Luke 13:31 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.
The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
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.
In that very hour there came certain Pharisees, saying to him, Get thee out, and go hence: for Herod would fain kill thee.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
The same hour certain Pharisees came up, saying to him, Get out, and go hence, for Herod is desirous to kill thee.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
On that day there came near certain Pharisees, saying to him, `Go forth, and be going on hence, for Herod doth wish to kill thee;'
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.
On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Just then some Pharisees came up to Jesus and said, “Go away and leave this place, for Herod wants to kill you.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Just then some Pharisees came up to Jesus and said, ‘Go away and leave this place, for Herod wants to kill you.’
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.
At that time, certain Pharisees came to him and said, Go away from this place, because Herod's purpose is to put you to death.
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.
On that same day some Pharisees, came, saying to him, Get out, of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.”
Word-for-word swaps
- The→On
- the→some
- unto→to
- hence→go
- will→wants
- thee→you
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.