Hebrews 4:1 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.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
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.
Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you might seem to have failed [of it].
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
We may fear, then, lest a promise being left of entering into His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short,
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.
Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.
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.
We must, therefore, be very careful, though there is a promise still standing that we will enter upon God’s rest, that none of you even appear to have missed it.
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.
Let us then, though we still have God's word that we may come into his rest, go in fear that some of you may be unable to do so.
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.
Let us fear, therefore, lest, perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.
Word-for-word swaps
- any→perhaps
- it→a
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.