2 Timothy 3:5 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.
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
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.
holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power therefore. From these also turn away.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
having a form of piety but denying the power of it: and from these turn away.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
having a form of piety, and its power having denied; and from these be turning away,
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.
holding a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Turn away from these, also.
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.
and while they retain the outward form of religion, they will not allow it to influence them. Turn your back on such people as these.
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.
Having a form of religion, but turning their backs on the power of it: go not with these.
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.
holding a form of godliness, but having denied its power turn away. from these, also.
Word-for-word swaps
- Having→holding
- the→having
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.