Bible Verses
Translation comparison

Judith 12:18 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

So Judith said, I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day more than all the days since I was born.

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

Judith said, “I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day more than all the days since I was born.”

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.

Judith said, I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day more than all the days since I was born.

The verses either side

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

17Then said Holofernes unto her, Drink now, and be merry with us.
18So Judith said, I will drink now, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day more than all the days since I was born.
19Then she took and ate and drank before him what her maid had prepared.

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.