Hebrews 2:1 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.
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let slip.
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.
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away [from them].
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For this reason we should give heed more abundantly to the things [we have] heard, lest in any way we should slip away.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Because of this it behoveth us more abundantly to take heed to the things heard, lest we may glide aside,
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.
Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away.
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.
Therefore we must give still more heed to what we were taught, so we do not drift away.
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.
For this reason there is the more need for us to give attention to the things which have come to our ears, for fear that by chance we might be slipping away.
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.
Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away.
Word-for-word swaps
- heed→pay
- have→that
- time→perhaps
- slip→drift
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.