Jeremiah 37:17 in 6 translations
6 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.
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
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.
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
king Zedekiah sent and took him out. And the king asked of him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is; and he said, Thou shalt be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
and the king Zedekiah sendeth, and taketh him, and the king asketh him in his house in secret, and saith, `Is there a word from Jehovah?' And Jeremiah saith, `There is,' and he saith, `Into the hand of the king of Babylon thou art given.'
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.
then Zedekiah the king sent, and had him brought out. The king asked him secretly in his house, “Is there any word from Yahweh?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” He also said, “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
Then King Zedekiah sent and got him out: and the king, questioning him secretly in his house, said, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is. Then he said, You will be given up into the hands of the king of Babylon.
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.
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and had him brought out: the king asked him secretly in his house, Is there any word from Yahweh?” Jeremiah said, There is: he, also said, “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
Word-for-word swaps
- took→had
- And→Yahweh
- shalt→also
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.
Not shown for this verse: Open English Bible (US), Open English Bible (Commonwealth). Those translations are still incomplete in the corpus, and empty cards are not padded in.