Galatians 4:15 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.
Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.
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.
Where then is that gratulation of yourselves? for I bear you witness, that, if possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
What then [was] your blessedness? for I bear you witness that, if possible, plucking out your own eyes ye would have given [them] to me.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
what then was your happiness? for I testify to you, that if possible, your eyes having plucked out, ye would have given to me;
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.
What was the blessing you enjoyed? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.
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.
What has become then, of your blessings? For I can bear witness that, had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me!
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.
Where then is that happy condition of yours? because I give you witness, that, if possible, you would have taken out your eyes and given them to me.
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.
What was the blessing you enjoyed? for I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes, and given them to me.
Word-for-word swaps
- then→What
- of→blessing
- bear→testify
- ye→you
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.