Acts 25:3 in 8 translations
8 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 desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.
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.
asking a favor against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem; laying a plot to kill him on the way.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
asking as a grace against him that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying people in wait to kill him on the way.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
asking favour against him, that he may send for him to Jerusalem, making an ambush to put him to death in the way.
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.
asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem; plotting to kill him on the way.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
and asked a favor of him, to Paul’s injury – to have Paul brought to Jerusalem. All the while they were plotting to make away with him on the road.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
and asked a favour of him, to Paul’s injury – to have Paul brought to Jerusalem. All the while they were plotting to make away with him on the road.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
Requesting Festus to give effect to their design against him, and send him to Jerusalem, when they would be waiting to put him to death on the way.
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.
asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem, plotting to kill him. on the way.
Word-for-word swaps
- favour→asking
- for→summon
- way→plotting
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.