Zephaniah 1:11 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.
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
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.
Wail, ye inhabitants of Maktesh; for all the people of Canaan are undone; all they that were laden with silver are cut off.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh; for all the people of Canaan are cut down, all they that are laden with silver are cut off.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Howl, ye inhabitants of the hollow place, For cut off hath been all the merchant people, Cut off have been all bearing silver.
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.
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
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.
Those who live in the Mortar wail, for all the traders are silenced, the money counters wiped out.
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.
Because of the downfall of all the people of Canaan: all those who were weighted down with silver have been cut off.
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.
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! all those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
Word-for-word swaps
- ye→Wail
- down→undone
- bear→those
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.