Hebrews 13:2 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.
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
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.
Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Be not forgetful of hospitality; for by it some have unawares entertained angels.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
of the hospitality be not forgetful, for through this unawares certain did entertain messengers;
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.
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
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.
Do not neglect to show hospitality; for, through being hospitable, people have all unawares entertained angels.
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.
Take care to keep open house: because in this way some have had angels as their guests, without being conscious of it.
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.
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers: for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Word-for-word swaps
- forgetful→Don’t
- entertain→show
- thereby→in
- unawares→without
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.