Luke 16:2 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 he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
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 called him, and said unto him, What is this that I hear of thee? render the account of thy stewardship; for thou canst be no longer steward.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And having called him, he said to him, What [is] this that I hear of thee? give the reckoning of thy stewardship, for thou canst be no longer steward.
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 having called him, he said to him, What is this I hear about thee? render the account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest not any longer be steward.
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 called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
So the master called him and said ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give in your accounts, for you cannot act as steward any longer.’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
So the master called him and said “What is this that I hear about you? Give in your accounts, for you cannot act as steward any longer.”
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 he sent for him and said, What is this which is said about you? give me an account of all you have done, for you will no longer be the manager of my property.
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 called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
Word-for-word swaps
- unto→to
- How→What
- it→this
- thee→about
- account→accounting
- stewardship→your
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.