Philemon 1:14 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.
But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.
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 without thy mind I would do nothing; that thy goodness should not be as of necessity, but of free will.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
but I have wished to do nothing without thy mind, that thy good might not be as of necessity but of willingness:
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 apart from thy mind I willed to do nothing, that as of necessity thy good deed may not be, but of willingness,
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 I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will.
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.
But I do not wish to do anything without your consent, because I want your generosity to be voluntary and not, as it were, compulsory.
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.
But without your approval I would do nothing; so that your good works might not be forced, but done freely from your heart.
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 I was willing to do nothing; without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will.
Word-for-word swaps
- should→your
- willingly→of
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.