Acts 15:17 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.
That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
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.
That the residue of men may seek after the Lord, And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
so that the residue of men may seek out the Lord, and all the nations on whom my name is invoked, saith [the] Lord, who does these things
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
that the residue of men may seek after the Lord, and all the nations, upon whom My name hath been called, saith the Lord, who is doing all these things.
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.
That the rest of men may seek after the Lord; all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things.
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.
that so the rest of mankind may earnestly seek the Lord – even all the Gentiles on whom my name has been bestowed,
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.
So that the rest of men may make search for the Lord, and all the Gentiles on whom my name is named,
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.
That the rest of men may seek after the Lord, all the Gentiles, who are called by my name says the Lord, who does all these things.
Word-for-word swaps
- residue→rest
- might→may
- whom→who
- saith→says
- doeth→does
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.