3 John 1:6 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.
Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:
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.
who bare witness to thy love before the church: whom thou wilt do well to set forward on their journey worthily of God:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
(who have witnessed of thy love before [the] assembly,) in setting forward whom on their journey worthily of God, thou wilt do well;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
who did testify of thy love before an assembly, whom thou wilt do well, having sent forward worthily of God,
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.
They have testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them forward on their journey in a way worthy of God,
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.
They themselves have testified before the church to your love. You will do well to help them on their way in a manner worthy of the service of God.
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.
Who have given witness to the church of your love for them: and you will do well to send them on their way well cared for, as is right for servants of God:
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.
They have testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them forward on their journey in a way worthy of God,
Word-for-word swaps
- Which→They
- charity→testified
- bring→assembly
- after→in
- well→way
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.