Bible Verses
Translation comparison

2 Maccabees 11:1 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

Not long after the, Lysias the king’s protector and cousin, who also managed the affairs, took sore displeasure for the things that were done.

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

Now after a very little time Lysias, the king’s guardian and kinsman and chancellor, being sore displeased for the things that had come to pass,

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.

Now after a very little time Lysias the king’s guardian and kinsman and chancellor, being sore displeased for the things that had come to pass,

Word-for-word swaps

  • longNow
  • thea
  • protectorguardian
  • tookkinsman
  • displeasuredispleased
  • donehad

The verses either side

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

1Not long after the, Lysias the king’s protector and cousin, who also managed the affairs, took sore displeasure for the things that were done.
2And when he had gathered about fourscore thousand with all the horsemen, he came against the Jews, thinking to make the city an habitation of the Gentiles,

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.