Bible Verses
Translation comparison

Letter of Jeremiah 6:46 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

And they themselves that made them can never continue long; how should then the things that are made of them be gods?

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 themselves that fashioned them can never continue long; how then should the things that are fashioned by them?

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 themselves that fashioned them can never continue long; how then should the things that are fashioned by them

Word-for-word swaps

  • madefashioned
  • offashioned

The verses either side

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

45They are made of carpenters and goldsmiths: they can be nothing else than the workmen will have them to be.
46And they themselves that made them can never continue long; how should then the things that are made of them be gods?
47For they left lies and reproaches to them that come after.

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.