Acts 18:19 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 he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
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 they came to Ephesus, and he left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
and he arrived at Ephesus, and left them there. But entering himself into the synagogue he reasoned with the Jews.
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 he came down to Ephesus, and did leave them there, and he himself having entered into the synagogue did reason with the Jews:
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.
He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
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.
They put into Ephesus, and there Paul, leaving his companions, went into the synagogue and addressed the Jews.
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 they came down to Ephesus and he left them there: and he himself went into the Synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.
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.
he came to Ephesus, and he left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.