Romans 3:22 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.
Even the righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
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.
even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction;
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ towards all, and upon all those who believe: for there is no difference;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
and the righteousness of God is through the faith of Jesus Christ to all, and upon all those believing, --for there is no difference,
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.
even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction,
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.
the divine righteousness which is bestowed, through faith in Jesus Christ, on all, without distinction, who believe in him.
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.
That is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all those who have faith; and one man is not different from another,
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.
Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe: for there is no distinction,
Word-for-word swaps
- by→through
- of→in
- unto→to
- upon→on
- that→those
- difference→distinction
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.