Malachi 3:13 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.
Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
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.
Your words have been stout against me, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, What have we spoken against thee?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Your words have been stout against me, saith Jehovah; but ye say, What have we been speaking against thee?
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Hard against Me have been your words, Said Jehovah, and ye have said: `What have we spoken against Thee?'
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.
“Your words have been stout against me,” says Yahweh. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Future Reward of the Godless and Faithful “You have said terrible things about me,” says the Lord. “You ask, ‘What have we said about you?’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Future Reward of the Godless and Faithful ‘You have said terrible things about me,’ says the Lord. ‘You ask, “What have we said about you?”
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.
Your words have been strong against me, says the Lord. And still you say, What have we said against you?
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.
Your words have been stout against me, says Yahweh. Yet you say, What have we spoken against you?’
Word-for-word swaps
- LORD→says
- ye→you
- thee→you
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.