Acts 14:6 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.
They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
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.
they became aware of it, and fled unto the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the region round about:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
they, being aware of it, fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding country,
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
they having become aware, did flee to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and to the region round about,
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 became aware of it, and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, Derbe, and the surrounding region.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
the apostles heard of it, and took refuge in Lystra and Derbe, towns in Lycaonia, and in the district around,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
the apostles heard of it, and took refuge in Lystra and Derbe, towns in Lycaonia, and in the district round,
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.
Having got news of it, they went in flight to the towns of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and the country round about:
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 became aware of it, and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, Derbe, and the surrounding region
Word-for-word swaps
- ware→became
- Derbe→to
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.