John 5:44 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.
How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that from God only?
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.
How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and the glory that [cometh] from the only God ye seek not?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and seek not the glory which [comes] from God alone?
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
how are ye able--ye--to believe, glory from one another receiving, and the glory that is from God alone ye seek not?
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.
How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only 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.
How can you believe in me, when you receive honor from one another and do not desire the honor which comes from the only God?
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
How can you believe in me, when you receive honour from one another and do not desire the honour which comes from the only God?
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.
How is it possible for you to have faith while you take honour one from another and have no desire for the honour which comes from the only God?
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.
How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only? God?
Word-for-word swaps
- ye→you
- which→who
- honour→glory
- God→the
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.