1 John 5:9 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.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
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.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for the witness of God is this, that he hath borne witness concerning his Son.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God [which] he has witnessed concerning his Son.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
If the testimony of men we receive, the testimony of God is greater, because this is the testimony of God that He hath testified concerning His Son.
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.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is God’s testimony which he has testified concerning his Son.
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.
We accept human testimony, surely God’s testimony is even stronger! And God’s testimony is the testimony he has given about his Son.
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.
If we take the witness of men to be true, the witness of God is greater: because this is the witness which God has given about his Son.
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.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is God’s testimony which he has testified concerning his Son.
Word-for-word swaps
- God→God’s
- hath→has
- of→concerning
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.