1 Peter 2:15 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.
For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
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.
For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Because so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye put to silence the ignorance of senseless men;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
because, so is the will of God, doing good, to put to silence the ignorance of the foolish men;
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.
For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
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.
For God’s will is this – that you should silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing what is right.
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.
Because it is God's pleasure that foolish and narrow-minded men may be put to shame by your good behaviour:
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.
For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
Word-for-word swaps
- so→this
- may→by
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.