Acts 4:9 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.
If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
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.
if we this day are examined concerning a good deed done to an impotent man, by what means this man is made whole;
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
if *we* this day are called upon to answer as to the good deed [done] to the infirm man, how *he* has been healed,
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
if we to-day are examined concerning the good deed to the ailing man, by whom he hath been saved,
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.
if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,
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.
since we are on our trial today for a kind act done to a helpless man, and are asked in what way the man here before you has been cured,
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.
If we are questioned today about a good work done to a man who was ill, as to how he has been made well,
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.
If we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,
Word-for-word swaps
- be→are
- the→today
- impotent→a
- whole→this
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.