2 Timothy 3:6 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.
For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
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.
For of these are they that creep into houses, and take captive silly women laden with sins, led away by divers lusts,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For of these are they who are getting into houses, and leading captive silly women, laden with sins, led by various lusts,
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
for of these there are those coming into the houses and leading captive the silly women, laden with sins, led away with desires manifold,
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.
For some of these are people who creep into houses, and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
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.
For among them are to be found those who creep into homes and captivate weak women – women who, loaded with sins, and slaves to all kinds of passions,
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 these are they who go secretly into houses, making prisoners of foolish women, weighted down with sin, turned from the way by their evil desires,
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.
For some of these are people who creep into houses, and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
Word-for-word swaps
- sort→these
- which→people
- lead→take
- silly→gullible
- laden→loaded
- divers→by
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.