1st Book of Esdras

This book belongs to the apocrypha which is a selection of books which were published in the original 1611 King James Bible, positioned between the Old and New Testament. The apocrypha was a part of the KJV for 274 years until being removed in 1885 AD Some claim the apocrypha should never have been included in the first place, raising doubt about its validity. Others believe it is valid and that it should never have been removed since it was considered part of the Bible for nearly 2,000 years before only recently removed a little more than 100 years ago. Many claim it wasn't removed by the church, but by printers to cut costs in distributing Bibles in the United States. Fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls dating back to before 70 A.D. contained parts of the apocrypha books in Hebrew. Remember when reading the this apocryphal book... Martin Luther said, "Apocrypha-that is, books which are not regarded as equal to the holy Scriptures, and yet are profitable and good to read." (King James Version Defended page 98.)