John 8:38 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.
I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
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.
I speak the things which I have seen with [my] Father: and ye also do the things which ye heard from [your] father.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
I speak what I have seen with my Father, and ye then do what ye have seen with your father.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
I--that which I have seen with my Father do speak, and ye, therefore, that which ye have seen with your father--ye do.'
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.
I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
I tell you what I have myself seen in the presence of my Father; and you, in the same way, do what you have learned from your father.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
I tell you what I have myself seen in the presence of my Father; and you, in the same way, do what you have learned from your father.’
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.
I say the things which I have seen in my Father's house: and you do the things which come to you from your father's house.
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.
I say the things which I have seen with my Father: and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.
Word-for-word swaps
- that→say
- ye→you
- that→the
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.