The Lighthouse Version, also known as the Little Point Sable version of the Bible, is an attempt to update the language of the King James Version while preserving the meaning, style, and even the words as far as possible. This translation was begun during the summer of 2006 when the reviser was staying at Little Point Sable, Michigan.
The introduction to the Old Testament says something about how this version was written. It was done making use of historic Protestant commentators such as Wesley and the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek. A small number of meanings have been changed, such as "hell" to "the grave" some places in the Old Testament. I have used this version for sermons, Sabbath school lessons, vespers, and Pathfinder talks regularly. Some people in our church have this version and also use it regularly.
Many Christians believe that the King James Version is the best version of the Bible but find its language hard to understand. For such Christians there is no suitable Bible version in existence today that is widely known. The modern versions do not always follow the sense of the King James Version and also generally use a different set of manuscripts for the New Testament that leave out many verses. The New King James Version is probably the closest to the King James Version but it is not intended to always follow the sense of the King James Version and many Christians are not completely happy with it. The Modern King James Version of Jay Green is also close to the King James Version but does not explicitly try to follow the meaning of the King James Version. Therefore there is a need for a version in modern language that has as an explicit objective not to be a new translation but to follow the meaning of the King James Version as much as possible. This is the purpose of the Little Point Sable Version of the Bible.
This translation attempts to preserve the meaning and style and even the words of the King James Version as far as possible while updating the language. Also the vocabulary is chosen to be as simple as possible to enable those with limited reading ability to understand this version as far as possible. This version does not always flow as smoothly as the modern versions because of an effort to preserve the style of the KJV, but it is readable and understandable to modern readers and many Christians will find it to be more accurate than the other modern versions. However, considerable effort has been invested to make the LPS version read as smoothly as possible while preserving the style and many of the constructions of the KJV. Though the KJV may not always be the best possible translation, the men who prepared it were sincere Bible believing Christians and of great scholarly attainments, so the safest course is to follow the KJV unless there are strong reasons for departing from its reading. Even the punctuation of the LPS version remains the same as the KJV in almost all cases. In most places the LPS version reads much like any other version but the style is somewhat closer to the KJV.
In the LPS version, pronouns such as “thee” and “thine” have been replaced by more modern equivalents almost everywhere. Other old-fashioned words have also been updated. However, some of the KJV constructions remain because of their familiarity and beauty. Constructions such as “he is come” and “fear not” have been left in, as well as the words “thereof” and “therein.” But other words such as “therewith,” “wherewith,” “whence,” and “whither” have been always or almost always replaced by modern equivalents. Many occurrences of “which” referring to people are replaced by “who.” Old pronouns in the command form such as “Praise ye the Lord” and “Hear thou from heaven” are unchanged because there is no modern equivalent. The word “forth” also remains. Many occurrences of “be” in the subjunctive remain, as in Genesis 15:5, “And he brought him forth outside, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if you be able to number them: and he said to him, So shall your descendents be.”
Many, many antiquated words have been replaced. “Smite” is rendered as “strike” or “strike down,” “cast” is often rendered as “throw” or “throw down,” “graven” as “sculptured,” “fenced” as “fortified,” “trench” by various terms, “brethren” by various more precise terms according to context, but sometimes left in, “hell” in the Old Testament replaced in many places by “the grave” or “the land of darkness” in harmony with the Hebrew “sheol,” “cry” by “cry out” in most places, “meat” by “food,” “ass” by “donkey,” “corn” by “grain,” “fowl” in most places by “birds,” “confound” by “bring into perplexity” or other terms in most places, “coast” by “border” or “territory” in most places, “carry” by “take” in many places, “compass” by “surround” or “encircle” in most places, “fetch a compass” by “turn” or “curve around,” “try” by “examine” or “test” in many places, “purge” by “cleanse” or “cleanse away,” “propitiate” by “satisfy justice,” “travail” by “birth labor” or “painful labor” in most places, “utterly” by “completely” in most places, “utter” by “speak,” “speak forth,” or “tell” in most places, “show” by “tell” in many places, “bowels” by “heart,” “womb,” or “body” in many places, “reins” by “inner being,” “heart,” or “thoughts,” “rend” by “tear,” “girdle” by “waistband” in most places, “charity” by “love,” “quick” by “alive” in most cases, and other words such as “lest”, “hearken,” “array,” “over against,” “seed,” “incline your ear,” “take heed,” “suffer,” “beseech,” “intreat,” “goodly” and “tarry” have often been replaced by more modern equivalents. Also, “terrible” as an adjective applied to God is often rendered as “awesome” or “to be feared.” Many occurrences of “should” have been replaced by “would” to bring the language more into harmony with modern American colloquial English. In some places “judgment” is replaced by “justice” and “justice” by “righteousness” because to the modern mind “judgment” often implies condemnation, while the Hebrew for “judgment” has a great variety of meanings but basically means a verdict. The Greek “denarius” is rendered as a “silver coin.” The words “dragon” and “unicorn” have mostly been left alone, and “brass” or “brazen” has been rendered as “brass” even though it may mean “bronze” today.
