Romans 9:21 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.
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
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.
Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Or has not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour?
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
hath not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make the one vessel to honour, and the one to dishonour?
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.
Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?
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.
Has not the potter absolute power over their clay, so that out of the same lump they make one thing for better, and another for common, use?
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.
Or has not the potter the right to make out of one part of his earth a vessel for honour, and out of another a vessel for shame?
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.
Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?
Word-for-word swaps
- not→Or
- power→a
- of→from
- honour→for
- dishonour→for
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.