1 Peter 1:24 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.
For all flesh as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
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.
For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Because all flesh [is] as grass, and all its glory as [the] flower of grass. The grass has withered and [its] flower has fallen;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
because all flesh is as grass, and all glory of man as flower of grass; wither did the grass, and the flower of it fell away,
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.
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
For – ‘All earthly life is but as grass, and all its splendor as the flower of grass. The grass fades, its flower falls,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
For – “All earthly life is but as grass, and all its splendour as the flower of grass. The grass fades, its flower falls,
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.
For it is said, All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass becomes dry and the flower dead:
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.
For all flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;
Word-for-word swaps
- as→is
- as→man’s
- of→in
- withereth→withers
- the→its
- away→falls
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.