In a very small number of places, small changes to the meaning of the KJV were made to bring the text a little closer to the literal meaning of the underlying languages. The word “dance” or “dancing” in the Psalms occurs in the KJV three times. This has been rendered as “singing” or “piping.” The meaning of the Hebrew “maw-khole” is uncertain and Adam Clarke in his commentary on Psalm 149:3 cites Parkhurst as stating that this word means a wind instrument of music with holes. Clarke states that this word in the Bible never means “dance.” Also in his commentary on Ex. 15:20 Clarke writes, “Many learned men suppose that this word [mekh-o-law] means some instruments of wind music, because the word comes from the root chalal, the ideal meaning of which is to perforate, penetrate, pierce, stab, and hence to wound. Pipes or hollow tubes, such as flutes, hautboys, and the like, may be intended. Both the Arabic and Persian understand it as meaning instruments of music of the pipe, drum, or sistrum kind; and this seems to comport better with the scope and design of the place than the term dances. It must however be allowed that religious dances have been in use from the remotest times; and yet in most of the places where the term occurs in our translation, an instrument of music bids as fair to be its meaning as a dance of any kind.” Also, the word “dance” may have had a greater variety of meanings in KJV days than it does today. For example, Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary of 1913 states, “Note: The word dance was used ironically, by the older writers, of many proceedings besides dancing. ‘Of remedies of love she knew parchance For of that art she couth the olde dance.’ --Chaucer.” Because so much has been made of the word “dance” in the Psalms and because dancing was so different in Bible times than today it seems better to render the word as “pipe” or “singing.” The word “maw-khole” occurs in Psalm 149 and 150 in a list of musical instruments, so it likely referred to a musical instrument. Similarly, the word “dancing” in Luke 15:25 is rendered “singing” in the LPS version. Clarke in his commentary cites Le Clerc as saying that the word does not mean dancing at all, but refers to a choir of singers (Greek choros). Le Clerc was French and probably got his understanding of this word from the Huguenots, who obtained it most likely from the Waldenses, who likely obtained it from the early disciples.
Distances in the New Testament in the LPS version are translated into miles with the Greek measurements in footnotes. However, in the book of Revelation, the word "furlongs" is replaced by "city block lengths." The phrase “loins girded” is rendered as “clothes tucked in at the waist” once or twice and afterwards left unchanged. The word “brethren” in the New Testament is rendered as “fellow believers” or “brethren in Christ” two or three times, and afterwards as “brethren,” or sometimes “believers,” because some people have a hard time understanding this word. The word “help meet” in Genesis 2:18 is replaced by “helper suited to.” The phrase “man became a living soul” in Genesis 2:7 is left alone, as well as “the soul that sins, it shall die” in Ezekiel 18:4 and “in that very day, his thoughts perish” in Psalms 146:4. Daniel 8 and Hebrews 9 in the LPS version have been brought a little more into line with the underlying Hebrew and Greek. Matthew 16:19 is rendered in the LPS version as “And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be what is already bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be what is already loosed in heaven” and John 20:23 as “Whoever’s sins you forgive, they are already forgiven to them; and whoever’s sins you retain, they are already retained.” Luke 23:43 is rendered in the LPS version “And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, today, you shall be with me in paradise,” modifying the punctuation slightly. In general, the author frequently struggled for several days trying to find the right word to use in a particular verse. All work on this translation was done after prayer for God’s guidance.
