Acts 20:31 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.
Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
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.
Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Wherefore watch, remembering that for three years, night and day, I ceased not admonishing each one [of you] with tears.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`Therefore, watch, remembering that three years, night and day, I did not cease with tears warning each one;
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.
Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn’t cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears.
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.
Therefore, be on your guard, remembering how for three years, night and day, I never ceased, even with tears, to warn each one of you.
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 keep watch, having in mind that for three years without resting I was teaching every one of you, day and night, with weeping.
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.
Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn’t cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears.
Word-for-word swaps
- remember→remembering
- space→for
- not→didn’t
- one→admonish
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.