Revelation 17:10 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.
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
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 they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And there are seven kings: five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes he must remain [only] a little while.
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 there are seven kings, the five did fall, and the one is, the other did not yet come, and when he may come, it behoveth him to remain a little time;
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.
They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while.
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.
They are also seven kings; of whom five have fallen and one remains, while one is not yet come. When he comes, he must stay for a little while.
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 they are seven kings; the five have come to an end, the one is, the other has not come; and when he comes, he will have to go on for a little time.
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.
They are seven kings: five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come; when he comes, he must continue a little while.
Word-for-word swaps
- there→They
- are→have
- and→the
- is→has
- cometh→comes
- space→little
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.