The American Standard Version of 1901 is an Americanisation of the English Revised Bible, which is an update of the KJV to less archaic spelling and greater accuracy of translation. It has been called "The Rock of Biblical Honesty." It is the product of the work of over 50 Evangelical Christian scholars.

While the ASV retains many archaic word forms, it is still more understandable to the modern reader than the KJV in many passages. The ASV also forms the basis for several modern English translations, including the World English Bible http://www.eBible.org/bible/WEB, which is also in the Public Domain.

The ASV uses "Jehovah" for God's proper name. While the current consensus is that this Holy Name was more likely pronounced "Yahweh," it is refreshing to see this rendition instead of the overloading of the word "Lord" that the KJV, NASB, and many others do.

Pronouns referring to God are not capitalized in the ASV, as they are not in the NIV and some others, breaking the tradition of the KJV. Since Hebrew has no such thing as tense, and the oldest Greek manuscripts are all upper case, anyway, this tradition was based only on English usage around 1600, anyway. Not capitalizing these pronouns solves some translation problems, such as the coronation psalms, which refer equally well to an earthly king and to God.

For an html rendition of the ASV, please click here and for more information on this translation click here

Basic English, produced by Mr. C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute, is a simple form of the English language, which with 850 words, is able to give the sense of anything, which may be said in English. By the addition of 50 Special Bible words and the use of 100 words listed as giving most help in the reading of English verse, this number has been increased to 1000 for the purpose of putting the Bible into Basic English. 

Working with the Orthological Institute, a Committee under the direction of Professor S. H. Hooke, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Studies in the University of London, has been responsible for a new English form of the Bible made from the Hebrew and the Greek. 

In this undertaking, the latest ideas and discoveries in connection with the work of putting the Bible into other languages were taken into account, and when the Basic form was complete a Committee formed by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press reviewed it in detail. 

The Basic Bible, which in this way was watched over by two separate groups of experts through its different stages, is designed to be used wherever the English language has taken root. 

Frequently, the narrow limits of the word-list make it hard to keep the Basic completely parallel with the Hebrew and the Greek; but great trouble has been taken with every verse and every line to make certain that there are no errors of sense and no loose wording. It is only natural that, from time to time, some of the more delicate shades of sense have not been covered; on the other hand, it is well to keep in mind that in the Authorised Version the power and music of the language sometimes take so much of the reader's attention that these more delicate shades are overlooked. 

In fact, the Basic expert is forced, because of the limited material with which he is working, to give special care to the sense of the words before him. There is no question of the Basic work taking the place of the Authorised Version or coming into competition with it; but it may be said of this new English Bible that it is in a marked degree straightforward and simple and that these qualities give it an independent value. For more information click here.

In 1833 Noah Webster, who had mastered 20 languages including Hebrew and Greek, published the King James Authorized Version "with amendments to the language". In stating his reasons for producing this version of the Bible, Webster said:

In the present version, the language is, in general, correct and perspicuous; ...in many passages uniting sublimity with beautiful simplicity. In my view, the general style of the version ought not to be altered. But, in the lapse of two or three centuries, changes have taken place, which, in particular passages, impair the beauty; in others, obscure the sense, of the original languages...they do not present to the reader the Word of God.... My principal aim is to remedy this evil.

It was with cautious reverence that Webster corrected misused grammar, removed offensive terms and expressions, and substituted commonly understood words for words that had fallen into disuse, or no longer carried the same meaning.

In 1834, the year after completing the Webster Bible, Noah Webster wrote a companion piece titled "Value of the Bible and Excellence of the Christian Religion - For the Use of Families and Schools".

Webster, who was considered "The schoolmaster to a nation", and produced the earliest spellers and textbooks for America's school children, believed Christian religious values and American public education to be inseparable. He believed the Webster Bible to be "the most important enterprise" of his life, and referred to the Bible as:

The chief moral cause of all that is good, and the best corrector of all that is evil, in human society; the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men, and the only book that can serve as an infallible guide to Future felicity.

For Full Description Click here.

Until the WEB Bible is complete we will continue to periodically update this Bible. This Version of the WEB Bible is dated 24 September 2001.

For a complete description: World English Bible (WEB)

 For a complete description: Young's Literal Translation (YLT)