Luke 13:24 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.
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
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.
Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Strive with earnestness to enter in through the narrow door, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and will not be able.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`Be striving to go in through the straight gate, because many, I say to you, will seek to go in, and shall not be able;
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.
“Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
“Strive to go in by the small door. Many, I tell you, will seek to go in, but they will not be able,
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
‘Strive to go in by the small door. Many, I tell you, will seek to go in, but they will not be able,
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.
Do your best to go in by the narrow door, for I say to you, A number will make the attempt to go in, but will not be able to do so.
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.
Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able.
Word-for-word swaps
- at→by
- gate→narrow
- unto→tell
- 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.