Philippians 1:28 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 in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that 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.
and in nothing affrighted by the adversaries: which is for them an evident token of perdition, but of your salvation, and that from God;
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
and not frightened in anything by the opposers, which is to them a demonstration of destruction, but of your salvation, and that from 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.
and not terrified in anything by those opposing, which to them indeed is a token of destruction, and to you of salvation, and that from 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.
and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from 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.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
without ever shrinking from your opponents. To them this will be a sign of their destruction and of your salvation – a sign from God.
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.
Having no fear of those who are against you; which is a clear sign of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from 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.
And in nothing frightened by the adversaries: which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
Word-for-word swaps
- terrified→frightened
- your→the
- to→for
- token→a
- perdition→destruction
- of→from
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.