King James Version, Updated™

lord¹ ehen you see the word “lord,” written in all lower-case letters, it is the Hebrew word אֲדוֹן (adon, Strong’s #113) and means “lord” or “master,” one who has authority over another. In Genesis 18:12 this word is a description of Abraham, Sarah’s “lord.” Whenever this word is written as “lord” (all lower-case), this word is referring to men, but when this word is referring to God, then the first letter is written in upper-case (see Exodus 23:17).

Lord¹ Besides the few times the Hebrew word אֲדוֹן (adon) is written as “Lord,” the word “Lord” (first letter in upper-case) is used for the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי (Adonai, Strong’s #136). If the Hebrew word Adonai literally means “my lords,” why is it only translated as “Lord” so many times (see Exodus 4:13 as an example)? Most names attributed to God are in the plural including Elohiym (literally meaning “powers”) and Shaddai (literally meaning “my breasts”). The word Adonai (a plural word) is another name used for God that means “my lords.”

LORD¹ when “lord” is written in all upper-case letters (LORD), the Hebrew behind this word is the name of God, יהוה (YHWH).

Lord GOD¹ In Genesis 15:8 the Hebrew phrase Lord GOD is written in Hebrew as; אדני יהוה, which transliterates as; Adonai YHWH. The word Elohiym is the Hebrew word for “God.” But in Genesis 15:8 the word “god” is written in all upper-case because it is the KJV’s translation of the name Yahweh. Because the word Adonai means “lord,” they couldn’t translate this as “Lord LORD,” so they chose to use the word “god” for Yahweh and wrote it in all upper-case letters.

LORD God¹ In Genesis 2:15 the phrase "LORD God" is written in the Hebrew as; יהוה אלהים, which transliterates as; YHWH Elohiym. The name Yahweh (whose pronunciation is debated) is the name of the God of the Bible. Throughout the Old Testament, the KJV, and most other translations, translate the Hebrew name Yahweh as “LORD,” in all upper-case, and this is the case in Genesis 2:15. Following this word is the Hebrew word Elohiym, which is often translated as "God."

god³ (all lowercase letters): denotes a deity or an object of worship, and sometimes means “judge” or “magistrate.” It is never used to refer to God the Supreme Being.

God³ (capitalized G and the other letters are lowercase): In the Old Testament the Hebrew word Elohiym is translated “God.” In the New Testament “God” also refers to the Supreme Being, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

GOD³ (all uppercase letters): This refers to the name of God rendered Yahweh or Jehovah.

YOU When "YOU" is capitalized the word that was updated was "Ye," which is plural. When the singular word "Thou" or "Thee" is updated it is shown in mixed case ("You") or lowercase ("you"). John 3:7 is the verse usually used to illustrate the need to differentiate between a singular "you" and a plural "YOU." KJV John 3:7, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." Just updating "you" for "thee" and "ye" you get: "Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again." This appears that Jesus is only referring to Nicodemus, but the first "you" is referring to Nicodemus, while the second one is referring to "everyone" or "all of you." To convey this meaning the KJVu capitalizes the second "YOU" as such: "Marvel not that I said unto you, YOU must be born again."

Italicized Words² The italicized words in the King James Bible are words that were added by the translators to help the reader. This is usually necessary when translating from one language to another because word meanings and idioms change. So, to produce a more readable translation, the King James translators (1604- 1611) added certain words to the Bible text. However, to make sure that everyone understood that these words were not in the available manuscripts they set them in italics.