Archaic KJV Word
Conversation Walk
Modern equivalent: way of life
What Was Lost
The public, witnessed dimension of sin. Having our conversation in lusts meant our entire manner of life -- observed by the community -- was characterized by fleshly desires. It was not private sin but public lifestyle. The word indicted not just actions but the total visible pattern of a life lived in opposition to God.
Closest Survivor in Modern English
comportment
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV Ephesians 2:3 -- 'Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh'
Died ~1750
Another instance of conversation-as-conduct. Paul is not describing past dialogues about lust but past lives lived in lust. The full behavioral meaning of conversation makes this entire verse about lifestyle, not speech.
What Replaced It
“lived”
Past tense and flat; conversation-as-living implied ongoing, public, witnessed behavior
“conducted ourselves”
Reflexive and formal; conversation was natural and communal
“behaved”
External only; conversation encompassed internal disposition expressed through external conduct