2 Timothy 2:24 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.
And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all apt to teach, patient,
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 the Lord`s servant must not strive, but be gentle towards all, apt to teach, forbearing,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And a bondman of [the] Lord ought not to contend, but be gentle towards all; apt to teach; forbearing;
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 a servant of the Lord it behoveth not to strive, but to be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient under evil,
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.
The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle towards all, able to teach, patient,
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
and a servant of the Lord should never quarrel. They ought, on the contrary, to be courteous to everyone, skillful teachers, and forbearing.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
and a servant of the Lord should never quarrel. They ought, on the contrary, to be courteous to everyone, skilful teachers, and forbearing.
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.
For it is not right for the Lord's servant to make trouble, but he is to be gentle to all, ready in teaching, putting up with wrong,
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.
the Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle towards all able to teach, patient,
Word-for-word swaps
- strive→quarrel
- unto→towards
- apt→able
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.