Romans 6:3 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.
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
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.
Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Are you ignorant that we, as many as have been baptised unto Christ Jesus, have been baptised unto his death?
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
are ye ignorant that we, as many as were baptized to Christ Jesus, to his death were baptized?
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.
Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
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.
Or can it be that you do not know that all of us, who were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, in our baptism shared his death?
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.
Or are you without the knowledge that all we who had baptism into Christ Jesus, had baptism into his death?
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.
Or don’t you Know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Word-for-word swaps
- as→all
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.