Ephesians 4:25 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.
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
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.
Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Wherefore, having put off falsehood, speak truth every one with his neighbour, because we are members one of another.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Wherefore, putting away the lying, speak truth each with his neighbour, because we are members one of another;
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.
Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Since, therefore, you have cast off what is false, you must every one of you speak the truth to your neighbors. For we are united to one another like the parts of a body.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Since, therefore, you have cast off what is false, you must every one of you speak the truth to your neighbours. For we are united to one another like the parts of a body.
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 so, putting away false words, let everyone say what is true to his neighbour: for we are parts one of another.
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.
Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. for we are members of one another.
Word-for-word swaps
- Wherefore→Therefore
- lying→falsehood
- neighbour→neighbor
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.