1 Corinthians 14:28 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.
But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
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.
but if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
but if there be no interpreter, let him be silent in [the] assembly, and let him speak to himself and to God.
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 if there may be no interpreter, let him be silent in an assembly, and to himself let him speak, and to God.
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.
But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the assembly, and let him speak to himself, and to God.
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.
If there is no one able to interpret what is said, they should remain silent at the meeting of the church, and speak to themselves and to God.
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.
But if there is no one to give the sense, let him keep quiet in the church; and let his words be to himself and to God.
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.
But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the assembly, and let him speak to himself, and to God.
Word-for-word swaps
- be→is
- silence→silent
- church→assembly
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.