There are many versions and translations of the Bible out there, and, granted, some are worse than others; and the question inevitably arises, "What about the New King James Version?" "Is it any different than the old King James Version?"

At first glance, it would seem that the NKJV is a further revision of the King James version for clarity as was made in 1769. But there are some concerns that arise when you study it a little closer...

Acts 17:10-11, "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
What about you? Have you already made your mind up? The Lord commends those who listen and then take their Bible and study it to see if it is so. Don’t believe me--get your Bible and see what it has to say. Have you studied it out for yourself, or do you just go on what you have been told by men?

How can the average person tell if there is a problem with a version of the Bible? You don’t have a degree in Greek of Hebrew; you don’t have any manuscripts; all you have is two Bibles, let’s say the KJV and the NKJV.
Well, compare the two. See if they agree or disagree with each other.

Thou sayest?

The NKJV actually claims to be another revision of the KJV just to make it clearer. If you want to clarify a word like "succour", sure, go ahead, most people wouldn’t have a clue what that means anyway. But what about the words "thee, thou, and ye"?

Luke 22:30-33 (NKJV), "that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren. But he said to Him, Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."

Ok... does this really matter? Actually, it does. The older English that was used in the writing of the King James was a little more precise than the English we use today. Take Shakespeare, he used very eloquent and descriptive language, and much of it does not have an equivalent in our modern speech. ‘Thee’ and ‘thou’ are second person singular pronouns. They are used when speaking to one person, as is seen in verse 33 when Peter says to Jesus, "I am ready to go with thee". ‘Ye’ and ‘you’ are second person plural pronouns. They are used when speaking to a group of people.
The older language of the King James can then accurately show these tenses when they appear in the Greek. In this passage in Luke, Jesus is speaking to all of his disciples (ye and you), and then he starts speaking directly to Peter (thee and thou). He specifically says that Satan desired to have all of the disciples, and that Jesus had specifically prayed for Peter. You will not see this in the New King James.

It seems that the King James is the more accurate translation on this point. How important is complete accuracy?
Let’s go back to Shakespeare. If you couldn’t understand a certain line in one of his plays, would you change it into a lesser form of English? No, you wouldn’t tinker with Shakespeare just because you can’t understand the archaic language, it would change the meaning. But that is just poetry, God’s Word is more important, and we should put it on a higher plane than any other form of literature.

Comparisons

Matthew 20:20 (NKJV), "Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.

These are the kind of omissions that you would find in paraphrase versions of the Bible--making worship of Jesus just reverence. The New King James only omits this one reference to worship of Jesus-- but why? It certainly isn’t for clarity of the passage.

Acts 17:29 (NKJV), "Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising."

There is a difference between the Godhead and the Divine Nature:

Colossians 2:9 (KJV), "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

Romans 1:20 (KJV), "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse"

2Peter 1:4 (KJV), "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

We are partakers of the divine nature; we are not partakers of the Godhead. We should be careful not to get the two confused.

1Corinthians 1:21 (NKJV), "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."

There certainly is a difference between these two verses.

1Thessalonians 5:22 (NKJV), "Abstain from every form of evil.

Even more subtle. Abstaining from even the appearance of evil is staying away from something that just looks like it is bad. Abstaining from every form of evil is staying away from something that is definitely bad.
How close can we get to evil things? Even if it just has an appearance of evil, stay away from it.

1John 3:16 (NKJV), "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Define love. What kind? Be specific. We know the love of God because He laid down His life for us. Not just a generic love--the love of God.

Genesis 2:18 (NKJV), "And the LORD God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."

This seems to be a deliberate changing of the text to make it say something different than it has always said. It certainly changes the meaning.

Romans 6:22 (NKJV), "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life."

Doesn’t sound quite right does it? Slaves of God? That almost sounds bad. The word ‘servants’ shows that we willingly serve Him.

John 14:16 (NKJV), "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever;"

What’s going on here! This change didn’t need to be made. It is so small and subtle it seems to not really matter; but if it doesn’t matter, why change it in the first place? It is just confusing.

What is going on anyway?