Sometimes when the KJV seemed to make little sense, some words or a phrase was added when it seemed clearly in line with the text and expresses a basic Bible truth. For example, Isaiah 8:19 is rendered in the LPS version as “And when they shall say to you, Seek after those who have familiar spirits, and wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek after their God? for the living should they go to the dead?” Other modern versions are similar. The KJV says “for the living to the dead” and the author heard this phrase for many years and never could make any sense out of it. Isaiah 9:3 is rendered “You multiplied the nation, and did not increase the joy: but now they rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.” The words “but now” have been added. The KJV reads “Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.” The NIV and NKJV lack the word “not” but the MKJV retains it. This verse from the KJV is often quoted and means a lot to many people.
This translation was done using the e-Sword software, available over the web from http://www.e-sword.net, as well as online dictionaries of the English language. This software permits one to instantly see the meanings of underlying Hebrew and Greek words. Some Bible versions available on e-sword were frequently consulted, including the American Standard Version, the Modern King James Version by Jay P. Green, and the English Majority Text Version of the New Testament by Paul W. Esposito. Factors taken into account in the translation process were the definitions of words in the KJV as found in old dictionaries, the way in which words and expressions are used elsewhere in the KJV, as a guide to how the KJV translators understood them, the underlying Hebrew and Greek and their English translations, and the context of the passage. Also, five historic Protestant Bible commentaries, those of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Barnes, Wesley, Clarke, and Matthew Henry, as well as the 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes, were frequently consulted for insight into the meaning of the passage. Modern versions such as the New International Version, the New King James Version, and the Revised Standard Version and occasionally Luther’s German Bible were consulted, when no other guidance seemed sufficient to determine a suitable translation and the passage appeared to have little theological significance.
As for other versions, the American King James Version follows the KJV almost exactly, but sometimes the reading is unnatural and the language is not modern. Neither the MKJV or the NKJV has as an explicit objective to follow the KJV in meaning as closely as possible. The NIV uses a different underlying text for the New Testament.
As for specific differences, Genesis 2:7 is rendered “man became a living being” in the NIV, “man became a living being” in the NKJV, and “man became a living soul” in Green’s MKJV. Psalm 146:4 is rendered as “on that very day their plans come to nothing” in the NIV, “In that very day his plans perish” in the NKJV, and “in that very day, his thoughts perish” in the MKJV. Even the MKJV, which is close to the KJV, does not always follow the KJV. Isaiah 64:5,6 is rendered in the LPS version as “You meet him that rejoices and works righteousness, those that remember you in your ways: behold, you are angry; for we have sinned: in faithfulness is continuance, and in it we shall be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; and we all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” The KJV reads “Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” The MKJV reads “You meet him who rejoices and works righteousness, those who remember You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned. In them is eternity, and we will be saved. But we are all as the unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as a menstruation cloth. And we all fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” This is a reasonable translation but it is not as close to the KJV as the LPS version.
Another example where the MKJV is not as close to the KJV is Isaiah 1:6 where the KJV reads “wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores,” the MKJV reads “a wound and a stripe and a fresh blow,” and the LPS version reads “wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.” In the MKJV Daniel 8:14 is rendered as “For two thousand, three hundred evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be vindicated” while the LPS version reads “cleansed” like the KJV. Daniel 8:12 is rendered “And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered” in the KJV, “And a host was given him against the daily service because of transgression, and it threw down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered” in the LPS version, and “And an army was given to him against the daily sacrifice because of transgression, and it cast the truth to the ground. And it worked and succeeded” in the MKJV. The word sacrifice is supplied, but service seems more general. The MKJV uses “expanse” in Genesis 1 where the KJV and LPS versions use “firmament.” The MKJV also uses “Jehovah” in many places where the KJV and LPS versions use “Lord.” The MKJV is a good translation but it does not have as an explicit objective to follow the KJV and is not as close overall to the KJV as the LPS version. Other verses where the MKJV does not attempt to follow the KJV are Psalms 53:6 and Isaiah 40:9 (just to give a couple of examples). In places the wording of the MKJV seems awkward or obscure; instead of “comprehend” in John 1:5 the MKJV has “overtake.” In John 3:21, instead of “doeth truth” the MKJV says “practices truth.” In Matthew 5:15 the MKJV has “grain measure” instead of “bushel.” In the MKJV 1 Peter 2:9 reads “a people for possession” instead of “a peculiar people.” In 1 John 2:9 the MKJV has “in darkness until now” instead of “in darkness even until now” as in the KJV; the KJV is clearer.
