1 Corinthians 10:29 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.
Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another conscience?
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.
conscience, I say, not thine own, but the other`s; for why is my liberty judged by another conscience?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
but conscience, I mean, not thine own, but that of the other: for why is my liberty judged by another conscience?
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 conscience, I say, not of thyself, but of the other, for why is it that my liberty is judged by another's conscience?
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.
Conscience, I say, not your own, but the other’s conscience. For why is my liberty judged by another conscience?
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.
I do not say your scruples, but his. For why should the freedom that I claim be condemned by the scruples of another?
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.
Right and wrong, I say, not for you, but for the other man; for the fact that I am free is not dependent on another man's sense of right or wrong.
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.
Conscience, I say, not your own, but the other’s conscience. for why is my liberty judged by another conscience?
Word-for-word swaps
- thine→your
- other→other’s
- of→by
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.