Galatians 5:19 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.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
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.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness,
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 manifest also are the works of the flesh, which are: Adultery, whoredom, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
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.
Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
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.
The sins of our earthly nature are unmistakable. They are sins like these – sexual immorality, impurity, indecency,
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.
Now the works of the flesh are clear, which are these: evil desire, unclean things, wrong use of the senses,
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.
Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are Adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
Word-for-word swaps
- works→deeds
- manifest→obvious
- fornication→sexual
- lasciviousness→lustfulness
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.