John 3:19 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.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
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.
And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And this is the judgment, that light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light; for their works were evil.
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 this is the judgment, that the light hath come to the world, and men did love the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil;
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.
This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
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.
The ground of their condemnation is this, that though the light has come into the world, people preferred the darkness to the light, because their actions were wicked.
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.
And this is the test by which men are judged: the light has come into the world and men have more love for the dark than for the light, because their acts are evil.
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.
this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil.
Word-for-word swaps
- condemnation→judgment
- is→has
- because→for
- deeds→works
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.