Bible Verses
Translation comparison

1 Maccabees 13:45 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

Insomuch as the people of the city rent their clothes, and climbed upon the walls with their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, beseeching Simon to grant them peace.

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 they of the city tore their clothes, and went up on the walls with their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, making request to Simon to give them his right hand.

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 they of the city tore their clothes, and went up on the walls with their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, making request to Simon to give them his right hand.

Word-for-word swaps

  • peopleand
  • renttore
  • uponwent
  • beseechingmaking
  • grantgive
  • peacehis

The verses either side

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

44And they that were in the engine leaped into the city; whereupon there was a great uproar in the city:
45Insomuch as the people of the city rent their clothes, and climbed upon the walls with their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, beseeching Simon to grant them peace.
46And they said, Deal not with us according to our wickedness, but according to thy mercy.

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.