KJV Apocrypha · 1769 text · Free audio
Read every word. Hear every chapter.
The KJV Apocrypha is the set of books the 1611 King James Bible printed between the Testaments. Read all 15 books online free in the standard 1769 text, 173 chapters, and listen to about 15 hours of our own audio narration as each word lights up. No signup, no app.
Every chapter, read and narrated
Press Listen to start a book at chapter 1, or pick any chapter. Each opens the full King James text with our narration. Times are the length of the recording.
Josiah’s Passover to Ezra’s reforms, with the contest of the three guardsmen.
Ezra’s visions, and his questions to the angel Uriel about evil and the age to come. Not in the Septuagint: the 1611 translators worked from the Latin.
A faithful family in exile, the angel Raphael, prayer and almsgiving.
A widow of Bethulia saves her town from the general Holofernes.
also called Additions to Esther
The Greek additions to Esther: Mordecai’s dream, the king’s letters, and the prayers. Our chapters 1–7 are KJV Esther 10:4–16:24.
Wisdom praised in Solomon’s name, and the hope of the righteous.
also called Ecclesiasticus
The sayings of Jesus the son of Sirach on wisdom, family, speech and work. Begins at 1:1; the translator’s prologue is not included.
Confession and comfort for the exiles in Babylon. In the 1611, Baruch had a sixth chapter: the Letter of Jeremiah.
Five short books, one chapter each
A warning to the exiles against idols. Also called the Epistle of Jeremy. Printed as Baruch 6 in the 1611.
The song of praise from the fiery furnace (set in Daniel 3). Also called the Song of the Three Holy Children.
Young Daniel clears a woman falsely accused.
Daniel exposes the priests of the idol Bel.
A king’s short prayer of repentance (compare 2 Chronicles 33). Also called the Prayer of Manasses.
The revolt against Antiochus, led by Judas Maccabeus and his brothers.
The same struggle retold, with the seven brothers and their mother (chapter 7).
Reading straight through? The reader runs in the 1611 order: 1 Esdras 1 follows Malachi 4, and 2 Maccabees 15 leads on to Matthew 1.
How it sounds
Each word lights up as it is read, so you never lose your place.
Slow it to half speed or speed it up to 3×, make the words bigger, or let Autoplay carry you on to the next chapter.
The Historic Faith made this narration with a computer (AI) voice, the same voice as our Septuagint audio Bible. It is plain narration, not a dramatized reading.
Most KJV Apocrypha audio online is a paid audiobook or an app. Here the narration and the full King James text share one free page. We know of no other site that does this for the KJV Apocrypha.
The story
Yes. The first King James Bible had 80 books: 39 in the Old Testament, 14 in the Apocrypha and 27 in the New. The Apocrypha was translated from the Greek and the Latin, because readings from it were part of the Book of Common Prayer’s daily lessons. Here is how it came to be left out of most later printings.
80 books, with the Apocrypha as its own section between Malachi and Matthew, as in Luther’s Bible and the Bishops’ Bible.
George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, forbids issuing Bibles without the Apocrypha.
The Long Parliament forbids reading the Apocrypha in churches.
The first King James Bibles without the Apocrypha are bound.
Benjamin Blayney’s Oxford edition, the KJV wording most Bibles print today, keeps the Apocrypha. It is the text on this page.
The British and Foreign Bible Society resolves to spend its funds only on the canonical books. Through the 1800s most KJVs leave it out.
You may have read that the Apocrypha was removed in 1885. That is the year the Old Testament of the Revised Version, a different translation, appeared; its own Apocrypha followed in 1894.
The American Bible Society (1964) and the British and Foreign Bible Society (1966) lift their restrictions.
All 15 books in the 1611 order, with the text and our narration on every chapter.
Sources: Wikipedia, “King James Version” · Britannica, “George Abbot” · Wikipedia, “Revised Version”
Christian traditions differ on whether these books are Scripture. We set them side by side without taking sides.
Catholic and Orthodox Christians hold most of these books as Scripture. Protestants do not; the Church of England still reads them “for example of life and instruction of manners” but not “to establish any doctrine” (Article VI).
| Books | Catholic | Orthodox | Protestant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch with the Letter of Jeremiah, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and the Greek parts of Esther and Daniel (Rest of Esther, Song of the Three, Susanna, Bel) | Scripture (Council of Trent, 1546) | Accepted | Outside the canon. The Church of England reads them “for example of life and instruction of manners” but not “to establish any doctrine” (Article VI). Luther called them “useful and good to read.” The Westminster Confession (1647) calls them “no part of the canon of the Scripture.” |
| 1 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh | Appendix (Clementine Vulgate, 1592) | Accepted | |
| 2 Esdras | Appendix (Clementine Vulgate, 1592) | In the Slavonic Bible |
The early church read many of these books too: in 367 Athanasius named Wisdom, Sirach, Esther, Judith and Tobit as “appointed by the Fathers to be read.” Orthodox Bibles also have 3 Maccabees and Psalm 151, which are not part of the KJV Apocrypha.
Sources: Church of England, Articles of Religion · Wikipedia, “Deuterocanonical books” · Wikipedia, “Biblical apocrypha” · Wikipedia, “Easter letter” (Athanasius)
Want the Greek? Word study is not on these 15 books yet. Read the Greek behind these books in our Septuagint Bible.
Study tools on the chapter pages
On a chapter page, open a verse’s menu and choose Early Church. For 9 of the 15 books it shows the early Christian writings linked to that verse, with Listen and Read in context.
