2 Corinthians 9:4 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.
Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.
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.
lest by any means, if there come with me any of Macedonia and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be put to shame in this confidence.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
lest haply, if Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, *we*, that we say not *ye*, may be put to shame in this confidence.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
lest if Macedonians may come with me, and find you unprepared, we--we may be put to shame (that we say not--ye) in this same confidence of boasting.
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.
lest by any means, if anyone from Macedonia comes there with me and finds you unprepared, we (to say nothing of you) would be disappointed in this confident boasting.
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.
Otherwise, if any Macedonians were to come with me, and find you unprepared, we – to say nothing of you – should feel ashamed of our present confidence.
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.
For fear that, if any from Macedonia come with me, and you are not ready, we (not to say, you) might be put to shame in this thing.
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.
Lest by any means, if anyone from Macedonia comes there with me, and finds you unprepared, we (to say nothing of you) would be disappointed in this confident boasting.
Word-for-word swaps
- haply→by
- of→anyone
- come→comes
- find→finds
- we→to
- should→nothing
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.