Bible Verses
Translation comparison

Judith 2:17 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 he took camels and asses for their carriages, a very great number; and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision:

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

He took camels and asses and mules for their baggage, an exceedingly great multitude, and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision,

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.

he took camels and asses and mules for their baggage, an exceedingly great multitude, and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision:

Word-for-word swaps

  • verybaggage
  • numbermultitude

The verses either side

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

16And he ranged them, as a great army is ordered for the war.
17And he took camels and asses for their carriages, a very great number; and sheep and oxen and goats without number for their provision:
18And plenty of victual for every man of the army, and very much gold and silver out of the king’s house.

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.