2 John 1:10 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.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
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.
If any one cometh unto you, and bringeth not this teaching, receive him not into [your] house, and give him no greeting:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
If any one come to you and bring not this doctrine, do not receive him into [the] house, and greet him not;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
if any one doth come unto you, and this teaching doth not bear, receive him not into the house, and say not to him, `Hail!'
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.
If anyone comes to you, and doesn’t bring this teaching, don’t receive him into your house, and don’t welcome him,
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.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive them into your house or even welcome them;
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.
If anyone comes to you not having this teaching, do not take him into your house or give him words of love:
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.
If anyone comes to you, and doesn’t bring this teaching, don’t receive him into your house, and don’t welcome him
Word-for-word swaps
- unto→anyone
- doctrine→teaching
- bid→and
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.