1 Corinthians 15:19 in 8 translations
6 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.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
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.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are [the] most miserable of all men.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
if in this life we have hope in Christ only, of all men we are most to be pitied.
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.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
If all that we have done has been to place our hope in Christ for this life, then we of all people are the most to be pitied.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most unhappy.
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.
If we have only hoped in Christ, in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
Word-for-word swaps
- hope→only
- miserable→pitiable
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.