Luke 13:26 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.
Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
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.
then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets;
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten in thy presence and drunk, and thou hast taught in our streets;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
then ye may begin to say, We did eat before thee, and did drink, and in our broad places thou didst teach;
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.
Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Then you will begin to say ‘We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets,’ and his reply will be –
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Then you will begin to say “We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets,” and his reply will be –
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.
Then you will say, We have taken food and drink with you, and you were teaching in our streets.
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.
Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
Word-for-word swaps
- ye→you
- eaten→ate
- drunk→drank
- thy→your
- hast→you
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.