1 Corinthians 6:5 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.
I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
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.
I say [this] to move you to shame. What, cannot there be [found] among you one wise man who shall be able to decide between his brethren,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
I speak to you [to put you] to shame. Thus there is not a wise person among you, not even one, who shall be able to decide between his brethren!
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
unto your shame I speak: so there is not among you one wise man, not even one, who shall be able to discern in the midst of his brethren!
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.
I say this to move you to shame. Isn’t there even one wise man among you who would be able to decide between his brothers?
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.
Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough to decide between two of their fellow followers?
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.
I say this to put you to shame. Is there not among you one wise man who may be able to give a decision between his brothers?
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.
I say this to move you to shame. Isn’t there even one wise man among you? who would be able to decide between his brothers?
Word-for-word swaps
- speak→say
- your→move
- that→Isn’t
- a→even
- shall→who
- judge→decide
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.