Hebrews 13:18 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.
Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.
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.
Pray for us: for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Pray for us: for we persuade ourselves that we have a good conscience, in all things desirous to walk rightly.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Pray for us, for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things willing to behave well,
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.
Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.
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.
Pray for us, for we are sure that our consciences are clear, since our wish is to be occupied with what is good.
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.
Make prayers for us, for we are certain that our hearts are free from the sense of sin, desiring the right way of life in all things.
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.
Pray for us: for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things
Word-for-word swaps
- trust→are
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.