Luke 5:1 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 it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
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, while the multitude pressed upon him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And it came to pass, as the crowd pressed on him to hear the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret:
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 the multitude pressing on him to hear the word of God, that he was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret,
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 while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Once, when the people were pressing around Jesus as they listened to God’s message, he happened to be standing by the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats close to the shore.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Once, when the people were pressing round Jesus as they listened to God’s message, he happened to be standing by the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats close to the shore.
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.
Now it came about that while the people came pushing to be near him, and to have knowledge of the word of God, he was by a wide stretch of water named Gennesaret;
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 while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,
Word-for-word swaps
- as→Now
- people→multitude
- upon→on
- hear→and
- stood→was
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.