1 Peter 3:10 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 he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
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, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For he that will love life and see good days, let him cause his tongue to cease from evil and his lips that they speak no guile.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
for `he who is willing to love life, and to see good days, let him guard his tongue from evil, and his lips--not to speak guile;
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, “He who would love life, and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
‘The person who wants to enjoy life and see happy days – they should keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful words,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
“The person who wants to enjoy life and see happy days – they should keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful words,
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, Let the man who has a love of life, desiring to see good days, keep his tongue from evil and his lips from words of deceit:
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 he who would love life, and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.
Word-for-word swaps
- will→who
- refrain→keep
- guile→from
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.