Revelation 1:3 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.
Blessed he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time at hand.
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.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Blessed [is] he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written in it; for the time [is] near.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Happy is he who is reading, and those hearing, the words of the prophecy, and keeping the things written in it--for the time is nigh!
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.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand.
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.
Blessed is the one who reads, and blessed are they who listen to, the words of this prophecy, and lay to heart what is here written; for the time is near.
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.
A blessing be on the reader, and on those who give ear to the prophet's words, and keep the things which he has put in the book: for the time is near.
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.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand.
Word-for-word swaps
- readeth→who
- that→those
- this→the
- those→the
- which→that
- therein→in
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.