James 3:14 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.
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
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.
But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
but if ye have bitter emulation and strife in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
and if bitter zeal ye have, and rivalry in your heart, glory not, nor lie against the truth;
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.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
But if you harbor bitter envy and a spirit of rivalry in your hearts, do not boast or deny the truth.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
But if you harbour bitter envy and a spirit of rivalry in your hearts, do not boast or deny the truth.
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 have bitter envy in your heart and the desire to get the better of others, have no pride in this, talking falsely against what is true.
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.
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.
Word-for-word swaps
- ye→you
- envying→jealousy
- strife→selfish
- not→heart
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.