Philippians 2:26 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.
For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
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.
since he longed after you all, and was sore troubled, because ye had heard that he was sick:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
since he had a longing desire after you all, and was distressed because ye had heard that he was sick;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
seeing he was longing after you all, and in heaviness, because ye heard that he ailed,
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.
since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick.
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.
For he has been longing to see you all, and has been distressed because you heard of his illness.
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.
Because his heart was with you all, and he was greatly troubled because you had news that he was ill:
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.
since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick.
Word-for-word swaps
- For→since
- after→for
- heaviness→very
- ye→you
- been→was
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.