James 3:9 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.
Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
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.
Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Therewith bless we the Lord and Father, and therewith curse we men made after [the] likeness of God.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
with it we do bless the God and Father, and with it we do curse the men made according to the similitude of God;
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.
With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made ‘in God’s likeness.’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made “in God’s likeness.”
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.
With it we give praise to our Lord and Father; and with it we put a curse on men who are made in God's image.
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.
With it we bless our God, and Father; and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God.
Word-for-word swaps
- bless→With
- the→and
- curse→with
- which→who
- after→in
- similitude→image
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.