Luke 14:17 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 sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
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 he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for [all] things are now ready.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And he sent his bondman at the hour of supper to say to those who were invited, Come, for already all things are ready.
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 he sent his servant at the hour of the supper to say to those having been called, Be coming, because now are all things ready.
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.
He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
and sent his servant, when it was time for the dinner, to say to those who had been invited ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
and sent his servant, when it was time for the dinner, to say to those who had been invited “Come, for everything is now ready.”
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 when the time had come, he sent his servants to say to them, Come, for all things are now ready.
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.
He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, Come; for everything is ready. now.’
Word-for-word swaps
- And→He
- that→tell
- bidden→invited
- now→everything
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.