John 2:16 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.
And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
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 to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father`s house a house of merchandise.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
and said to the sellers of doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.
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 to those selling the doves he said, `Take these things hence; make not the house of my Father a house of merchandise.'
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.
To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
and said to the pigeon-dealers, “Take these things away. Do not turn my Father’s house into a market house.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
and said to the pigeon-dealers, ‘Take these things away. Do not turn my Father’s house into a market house.’
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.
And to those who were trading in doves he said, Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a market.
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.
To those who sold the doves, he said, Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
Word-for-word swaps
- that→To
- hence→out
- merchandise→a
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.