Acts 5:32 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 we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey 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.
And we are witnesses of these things; and [so is] the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And *we* are [his] witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit also, which God has given to those that obey him.
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 we are His witnesses of these sayings, and the Holy Spirit also, whom God gave to those obeying him.'
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.
We are His witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
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 we are witness to the truth of this, and so is the Holy Spirit – the gift of God to those who obey him.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
And we are witness to the truth of this, and so is the Holy Spirit – the gift of God to those who obey him.’
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.
And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep his laws.
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.
we are his witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.
Word-for-word swaps
- Ghost→Spirit
- hath→has
- that→those
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.