Acts 17:30 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 the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
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.
The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
God therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now enjoins men that they shall all everywhere repent,
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform,
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.
The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,
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.
True, God looked with indulgence on the days of people’s ignorance, but now he is announcing to everyone everywhere the need for repentance,
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.
Those times when men had no knowledge were overlooked by God; but now he gives orders to all men in every place to undergo a change of heart:
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.
the times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. but now he commands that all people everywhere should repent:
Word-for-word swaps
- at→overlooked
- commandeth→he
- to→people
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.