<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> 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 in 1611 . The books of the King James Version include the 39 books of the Old Testament, an intertestamental section containing 14 books of the Apocrypha (most of which correspond to books in the Vulgate Deuterocanon adhered to by Roman Catholics and Eastern Christians), and the 27 books of the New Testament . </P> <P> It was first printed by the King's Printer Robert Barker and was the third translation into English approved by the English Church authorities . The first had been the Great Bible, commissioned in the reign of King Henry VIII (1535), and the second had been the Bishops' Bible of 1568 . In January 1604, James VI and I convened the Hampton Court Conference, where a new English version was conceived in response to the problems of the earlier translations perceived by the Puritans, a faction of the Church of England . The translation is noted for its "majesty of style", and has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English - speaking world . </P> <P> James gave the translators instructions intended to ensure that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and its belief in an ordained clergy . 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 from Greek and Latin . In the Book of Common Prayer (1662), the text of the Authorized Version replaced the text of the Great Bible for Epistle and Gospel readings (but not for the Psalter, which substantially retained Coverdale's Great Bible version) and as such was authorised by Act of Parliament . </P>

Was the king james bible the first english translation