What is a red letter KJV Bible?
Short answer: A red letter Bible prints the words spoken by Jesus in red ink and everything else in black. A red letter KJV is the King James Version formatted this way. The red text is an editorial aid, not part of the 1611 translation; it began with Louis Klopsch's edition in 1899.
Where the red letters appear
Mostly in the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Many editions also mark Jesus's words in Acts 1 and 9, 1 Corinthians 11, and Revelation 1 to 3 and 22. Editors sometimes differ on where a quotation ends, so two red letter Bibles can vary slightly.
Tips for reading the KJV in English
- Thee, thou, thy are singular "you"; ye, you are plural.
- Verbs ending in -eth are present tense: "he saith" means "he says".
- Words in italics in printed KJVs were added by the translators for sense.
- Start with a Gospel such as John or Mark, where the red letters make the speaker easy to follow.
Red letters in Verseleaf
Verseleaf is an offline KJV Bible for Android with red letter text turned on by default and a switch to turn it off. It includes all 66 books, search, bookmarks, adjustable text size and a daily verse widget, with no login.