Colossians 1:21 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.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
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 you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in mind by wicked works, yet now has it reconciled
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 you--once being alienated, and enemies in the mind, in the evil works, yet now did he reconcile,
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.
You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,
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.
And it pleased God that you, once estranged from him and hostile towards him in your thoughts, intent only on wickedness –
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.
And you, who in the past were cut off and at war with God in your minds through evil works, he has now made one
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.
you, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,
Word-for-word swaps
- sometime→being
- reconciled→in
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.