Luke 8:23 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.
But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled and were in jeopardy.
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.
But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filling [with water], and were in jeopardy.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And as they sailed, he fell asleep; and a sudden squall of wind came down on the lake, and they were filled [with water], and were in danger;
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 as they are sailing he fell deeply asleep, and there came down a storm of wind to the lake, and they were filling, and were in peril.
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.
But as they sailed, he fell asleep. A wind storm came down on the lake, and they were taking on dangerous amounts of water.
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.
So they put off. While they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. A squall swept down on the lake, and their boat was filling and they were in danger.
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.
But while they were sailing he went to sleep: and a storm of wind came down on the sea, and the boat became full of water and they were in danger.
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.
But as they sailed he fell asleep: a wind storm came down on the lake; and they were taking on dangerous amounts of water.
Word-for-word swaps
- jeopardy→taking
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.