Hebrews 11:26 in 8 translations
8 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.
Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
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.
accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
esteeming the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect to the recompense.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
greater wealth having reckoned the reproach of the Christ than the treasures in Egypt, for he did look to the recompense of reward;
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.
accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
For he counted ‘the reproaches that are heaped on the Christ’ of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, looking forward, as he did, to the reward awaiting him.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
For he counted “the reproaches that are heaped on the Christ” of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, looking forward, as he did, to the reward awaiting him.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
Judging a part in the shame of Christ to be better than all the wealth of Egypt; for he was looking forward to his reward.
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.
accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked to the reward.
Word-for-word swaps
- Esteeming→accounting
- in→of
- of→looked
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.