Luke 19:23 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.
Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
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 wherefore gavest thou not my money into the bank, and I at my coming should have required it with interest?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And why didst thou not give my money to [the] bank; and *I* should have received it, at my coming, with interest?
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 wherefore didst thou not give my money to the bank, and I, having come, with interest might have received it?
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 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’
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.
Then why didn’t you put my money into a bank? And I, on my return, could have claimed it with interest.
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.
Why then did you not put my money in a bank, so that when I came I would get it back with interest?
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 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have earned interest on it?’
Word-for-word swaps
- thou→why
- into→in
- that→and
- usury→earned
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.