Bible Verses
Translation comparison

1 Maccabees 2:63 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

To day he shall be lifted up and to morrow he shall not be found, because he is returned into his dust, and his thought is come to nothing.

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

To-day he shall be lifted up, and to-morrow he shall in no wise be found, because he is returned to his dust, and his thought is perished.

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.

To-day he shall be lifted up and to-morrow he shall in no wise be found, because he is returned to his dust, and his thought is perished.

Word-for-word swaps

  • dayTo
  • morrowto
  • notin
  • intoto
  • nothingperished

The verses either side

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

62Fear not then the words of a sinful man: for his glory shall be dung and worms.
63To day he shall be lifted up and to morrow he shall not be found, because he is returned into his dust, and his thought is come to nothing.
64Wherefore, ye my sons, be valiant and shew yourselves men in the behalf of the law; for by it shall ye obtain glory.

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.