Luke 7:6 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.
Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
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 Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And Jesus went with them. But already, when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent to him friends, saying to him, Lord, do not trouble thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.
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 Jesus was going on with them, and now when he is not far distant from the house the centurion sent unto him friends, saying to him, `Sir, be not troubled, for I am not worthy that under my roof thou mayest enter;
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.
Jesus went with them. When he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
So Jesus went with them. But, when he was no great distance from the house, the captain sent some friends with the message – “Do not trouble yourself, Sir; for I am unworthy to receive you under my roof.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
So Jesus went with them. But, when he was no great distance from the house, the captain sent some friends with the message – ‘Do not trouble yourself, Sir; for I am unworthy to receive you under my roof.
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 Jesus went with them. And when he was not far from the house, the man sent friends to him, saying, Lord, do not give yourself trouble: for I am not important enough for you to come into my house:
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.
Jesus went with them. when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof:
Word-for-word swaps
- unto→to
- thyself→yourself
- enter→for
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.