John 16:32 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.
Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
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.
Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and [yet] I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Behold, [the] hour is coming, and has come, that ye shall be scattered, each to his own, and shall leave me alone; and [yet] I am not alone, for the Father is with me.
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 now it hath come, that ye may be scattered, each to his own things, and me ye may leave alone, and I am not alone, because the Father is with me;
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.
Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
“Listen! A time is coming – indeed it has already come – when you are to be scattered, each going his own way, and to leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
‘Listen! A time is coming – indeed it has already come – when you are to be scattered, each going his own way, and to leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
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.
See, a time is coming, yes, it is now here, when you will go away in all directions, every man to his house, and I will be by myself: but I am not by myself, because the Father is with me.
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.
Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own, place, and you will leave me alone: yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
Word-for-word swaps
- yea→time
- shall→you
- man→everyone
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.