2 Corinthians 10:1 in 8 translations
8 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.
Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:
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.
Now I Paul myself entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am of good courage toward you:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ, who, as to appearance, [when present] [am] mean among you, but absent am bold towards you;
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 I, Paul, myself, do call upon you--through the meekness and gentleness of the Christ--who in presence, indeed am humble among you, and being absent, have courage toward you,
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.
Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ; I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Now, I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ – I who, “in your presence, am humble in my bearing towards you, but, when absent, am bold in my language to you” –
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Now, I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ – I who, ‘in your presence, am humble in my bearing towards you, but, when absent, am bold in my language to you’ –
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
Now I, Paul, myself make request to you by the quiet and gentle behaviour of Christ, I who am poor in spirit when with you, but who say what is in my mind to you without fear when I am away from you:
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.
Now I Paul myself entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ, I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you:
Word-for-word swaps
- beseech→entreat
- meekness→humility
- base→am
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.