1 John 3:6 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.
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
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.
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Whoever abides in him, does not sin: whoever sins, has not seen him or known him.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
every one who is remaining in him doth not sin; every one who is sinning, hath not seen him, nor known him.
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.
Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him and doesn’t know him.
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.
No one who lives in him continues to sin; the sinner has not seen or known him.
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.
Anyone who is in him does no sin; anyone who is a sinner has not seen him and has no knowledge of him.
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.
Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him, and doesn’t know him.
Word-for-word swaps
- abideth→Whoever
- not→doesn’t
- known→and
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.