In Matthew 7: 21-23, Yahshua refers to those people who claim to do His will but, yet, will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He states that He never knew them, even though they have done many wonderful things in His name. At the end of verse 23, He describes who they are. There is a discrepancy among the versions as to the words used to describe them. This essay brings out these words and tries to put the meaning into the proper perspective. One needs to relate back to verse 21 to see what must be done to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The whole of the three verses as stated in the King James Version is given. The main word considered in this version is iniquity. Following this quote is a list of various versions and the word that is used. The actual wording for the whole verse may vary, but it is the one word which is of concern in this comparative analysis. After this list comes a few dictionary definitions of some of these words.
Versions Compared
- AAT – An American Translation (Beck)
- AB – Amplified Bible
- AIV – Inclusive Version
- ANT – The Authentic New Testament
- ASV – American Standard Version
- BNT – Barclay New Testament
- CENT – Common English New Testament
- CEV – Contemporary English Version
- CJB – Complete Jewish Bible
- CLNT – Concordant Literal New Testament
- CNT – Cassirer New Testament
- CTNT – Centenary Translation New Testament
- DHB – Darby Holy Bible
- DRB – Douay-Rheims Bible
- EBR – The Emphasized Bible
- EDW – The Emphatic Diaglott
- EVD – English Version for the Deaf
- GW – God’s Word
- HBME – The Holy Bible in Modern English
- HBRV – Holy Bible, Revised Version
- IB – Interlinear Bible
- IV – Inspired Version
- JWNT – John Wesley New Testament
- KJV – King James Version
- KLNT – Kleist-Lilly New Testament
- KTC – Knox Translation
- LB – Living Bible
- LBP – Lamsa Bible
- MCT – McCord’s New Testament Translation
- MNT – Moffatt New Translation
- MRB – Modern Readers Bible
- MSNT – The Modern Speech New Testament
- NAB – New American Bible
- NAS – New American Standard Version
- NBV – New Berkeley Version
- NCV – New Century Version
- NET – New Evangelical Translation
- NIV – New International Version
- NJB – New Jerusalem Bible
- NKJ – New King James Version
- NLT – New Living Translation
- NLV – New Life Version
- NNT – Noli New Testament
- NRS – New Revised Standard Version
- NSNT – Norlie’s Simplified New Testament
- NWT – New World Translation
- ONT – The Original New Testament
- PRS – Phillips Revised Student Edition
- REB – Revised English Bible
- RNT – Riverside New Testament
- RSV – Revised Standard Version
- SGAT – An American Translation (Smith-Goodspeed)
- SISR – The Scriptures (ISR)
- SNB – Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible
- SSBE – The Sacred Scriptures, Bethel Edition
- SV – The Scholars Version
- TBR – The Bible Reader
- TCNT – The Twentieth Century New Testament
- TJB – The Jerusalem Bible
- TM – The Message
- WAS – Worrell New Testament
- WET – Wuest Expanded Translation
- WNT – Williams New Testament
- WTNT – William Tindale Newe Testament
- YLR – Young’s Literal Translation, Revised Edition
Matthew 7: 21-23
KJV – Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
evil – CEV, GW, LB, NBV, NCV, NET, PRS, REB, TJB
evildoers – AIV, KLNT, NAB, NIV, NJB, NNT, NRS, RSV, TBR
illegal practitioners – ANT, ONT
iniquity – ASV, CENT, CTNT, DRB, EDW, HBRV, IV, JWNT, KJV, LBP, MCT, MNT, MRB, WAS, WTNT
lawbreakers – NSNT
lawless deeds – CNT
lawlessness – CJB, CLNT, EBR, DHB, HBME, IB, NAS, NKJ, NWT, RNT, SISR, SNB, SSBE, TCNT, WET, YLR
sins – BNT
subverters of the Law – SV
unauthorized – NLT
wickedly – AB
wickedness – MSNT
wrong – AAT, EVD, NLV, SGAT, WNT
wrong-doing – KTC
you’re out of here – TM
Dictionary Definitions
These definitions of words have been taken from Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of the English Language, International Edition.
- Evil:
- morally bad; contrary to divine or righteous law; wrong or wicked; sinful or depraved.
- Illegal:
- contrary to the law; not legal.
- Iniquity:
- deviation from right; wickedness; gross injustice; a wrongful act; unjust thing or deed.
- Lawless:
- not subject or obedient to law of any sort; unruly; disobedient; without the sanction or authority of law.
- Sin:
- a lack of conformity to, or a transgression, especially when deliberate, of a law, precept, or principle regarded as having divine authority; the state or condition of having thus transgressed; wickedness.
- Subverter:
- one who overthrows from the very foundation; one who corrupts; one who undermines the morals or character of.
- Unauthorized:
- not endowed with authority; not formally or legally sanctioned.
- Wicked:
- evil in principle and practice; vicious; sinful; depraved.
- Wrong:
- deviating from moral rectitude as prescribed by civil or divine law or by conscience.
