Luke 19:31 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.
And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of 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.
And if any one ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say, The Lord hath need of him.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And if any one ask you, Why do ye loose [it]? thus shall ye say to him, Because the Lord has need of it.
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 if any one doth question you, Wherefore do ye loose it? thus ye shall say to him--The Lord hath need of 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.
If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say to him: ‘The Lord needs 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.
And, if anybody asks you ‘Why are you untying it?’, you are to say this – ‘The Master wants it.’”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
And, if anybody asks you “Why are you untying it?”, you are to say this – “The Master wants it.”’
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 if anyone says to you, Why are you taking him? say, The Lord has need of 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.
if anyone asks you, Why are you untying it?’ say to him, the Lord needs it.’”
Word-for-word swaps
- ask→anyone
- ye→are
- unto→to
- him→needs
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.