Luke 10:7 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.
And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
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 in that same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And in the same house abide, eating and drinking such things as they have; for the workman is worthy of his hire. Remove not from house to house.
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 in that house remain, eating and drinking the things they have, for worthy is the workman of his hire; go not from house to house,
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.
Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house.
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.
Remain at that same house, and eat and drink whatever they offer you; for the worker is worth their wages. Do not keep changing from one house to another.
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.
And keep in that same house, taking what food and drink they give you: for the worker has a right to his reward. Do not go from house to 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.
Remain in that same house eating and drinking the things they give: for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t Go from house to house.
Word-for-word swaps
- And→Remain
- the→that
- such→the
- labourer→laborer
- hire→wages
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.