King James Version explained to kids

The King James Version (KJV), also known as the King James Bible (KJB) or simply the Authorized Version (AV), is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, begun in 1604 and completed as well as published in 1611 under the sponsorship of King James I of England. The books of the King James Version include the 39 books of the Old Testament, an intertestamental section containing 14 books of the Apocrypha, and the 27 books of the New Testament. The translation was done by 47 scholars, all of whom were members of the Church of England. In common with most other translations of the period, the New Testament was translated from Greek, the Old Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic, and the Apocrypha was translated from Greek and Latin. The King James Version was based on the earlier work of William Tyndale (1494–1536), who in 1526 had translated the New Testament into English from the Greek text of the 4th century Codex Vaticanus, and the Old Testament from the 1535 editions of the Hebrew Bible by Jacob ben Hayyim and the Greek Septuagint. The King James Version has been described as "the most influential version of the most influential book in the world, in what is now its most influential language". It is the best-known and most-read version of the Bible in English, and has been called "the most important book in English Christianity".