John 16:18 in 8 translations
8 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.
They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.
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.
They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? We know not what he saith.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
They said therefore, What is this which he says [of] the little while? We do not know [of] what he speaks.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
they said then, `What is this he saith--the little while? we have not known what he saith.'
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.
They said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what he is saying.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
What does he mean by ‘In a little while’?” they said. “We do not know what he is speaking about.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
What does he mean by “In a little while”?’ they said. ‘We do not know what he is speaking about.’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
So they said again and again, What is this he is saying, A little time? His words are not clear to us.
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.
They said therefore, What is this that he says, A little while’? we don’t know what he is saying.”
Word-for-word swaps
- saith→says
- while→while’
- tell→don’t
- saith→is
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.