John 5:28 in 8 translations
7 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.
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
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.
Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Wonder not at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs shall hear his voice,
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`Wonder not at this, because there doth come an hour in which all those in the tombs shall hear his voice,
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.
Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice,
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
Do not wonder at this; for the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
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 not be surprised at this: for the time is coming when his voice will come to all who are in the place of the dead,
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.
Don’t Marvel at this: for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice,
Word-for-word swaps
- coming→comes
- shall→tombs
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.