2 Corinthians 9:8 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.
And God able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all may abound to every good work:
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.
And God is able to make all grace abound unto you; that ye, having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound unto every good work:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But God is able to make every gracious gift abound towards you, that, having in every way always all-sufficiency, ye may abound to every good work:
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 God is able all grace to cause to abound to you, that in every thing always all sufficiency having, ye may abound to every good work,
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.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.
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.
God has power to shower all kinds of blessings on you, so that, having, under all circumstances and on all occasions, all that you can need, you may be able to shower all kinds of benefits on others.
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.
And God is able to give you all grace in full measure; so that ever having enough of all things, you may be full of every good work:
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.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you; that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work:
Word-for-word swaps
- toward→to
- ye→you
- all→everything
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.