Luke 12:28 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.
If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more you, O ye of little faith?
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.
But if God doth so clothe the grass in the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more [shall he clothe] you, O ye of little faith?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But if God thus clothe the grass, which to-day is in the field and to-morrow is cast into [the] oven, how much rather you, O ye of little faith?
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 if the herbage in the field, that to-day is, and to-morrow into an oven is cast, God doth so clothe, how much more you--ye of little faith?
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.
But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?
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.
If, even in the field, God so clothes the grass which is living today and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith!
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.
But if God gives such clothing to the grass in the field, which today is living, and tomorrow will be burned in the oven, how much more will he give clothing to you, O men of little faith?
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.
But If this is how God clothes the grass, in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?
Word-for-word swaps
- then→this
- clothe→clothes
- morrow→tomorrow
- ye→you
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.