Revelation 3:2 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.
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before 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.
Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of thine perfected before my God.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, which are about to die, for I have not found thy works complete before my 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.
become watching, and strengthen the rest of the things that are about to die, for I have not found thy works fulfilled before 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.
Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my 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.
Be on the watch, and strengthen what still survives, though once it was all but dead; for I have not found your life perfect in the eyes of my 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.
Be on the watch, and make strong the rest of the things which are near to death; because as judged by me your works have not come up to God's measure.
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.
Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God.
Word-for-word swaps
- watchful→Wake
- strengthen→keep
- ready→remain
- die→throw
- thy→no
- perfect→of
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.