Philippians 2:3 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.
nothing through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
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.
[doing] nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself;
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
[let] nothing [be] in the spirit of strife or vain glory, but, in lowliness of mind, each esteeming the other as more excellent than themselves;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
nothing in rivalry or vain-glory, but in humility of mind one another counting more excellent than yourselves--
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.
doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;
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.
Nothing should be done out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility lift others up above yourselves,
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.
Doing nothing through envy or through pride, but with low thoughts of self let everyone take others to be better than himself;
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.
doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;
Word-for-word swaps
- strife→rivalry
- vainglory→through
- let→humility
- other→counting
- themselves→himself
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.