1 Corinthians 1:28 in 8 translations
8 distinct wordings, grouped by what each translation is trying to do. Differences from the King James text are marked below.
Early modern English
Seventeenth-century wording and sentence shape. Familiar, rhythmic, and the version most quotations you have heard are taken from.
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1611 / 1769 · Public domain · The Authorised Version, revised to the 1769 Blayney text. Includes the Apocrypha as printed in 1611.
Literal, word-for-word
Follows Hebrew and Greek word order and grammar closely, even where the English becomes stiff. Useful for seeing what the underlying sentence is doing.
and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, [yea] and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
and the ignoble things of the world, and the despised, has God chosen, [and] things that are not, that he may annul the things that are;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
and the base things of the world, and the things despised did God choose, and the things that are not, that the things that are He may make useless--
1898 · Public domain · The most extreme word-for-word rendering here, keeping Hebrew and Greek tense and word order at the cost of natural English.
Modern English
Contemporary vocabulary and punctuation, aiming for the sentence a present-day reader would write while staying close to the source.
and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are:
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
and God chose what the world counts poor and insignificant – things that to it are unreal – to bring its ‘realities’ to nothing,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
and God chose what the world counts poor and insignificant – things that to it are unreal – to bring its “realities” to nothing,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
And the low things of the world, and the things without honour, did God make selection of, yes, even the things which are not, so that he might make as nothing the things which are:
1949 · Public domain · Written with roughly a thousand basic English words plus a small Bible vocabulary. The plainest reading available here.
What changes between the King James and modern wording
The modern rendering is printed below with every word that differs from the King James text marked, so the actual divergence is visible rather than left for you to spot.
And God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are:
Word-for-word swaps
- base→God
- which→that
- to→that
- nought→nothing
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.