Luke 2:1 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.
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
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.
Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census should be made of all the habitable world.
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 it came to pass in those days, there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world be enrolled--
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.
Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.
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.
About that time an edict was issued by the Emperor Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole Empire.
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.
Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world.
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.
Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled.
Word-for-word swaps
- pass→Now
- taxed→enrolled
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.