John 5:43 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.
I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
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.
I am come in my Father`s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if another come in his own name, him ye will receive.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`I have come in the name of my Father, and ye do not receive me; if another may come in his own name, him ye will receive;
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.
I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
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.
I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
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.
I have come in my Father's name, and your hearts are not open to me. If another comes with no other authority but himself, you will give him your approval.
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.
I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me if another comes in his own name, you will receive. him.
Word-for-word swaps
- am→have
- ye→you
- come→comes
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.