Bible Verses
Translation comparison

1 Maccabees 10:6 in 2 translations

2 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.

King James Version
KJV

Wherefore he gave him authority to gather together an host, and to provide weapons, that he might aid him in battle: he commanded also that the hostages that were in the tower should be delivered him.

1611 / 1769 · Public domain · The Authorised Version, revised to the 1769 Blayney text. Includes the Apocrypha as printed in 1611.

Modern English

Contemporary vocabulary and punctuation, aiming for the sentence a present-day reader would write while staying close to the source.

World English Bible
WEB

And he gave him authority to gather together forces, and to provide arms, and that he should be his confederate: and he commanded that they should deliver up to him the hostages that were in the citadel.

2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.

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 he gave him authority to gather together forces, and to provide arms, and that he should be his confederate: and he commanded that they should deliver up to him the hostages that were in the citadel.

Word-for-word swaps

  • WhereforeAnd
  • hostforces
  • weaponsarms
  • battleshould
  • himcitadel

The verses either side

King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.

5Else he will remember all the evils that we have done against him, and against his brethren and his people.
6Wherefore he gave him authority to gather together an host, and to provide weapons, that he might aid him in battle: he commanded also that the hostages that were in the tower should be delivered him.
7Then came Jonathan to Jerusalem, and read the letters in the audience of all the people, and of them that were in the tower:

Not shown for this verse: American Standard Version, Darby Bible, Young's Literal Translation, Open English Bible (US), Open English Bible (Commonwealth), Bible in Basic English. Most modern translations do not include the Apocrypha.