Luke 14:29 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.
Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish all that behold begin to mock him,
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.
Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
in order that, having laid the foundation of it, and not being able to finish it, all who see it do not begin to mock at him,
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
lest that he having laid a foundation, and not being able to finish, all who are beholding may begin to mock him,
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.
Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,
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.
Otherwise, if you have laid the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will laugh at you,
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.
For fear that if he makes a start and is not able to go on with it to the end, all who see it will be laughing at him,
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.
Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish everyone who sees begins to mock him,
Word-for-word swaps
- after→Or
- hath→has
- the→a
- begin→everyone
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.