Romans 4:20 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.
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to 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.
yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
and hesitated not at the promise of God through unbelief; but found strength in faith, giving glory to 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.
and at the promise of God did not stagger in unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, having given glory to 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.
Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to 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.
He was not led by want of faith to doubt God’s promise.
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.
Still, he did not give up faith in the undertaking of God, but was made strong by faith, giving glory to God,
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.
Yet, looking to the promise of God he didn’t waver through unbelief; but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God;
Word-for-word swaps
- at→Yet
- was→grew
- in→through
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.