Hebrews 12:7 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.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
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.
It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father chasteneth not?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Ye endure for chastening, God conducts himself towards you as towards sons; for who is the son that the father chastens not?
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
if chastening ye endure, as to sons God beareth Himself to you, for who is a son whom a father doth not chasten?
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.
It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?
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.
It is for your discipline that you have to endure all this. God is dealing with you as his children. For where is there a child whom his father does not discipline?
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.
It is for your training that you undergo these things; God is acting to you as a father does to his sons; for what son does not have punishment from his father?
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.
It is for discipline that you endure God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?
Word-for-word swaps
- ye→It
- dealeth→deals
- sons→children
- he→there
- the→his
- not→doesn’t
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.