Romans 11:30 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 as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
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.
For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For as indeed *ye* [also] once have not believed in God, but now have been objects of mercy through the unbelief of *these*;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
for as ye also once did not believe in God, and now did find kindness by the unbelief of these:
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.
For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
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.
Just as you at one time were disobedient to him, but have now found mercy in the day of their disobedience;
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.
For as you, in time past, were not under the rule of God, but now have got mercy through their turning away,
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.
For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
Word-for-word swaps
- ye→you
- times→time
- believed→were
- have→but
- through→by
- unbelief→disobedience
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.