As for the NKJV, in Hebrews 9:12 the NKJV says that Jesus entered into the Most Holy Place when he ascended into heaven. Here are some other problems with the New King James Version as mentioned in various web pages. Many of these comments seem to be valid, but I cannot vouch for all of them.
The NKJV takes out the word “repent” 44 times. In Matthew 21:32 they use "relent". Matthew 27:3 it's "remorseful" Or Romans 11:29 they change "repentance" to "irrevocable". The word "damned", "damnation" is not in the NKJV. They replace it with "condemn" (NIV, RSV, NRSV, NASV). In 2 Timothy 2:15, the NKJV (like the NIV, NASV, RSV, NRSV) remove the word “study.” The word "virtue" is replaced with "power" in Mark 5:30, Luke 6:19, 8:46 like the NIV, NASV, RSV, NRSV. The NKJV changes the word "servant" to "slave". The NKJV in Romans 6:22, reads: "But now having been set FREE from sin, and having become SLAVES OF GOD. . ." The NKJV, in 1 Corinthians 7:22, calls the Christian, "Christ's slave".
In order to "harmonize" with the New Age Movement (and the NIV, NASV, RSV, NRSV), the NKJV changes "end of the WORLD" to "end of the AGE". And in it's no longer the "WORLD to come" but "AGE to come". The New Age Movement teaches a series of ages (hence the name: New AGE). See Matthew 12:32, 13:39, 13:40, 13:49, 24:3, 28:20, Mark 10:30, Luke 13:30, 20:34,35, 1 Cor 1:21. New Ager's refer to the one they are waiting for as the "the Coming One" – as does the NKJV. In Luke 7:19, 20 (see also Matt 11:3) John told his disciples to ask Jesus: "Are You THE COMING ONE. . .” In Acts 17:29 the New Age NKJV changes "Godhead" to "Divine Nature". (like the NIV, NASV)
Genesis 22:8: One of the greatest verses in the Bible proclaiming that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh: "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:" The NKJV adds that little word "for": "God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering" and destroys the wonderful promise like the NASV. Genesis 24:47: The "old" KJV reads: "I put the earring upon her face". But the NKJV has different plans for beautiful Rebekah: "I put the nose ring on her nose" like the NIV, NASV, RSV, NRSV. Psalms 109:6: removes "Satan". (NIV, NASV, RSV, NRSV). Matthew 7:14: changes "narrow is the way" to "difficult is the way". Jesus says in Matt. 11:30, "For my yoke is EASY, and my burden is light." Matthew 18:26 & Matthew 20:20: The NKJV removes "worshipped him" (robbing worship from Jesus) (NIV, NASV, RSV, NRSV) Mark 13:6 & Luke 21:8: removes "Christ" (NIV, NASV, RSV, NRSV) John 1:3: change "All things were made BY him;" to "All things were made THROUGH Him" (NIV, NRSV, RSV) John 4:24: change "God is a spirit" to "God is spirit" (NIV, NASV, NRSV, RSV) Acts 4:27, 30: change "holy child" to "holy servant" (refers to Jesus) (NIV, NASV, NRSV, RSV)
1 Cor. 1:21: change "foolishness of preaching" to "foolishness of the message preached" (NIV, NASV, NRSV, RSV) 1 Cor. 6:9: removes "effeminate" (NIV, NRSV, RSV) 2 Cor. 2:10: change "person of Christ" to "presence of Christ" (NASV, NRSV, RSV) 2 Cor. 2:17: They change, "For we not as many which CORRUPT the word of God" to "For we are not, as so many, PEDDLING the word of God" (NIV, NASV, NRSV, RSV) Gal. 2:20: omit "nevertheless I live" (NIV, NASV, NRSV, RSV) Phil. 2:6: (NKJV 1979e.) change "thought it not robbery to be equal with God" to "did not consider equality with God something to be grasped". (robs Jesus Christ of deity) (NIV, NASV, RSV) 1 John 3:16: remove "love of God"; (NIV, NASV, RSV, NRSV) 1 John 5:13: The NKJV reads: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may CONTINUE TO believe in the name of the Son of God." They add "CONTINUE TO" without any Greek text whatsoever. Not even the NIV, NASV, NRSV and RSV go that far.
