Two principles

The text needs to be revised in two basic ways: one is to undo mistaken changes, the other is to revive the work of modernisation that, in the English text, stalled in the eighteenth century.

The first principle is that the text should be that of the translators, not that of subsequent revisers, and that the text of the translators is the first edition. Variant readings should be decided in the light of the deliberate decisions of the translators, even if the reasons for those decisions are not necessarily apparent. The test is not whether a later variant can be argued to be better in some way, but whether there is a strong likelihood that an error of copying or printing is involved in the first edition. No attempt should be made to correct perceived errors of scholarship.

The second principle is that the text should be modernised. This is not to change the text but to continue to allow it to speak as clearly as possible in its own authentic voice to the contemporary reader. The basic elements of the modernisation are spelling and punctuation. From the variety and inconsistency of the 1611 text it is clear that, for the most part, neither of these involve deliberate intentions of the translators and so do not demand respect and reverence in the way that the readings do.