Malachi 3:15 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.
And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
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.
And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are built up; yea, they tempt God, and escape.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And now we hold the proud for happy; yea, they that work wickedness are built up; yea, they tempt God, and they escape.
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 now, we are declaring the proud happy, Yea, built up have been those doing wickedness, Yea they have tempted God, and escape.'
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.
Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
So now we call the proud happy, evildoers thrive: they dare God and escape unharmed.’”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
So now we call the proud happy, evildoers thrive: they dare God and escape unharmed.”’
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.
And now to us the men of pride seem happy; yes, the evil-doers are doing well; they put God to the test and are safe.
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.
now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God and escape.’
Word-for-word swaps
- that→yes
- set→built
- yea→yes
- delivered→and
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.