Luke 19:7 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 when they saw they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
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 when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, He is gone in to lodge with a man that is a sinner.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And all murmured when they saw [it], saying, He has turned in to lodge with a sinful man.
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 seen it, they were all murmuring, saying--`With a sinful man he went in to lodge!'
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.
When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
On seeing this, everyone began to complain, “He has gone to stay with a man who is an outcast.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
On seeing this, everyone began to complain, ‘He has gone to stay with a man who is an outcast.’
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 they saw it, they were all angry, saying, He has gone into the house of a sinner.
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.
when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, he has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.
Word-for-word swaps
- was→has
- guest→lodge
- that→who
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.