MY BIBLE INTERPRETATION

Translations of Galatians 5:19-21

I looked at a variety of different English translations of Galatians 5:19-21x. The first one comes from an interlinear Bible with a word-for-word translation directly from the original Greek, and I consider it to be the most reliable English translation.
clearly revealed now are the works of the flesh which are adultery fornication uncleanness lustfulness idol service sorcery enmities fightings jealousies angers rivalries divisions heresies envyings murders drunkenness revellings and like things to these Galatians 5:19-21x
IB
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Galatians 5:19-21x
NIV
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like... Galatians 5:19-21x
KJV
The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: being sexually unfaithful, not being pure, taking part in sexual sins, worshiping gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, feeling envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like these... Galatians 5:19-21x
CEV
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these... Galatians 5:19-21x
NASB
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; Galatians 5:19-21x
NKJV
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Galatians 5:19-21x
NLT
The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: being sexually unfaithful, not being pure, taking part in sexual sins, worshiping gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, feeling envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like these. Galatians 5:19-21x
NCV
What the sinful nature does is clear. It enjoys sexual sins, impure acts and wild living. It worships statues of gods. It also worships evil powers. It is full of hatred and fighting. It is full of jealousy and fits of anger. It is interested only in getting ahead. It stirs up trouble. It separates people into their own little groups. It wants what others have. It gets drunk and takes part in wild parties. It does many things of that kind.... Galatians 5:19-21x
NIRV
Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. Galatians 5:19-21x
AMP
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. Galatians 5:19-21x
MSG

Let's compare them. Here is my best attempt to align these translations.
IB NIV KJV CEV NASB NKJV NLT NCV NIRV AMP MSG
adultery
sexual immorality
debauch- ery
adultery
being sexually unfaithful
taking part in sexual sins
immor- ality
adultery
sexual immorality
being sexually unfaithful
taking part in sexual sins
It enjoys sexual sins.
immor- ality
fornication
fornication
fornication
lustfulness
lasciviousness
sensuality
lewdness
lustful pleasures
repetitive, loveless, cheap sex
a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage
uncleanness
impurity
uncleanness
not being pure
impurity
uncleanness
impurity
not being pure
It enjoys impure acts.
impurity
indecency
frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness
idol service
idolatry
idolatry
worshiping gods
idolatry
idolatry
idolatry
worshiping gods
It worships statues of gods.
idolatry
trinket gods
It worships evil powers.
sorcery
witchcraft
witchcraft
doing witchcraft
sorcery
sorcery
sorcery
doing witchcraft
sorcery
magic-show religion
paranoid loneliness
enmities
hatred
hatred
hating
enmities
hatred
hostility
hating
It is full of hatred.
enmity
an impotence to love or be loved
jealousies
jealousy
emulations
being jealous
jealousy
jealousies
jealousy
being jealous
It is full of jealousy.
jealousy
angers
fits of rage
wrath
being angry
outbursts of anger
oubursts of wrath
outbursts of anger
being angry
It is full of fits of anger.
anger (ill temper)
a brutal temper
selfish ambition
being selfish
selfish ambitions
selfish ambition
being selfish
It is only interested in getting ahead.
selfishness
fightings
discord
dissen- sions
strife
seditions
making trouble
dis- putes
strife
dissen- sions
conten- tions
dissen- sions
quarrel- ing
dissen- sion
making trouble
It is full of fighting.
It stirs up trou- ble.
strife
cut-throat competition
divisions
rivalries
variance
causing divisions among people
division
causing divisions among people
It separates people into their own little groups.
divisions (dissen- sions)
divided homes and divided lives
the vicious habit of deperson- alizing everyone into a rival
heresies
factions
heresies
factions
heresies
party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies)
making people angry with each other
making people angry with each other
envyings
envy
envyings
feeling envy
envying
envy
envy
feeling envy
It wants what others have.
envy
all-consuming-yet-never- satisfied wants
murders
murders
murders
small-minded and lopsided pursuits
uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions
drunkenness
drunkenness
drunkenness
being drunk
drunkenness
carousing
drunkenness
drunkenness
being drunk
It gets drunk.
drunken- ness
carousing
revellings
revellings
having wild and wasteful parties
revelries
wild parties
having wild and wasteful parties
It takes part in wild parties.
orgies
It enjoys wild living.
ugly parodies of community
The chaotic nature of this chart shows how badly the translations disagree. (If they were identical, there would be no blank cells, all of the cells would be exactly the same size, and in each row, all of the cells would have the same words.) In some cases, the agreement is better than in others; the best is probably drunkenness/being drunk/It gets drunk. However, even when I decided to align cells, the similarity between them is questionable; the worst is probably my decision to align envy with all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants. And it's shocking how many translators decided to remove murders from the list.
My conclusion based on this analysis as well as a number of other questionable translations can be found here.



References
AMP Amplified Bible. 1987. The Lockman Foundation. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Amplified-Bible-AMP/
CEV Contemporary English Version. 1995. American Bible Society. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Contemporary-English-Version-CEV-Bible/
IB The Interlinear Bible. 1998. International Bible Society.
KJV Holy Bible: King James Version. 2002. Barbour Publishing. Uhrichsville, Ohio. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/King-James-Version-KJV-Bible/
MSG The Message. 2002. NavPress Publishing Group. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Message-MSG-Bible/
NASB New American Standard Bible. 1995. The Lockman Foundation. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-American-Standard-Bible-NASB/
NCV New Century Version. 2005. Thomas Nelson, Inc. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-Century-Version-NCV-Bible/
NIRV New International Reader's Version. 1998. International Bible Society. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Readers-Version-NIRV-Bible/
NIV New International Version. 1984. International Bible Society. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/
NKJV New King James Version. 1982. Thomas Nelson, Inc. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-King-James-Version-NKJV-Bible/
NLT New Living Translation. 2004. Tyndale Charitable Trust. https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-Living-Translation-NLT-Bible/

Notes
x The quote includes the beginning of the verse but does not continue to the end of that verse.

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