Wisdom 2:12, “Therefore let us lie in wait for the righteous…”, is cited by Hippolytus (Against the Jews) and Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho), and has 13 cross-references, starting with Isaiah 53.
Linked: 1 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, 1 and 2 Maccabees (4,162 verses). Not yet: 2 Esdras, Rest of Esther, Song of the Three, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasseh. The index holds 758,682 connections for these books, including related research passages, not only quotations.
Tobit 12:8 KJV Apocrypha
Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold:
And so Holy Scripture teaches us, saying, "Prayer is good with fasting and almsgiving."
…having heard the Scripture that says, “Fasting with prayer is a good thing.”
No New Testament verse quotes these books word for word, but our cross-references set some of them side by side.
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…”
“For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness.”
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them…”
“Do that to no man which thou hatest…”
“…others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:”
“…the King of the world shall raise us up, who have died for his laws, unto everlasting life.”
Questions people ask
Short answers first, then detail and the source. Tap a question to open it.
Answer. Yes. All 15 books and all 173 chapters are here to read and to hear, free, with no signup and no app.
The narration runs about 15 hours in all. It plays in your browser with the King James text on the same page, and each word lights up as it is read.
Source: Our own audio and reader (checked November 6, 2026)
Answer. It is our own recording, made by The Historic Faith with a computer (AI) voice: the same voice as our Septuagint audio.
It is plain narration, not a dramatized reading. Word-by-word timing is what lets the text light up as you listen.
Source: Our own audio and reader (checked November 6, 2026)
Answer. 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the Rest of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, the Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 and 2 Maccabees.
That is 15 books, 173 chapters and 5,720 verses, listed on this page in the order the 1611 King James Bible printed them.
Source: Wikipedia, “King James Version”
Answer. Only because of how one book is counted. The 1611 printed the Letter of Jeremiah as chapter 6 of Baruch; here it is its own book.
Nothing is added or missing: Baruch here has 5 chapters, and the Letter of Jeremiah has 1 chapter of 73 verses.
Source: Wikipedia, “Biblical apocrypha”
Answer. Yes. The 1611 King James Bible had 80 books: 39 in the Old Testament, 14 in the Apocrypha and 27 in the New Testament.
The Apocrypha was printed as its own section between Malachi and Matthew, following Luther’s Bible and the Bishops’ Bible. Readings from these books were part of the Book of Common Prayer’s daily lessons, and in 1615 Archbishop George Abbot forbade issuing Bibles without them.
Source: Wikipedia, “King James Version” · Britannica, “George Abbot”
Answer. It is the standard 1769 Oxford text edited by Benjamin Blayney, the King James text most Bibles print today. The books are the 1611 set; the spelling is 1769.
Like the 1611, the 1769 edition included the Apocrypha. Sirach here begins at 1:1; the translator’s prologue is not included. The text is public domain (in the United Kingdom the King James Bible is under Crown letters patent), and our copy comes from eBible.org.
Source: Wikipedia, “King James Version” · eBible.org, KJV copyright page
Answer. Gradually, not on one date. The first King James Bibles without it were bound in 1666, and through the 1800s most printings left it out.
In 1644 the Long Parliament forbade reading it in churches. In 1826 the British and Foreign Bible Society resolved to spend its funds only on the canonical books, and the American Bible Society adopted a similar policy. Both later reversed this: the American Bible Society in 1964 and the British society in 1966.
Source: Wikipedia, “King James Version”
Answer. Mostly cost and buyers. After 1769, stereotype printing made very large, cheap print runs possible, and leaving the Apocrypha out cut the cost and appealed to Protestant readers outside the Church of England.
The Bible societies then stopped paying to print it, starting with the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1826. Earlier, in 1644, the Long Parliament had forbidden reading it in churches.
Source: Wikipedia, “King James Version”
Answer. No. No decision about the King James Bible was made in 1885. That year the Old Testament of the Revised Version, a different translation, was published; its own Apocrypha followed in 1894.
By 1885 most King James Bibles had been printed without the Apocrypha for many years.
Source: Wikipedia, “King James Version” · Wikipedia, “Revised Version”
Answer. Yes, though not all in the same way. In 367 Athanasius said Wisdom, Sirach, Esther, Judith and Tobit were “appointed by the Fathers to be read,” though not part of the canon.
The Synod of Hippo (393) and the Councils of Carthage (397, 419) included Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach and Maccabees in their lists. For 9 of the 15 books, our reader shows early Christian writings linked to a verse.
Source: Wikipedia, “Easter letter” (Athanasius) · Wikipedia, “Deuterocanonical books”
Answer. No New Testament verse quotes these books word for word. Hebrews 11:35 is often read as pointing to the martyrs of 2 Maccabees 7.
Some lines run close to the Gospels. Tobit 4:15 begins “Do that to no man which thou hatest”, and our cross-references place it beside the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12.
Source: Wikipedia, “Deuterocanonical books” · Our own audio and reader (checked November 6, 2026)
Answer. Mostly, but not exactly. 2 Esdras is not in the Septuagint; it survives in Latin and other versions.
The Septuagint has 3 Maccabees (and in some editions 4 Maccabees and Psalm 151), which the KJV Apocrypha does not. Our Septuagint audio Bible has Brenton’s English of the Septuagint books, with 1 Enoch.
Source: Wikipedia, “Deuterocanonical books” · Wikipedia, “2 Esdras”
These open our KJV audio Bible, which has its own recording.
Keep going
Text: KJV Apocrypha, standard 1769 text, public domain, from eBible.org. Audio: our own recording, narrated by The Historic Faith with an AI voice. Counts checked November 6, 2026.
