Revelation 1:18 in 8 translations
7 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.
I he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
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 the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
and the living one: and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades.
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 he who is living, and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen! and I have the keys of the hades and of the death.
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.
and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
the Everliving. I died, and I am alive for ever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and of Hades.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
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 I was dead, and see, I am living for ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hell.
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.
and the Living one. I was dead; and, behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
Word-for-word swaps
- Amen→forever
- hell→Death
- death→Hades
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.