Deuteronomy 22:3 in 6 translations
6 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.
In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost things of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.
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.
And so shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his garment; and so shalt thou do with every lost thing of thy brother`s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found: thou mayest not hide thyself.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And so shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his clothing; and so shalt thou do with everything that is lost of thy brother, which he loseth, and thou findest: thou mayest not hide thyself.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
and so thou dost to his ass, and so thou dost to his garment, and so thou dost to any lost thing of thy brother's, which is lost by him, and thou hast found it; thou art not able to hide thyself.
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.
So you shall do with his donkey. So you shall do with his garment. So you shall do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost, and you have found. You may not hide yourself.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
Do the same with his ass or his robe or anything which has gone from your brother's keeping and which you have come across: do not keep it to yourself.
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.
So you shall do with his donkey. so you shall do with his garment. So you shall do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost, and you have found, You may not hide yourself.
Word-for-word swaps
- thou→So
- and→donkey
- thou→you
- and→garment
- all→every
- things→thing
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.
Not shown for this verse: Open English Bible (US), Open English Bible (Commonwealth). Those translations are still incomplete in the corpus, and empty cards are not padded in.