Amos 9:10 in 8 translations
7 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.
All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
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.
All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, The evil shall not overtake nor meet us.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, Evil shall not overtake nor befall us.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
By sword die do all sinners of My people, Who are saying, `Not overtake, or go before, For our sakes, doth evil.'
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.
All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake nor meet us.’
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
All the sinners of my people, who deny that disaster will touch or befall them, will die by the sword.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
All those sinners among my people will be put to the sword who say, Evil will not overtake us or come face to face with us.
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.
All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, evil won’t overtake nor meet us.’
Word-for-word swaps
- shall→will
- which→who
- not→won’t
- us→meet
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.