Luke 12:8 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.
Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
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 I say unto you, Every one who shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But I say to you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, the Son of man will confess him also before the angels of God;
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 I say to you, Every one--whoever may confess with me before men, the Son of Man also shall confess with him before the messengers of God,
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 tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God;
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.
Everyone, I tell you, who publicly acknowledges me, the Son of Man, also, will acknowledge before God’s angels;
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 I say to you that to everyone who gives witness to me before men, the Son of man will give witness before the angels of God.
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 tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, him will the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
Word-for-word swaps
- unto→tell
- confess→everyone
- shall→will
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.