypha (American Bible Society, 1975) - This is a helpful appendix section of a complete edition of the 1611 King James Version, which originally included the Apocrypha. This Bible also includes another helpful appendix section, entitled, "Words Which Have Changed in Meaning." Many of the American Bible Society's King James Version Bibles contain these two appendices.