Luke 12:42 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 the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom lord shall make ruler over his household, to give portion of meat in due season?
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 the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall set over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give the measure of corn in season?
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 the Lord said, `Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the lord shall set over his household, to give in season the wheat measure?
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.
The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times?
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
“Who, then,” replied the Master, “is that trustworthy steward, the careful man, who will be placed by his master over his establishment, to give them their rations at the proper time?
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
‘Who, then,’ replied the Master, ‘is that trustworthy steward, the careful man, who will be placed by his master over his establishment, to give them their rations at the proper time?
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 the Lord said, Who then is the wise and responsible servant whom his lord will put in control of his family, to give them their food at the right time?
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.
the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times?
Word-for-word swaps
- that→the
- ruler→will
- season→food
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.