Acts 15:32 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.
And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them.
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 Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, exhorted the brethren with much discourse, and strengthened them.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Judas also and Silas, being themselves also prophets, through much discourse did exhort the brethren, and confirm,
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.
Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words, and strengthened them.
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.
Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, further encouraged the them by many an address, and strengthened their faith.
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.
And Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, gave teaching to the brothers and made them strong in the faith.
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.
Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words, and strengthened them.
Word-for-word swaps
- exhorted→encouraged
- brethren→brothers
- confirmed→strengthened
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.