2 Corinthians 10:16 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.
To preach the gospel in the beyond you, not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.
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.
so as to preach the gospel even unto the parts beyond you, [and] not to glory in another`s province in regard of things ready to our hand.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
to announce the glad tidings to that [which is] beyond you, not to be boasting in another's rule of things made ready to hand.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
in the places beyond you to proclaim good news, not in another's line in regard to the things made ready, to boast;
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.
so as to preach the Good News even to the parts beyond you, not to boast in what someone else has already done.
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.
So that we will be able to tell the good news in the districts beyond you, without trespassing on the sphere assigned to others, or boasting of what has been already done.
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.
So that we may be able to go on and take the good news to countries still farther away than you are, and not take credit for another man's work in making things ready to our hand.
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.
so as To preach the Good News even to the parts beyond you, not to boast in what someone else has already done.
Word-for-word swaps
- in→Good
- hand→what
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.