The NKJV removes the word "Lord" 66 times. The NKJV removes the word God 51 times. The NKJV removes the word "heaven" 50 times. In just the New Testament alone the NKJV removes 2.289 words from the KJV. The NKJV makes over 100,000 word changes. And most will match the NIV, NASV, RSV, or RSV.
Romans 4:25-KJV reads, "Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification." NKJV and NASV change "for" to "because of." (Even the NIV and RSV use the correct word, "for"). In Isaiah 66:5-the wonderful phrase, "But He shall appear to your joy" in the KJV disappears without explanation from NKJV, NASV, NIV and RSV. Daniel 3:25-the fourth person who was in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, was identified as "the Son of God." The same identification is given in the text of the NKJV but a footnote reads "or, a son of the gods," and both NIV and NASV actually have the latter reading in their texts. In four different places in 1 and 2 Kings, "sodomites" is changed to "perverted persons." Dr. Jerry Falwell, a member of the NKJV overview committee, gives this new Bible his unqualified endorsement, stating that "It protects every thought, every idea, every word, just as it was intended to be understood by the original scholars." This simply is not true. As already pointed out, words have been changed and with those changed words have come changed thoughts and ideas. In some instances it is difficult to understand how the NKJV scholars thought they were updating and clarifying the KJV as, for example, when they substituted "minas" for "pounds" in Luke 19:13; or, "satraps" for "princes" in Daniel 3:3; or, "black cummin" for "fitches" in Isaiah 28:27.
The NKJV claims to be "more accurate" because it leaves untranslated words like "Gehenna," "Hades" and "Sheol." What do they mean? Dr. Arthur Farstad, chairman of the NKJV Executive Review Committee which had the responsibility of final text approval, stated that this committee was about equally divided as to which was the better Greek New Testament text-the Textus Receptus or the Westcott-Hort. The New King James is a compromise between the liberal, modern Bible versions floating around and the King James Bible.
It is estimated that the NKJV makes over 100,000 translation changes, which comes to over eighty changes per page and about three changes per verse. A great number of these changes bring the NKJV in line with the readings of such Alexandrian versions as the NIV and the RSV. Where changes are not made in the text, subtle footnotes often give credence to the Westcott and Hort Greek Text. While passing off as being true to the Textus Receptus, the NKJV IGNORES the Receptus over 1,200 times. In the NKJV, there are 22 omissions of "hell", 23 omissions of "blood", 44 omissions of "repent", 50 omissions of "heaven", 51 omissions of "God", and 66 omissions of "Lord". The terms "devils", "damnation", "JEHOVAH", and "new testament" are completely omitted. The NKJV confuses people about salvation. In Hebrews 10:14 it replaces "are sanctified" with "are being sanctified", and it replaces "are saved" with "are being saved" in I Corinthians 1:18 and II Corinthians 2:15. The words "may believe" have been replaced with "may continue to believe" in I John 5:13. The KJV tells us to reject a "heretick" after the second admonition in Titus 3:10. The NKJV tells us to reject a "divisive man". Now the Alexandrians and Ecumenicals have justification for rejecting anyone they wish to label as "divisive men". According to the NKJV, no one would stoop so low as to "corrupt" God's word. No, they just "peddle" it (II Cor. 2:17). The reading matches the Alexandrian versions. The NKJV has changed Romans 1:25 to read "exchanged the truth of God for the lie". This reading matches the readings of the new versions. The Jews "require" a sign, according to I Corinthians 1:22 (and according to Jesus Christ - John 4:48), but the NKJV says they only "request" a sign.
David A. Plaisted