Here you can feel the perfect harmony and balance of the old version
and the miserable commonplaceness of the effort of these misguided
modern men.

Again:--

"Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

This is mauled into:--

"Repent, he said, for the kingdom of the heavens is now close at
hand."

These examples are perfectly suited to illustrate the immense
difference that separates what is noble and fine in style and what is
poor and third rate.

If you recite the old version aloud you cannot escape the harmony and
balance of the sentences, and nothing dignified or distinguished can be
made of the wretched paraphrases of the two desecrators of the
splendid old text.

And, Antony, I would have you know that I, who have spent a long life
in precious libraries, loving fine literature with all my heart, have long
ago reverenced the old version of the Bible as the granite corner-stone
upon which has been built all the noblest English in the world. No
narrative in literature has yet surpassed in majesty, simplicity, and
passion the story of Joseph and his brethren, beginning at the
thirty-seventh and ending with the forty-fifth chapter of Genesis. There
is surely nothing more moving and lovely in all the books in the British