Acts 3:18 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.
But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
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.
But the things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
but God has thus fulfilled what he had announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer.
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 God, what things before He had declared through the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ should suffer, He did thus fulfil;
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.
But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
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.
But it was in this way that God fulfilled all that he had long ago foretold, as to the sufferings of his Christ, by the lips of all the prophets.
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.
But the things which God had made clear before, by the mouth of all the prophets, that the Christ would have to undergo, he has put into effect in this 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.
But the things, which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Word-for-word swaps
- those→the
- shewed→announced
- so→thus
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.