Romans 7:5 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 when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto 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.
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For when we were in the flesh the passions of sins, which [were] by the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit to 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.
for when we were in the flesh, the passions of the sins, that are through the law, were working in our members, to bear fruit to the death;
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 when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, worked in our members to bring out fruit to 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.
When we were living merely earthly lives, our sinful passions, aroused by the Law, were active in every part of our bodies, with the result that our lives bore fruit for 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.
For when we were in the flesh, the evil passions which came into being through the law were working in our bodies to give the fruit of 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.
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, worked in our members to bring out fruit to death.
Word-for-word swaps
- sins→sinful
- by→through
- work→worked
- forth→out
- unto→to
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.