New King James Version

In 1975, Thomas Nelson Publishers commissioned 130 of the most esteemed Bible scholars, church leaders, and lay Christians to produce an entirely new, modern translation of Scripture. The work on the New King James Version (NKJV) took seven years to complete. The New Testament was published in 1979 and the complete version in 1982.

Purpose of the New King James Version

Their goal was to retain the purity and stylistic beauty of the original King James Version while incorporating a modern, more up-to-date language.

Quality of Translation

Using a literal method of translation, those who worked on the project held to an uncompromising faithfulness to the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts, as they employed the most recent research in linguistics, textual studies, and archaeology.

Copyright Information:

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) may be quoted or reprinted without prior written permission, but must meet certain qualifications:

1. Up to and including 1,000 verses may be quoted in printed form as long as the verses quoted amount to less than 50% of a complete book of the Bible and make up less than 50% of the total work in which they are quoted;
2. All NKJV quotations must conform accurately to the NKJV text. Any use of the NKJV text must include a proper acknowledgment as follows:

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

However, when quotations from the NKJV text are used in church bulletins, orders of service, Sunday School lessons, church newsletters and similar works in the course of religious instruction or services at a place of worship or other religious assembly, the following notice may be used at the end of each quotation: "NKJV."