Acts 13:25 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 as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.
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 as John was fulfilling his course, he said, What suppose ye that I am? I am not [he]. But behold, there cometh one after me the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to unloose.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And as John was fulfilling his course he said, Whom do ye suppose that I am? *I* am not [he]. But behold, there comes one after me, the sandal of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.
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 as John was fulfilling the course, he said, Whom me do ye suppose to be? I am not he, but, lo, he doth come after me, of whom I am not worthy to loose the sandal of his feet.
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.
As John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
As John was drawing towards the end of his career, he said ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not the Christ. But there is “one coming” after me, whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
As John was drawing towards the end of his career, he said “What do you suppose that I am? I am not the Christ. But there is ‘one coming’ after me, whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
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.
And when John was completing his work, he said, What do I seem to you to be? I am not he; but one is coming after me, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo.
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.
as John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But, behold, one comes after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
Word-for-word swaps
- fulfilled→was
- ye→What
- shoes→the
- his→whose
- loose→untie
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.