the authorized king james version (kjv) is very popular. many parts of it are literal (word-for-word) translations of the original greek and hebrew. the kjv bible was produced from 1604 to 1611, as a revision of the bishops bible. since 1600, many english words have changed. because the kjv bible is 400 years old, it is more difficult to read. but even though it is 400 years old, many expressions and idioms used in everyday modern english come from the kjv.