Romans 14:22 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.
Hast thou faith? have to thyself before God. Happy he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
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.
The faith which thou hast, have thou to thyself before God. Happy is he that judgeth not himself in that which he approveth.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Hast *thou* faith? have [it] to thyself before God. Blessed [is] he who does not judge himself in what he allows.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Thou hast faith! to thyself have it before God; happy is he who is not judging himself in what he doth approve,
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.
Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who doesn’t judge himself in that which he approves.
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.
As for yourself – keep this conviction of yours to yourself, as in the presence of God. Happy the person who never has to condemn themselves in regard to something they think right!
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.
The faith which you have, have it to yourself before God. Happy is the man who is not judged by that to which he gives approval.
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.
Do you have faith? have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who doesn’t judge himself in that which he approves.
Word-for-word swaps
- thou→Do
- thyself→yourself
- not→who
- alloweth→approves
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.