Acts 1:2 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.
Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
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.
until the day in which he was received up, after that he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
until that day in which, having by the Holy Spirit charged the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
till the day in which, having given command, through the Holy Spirit, to the apostles whom he did choose out, he was taken up,
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.
until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
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.
down to that day on which he was taken up to heaven, after he had, by the help of the Holy Spirit, given instructions to the apostles whom he had chosen.
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.
Till the day when he was taken up to heaven after he had given his orders, through the Holy Spirit, to the Apostles of whom he had made selection:
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.
Until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen:
Word-for-word swaps
- taken→received
- unto→Spirit
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.