1 Peter 1:10 in 8 translations
7 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.
Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace unto you:
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.
Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that [should come] unto you:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Concerning which salvation prophets, who have prophesied of the grace towards you, sought out and searched out;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
concerning which salvation seek out and search out did prophets who concerning the grace toward you did prophecy,
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.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
It was this salvation that the prophets, who spoke long ago of the blessing intended for you, sought, and strove to comprehend;
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.
For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation;
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.
Concerning this salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you:
Word-for-word swaps
- which→Concerning
- enquired→sought
- unto→that
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.