Translations of Galatians 5:19-21

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
						worshiping gods										worshiping 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		dissen- sions	variance		causing divisions among people				dissen- sions		conten- tions	dissen- sions	division	dissen- sion	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	cut-throat competition
divisions	heresies	factions		variance	heresies	causing divisions among people		factions				heresies		division		causing divisions among people		It separates people into their own little groups.		divisions (dissen- sions)	party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies)		divided homes and divided lives
						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				carousing		revelries		wild parties		having wild and wasteful parties		It takes part in wild parties.			carousing
		orgies				having wild and wasteful parties								wild parties		having wild and wasteful parties		It takes part in wild parties.
																		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 the verse.

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