Romans 8:24 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 we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
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 in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For we have been saved in hope; but hope seen is not hope; for what any one sees, why does he also hope?
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 in hope we were saved, and hope beheld is not hope; for what any one doth behold, why also doth he hope for it?
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 we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
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.
By our hope we were saved. But the thing hoped for is no longer an object of hope when it is before our eyes; for who hopes for what is before his eyes?
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 our salvation is by hope: but hope which is seen is not hope: for who is hoping for what he sees?
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 we were saved in hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopes for? that which he sees?
Word-for-word swaps
- are→were
- by→in
- hope→who
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.