James 2:8 in 8 translations
8 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 fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
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.
Howbeit if ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
If indeed ye keep [the] royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.
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, indeed, royal law ye complete, according to the Writing, `Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,' --ye do 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.
However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
If you keep the royal law which runs – ‘You must love your neighbor as you love yourself,’ you are doing right;
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
If you keep the royal law which runs – “You must love your neighbour as you love yourself,” you are doing right;
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
But if you keep the greatest law of all, as it is given in the holy Writings, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself, you do well:
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.
However, If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well:
Word-for-word swaps
- fulfil→you
- shalt→You
- neighbour→your
- ye→yourself
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.