Luke 24:49 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, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
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 behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but do ye remain in the city till ye be clothed with power from on high.
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, lo, I do send the promise of my Father upon you, but ye--abide ye in the city of Jerusalem till ye be clothed with power from on high.'
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.
Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”
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 now I am myself about to send you that which my Father has promised. But you must remain in the city until you have been invested with power from above.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
And now I am myself about to send you that which my Father has promised. But you must remain in the city until you have been invested with power from above.’
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 now I will send to you what my father has undertaken to give you, but do not go from the town, till the power from heaven comes to you.
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.
behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you: but wait in the city of Jerusalem, until you are clothed with power from on high.
Word-for-word swaps
- upon→on
- ye→wait
- endued→you
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.