Mark 1:27 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 they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.
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 they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? a new teaching! with authority he commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And all were amazed, so that they questioned together among themselves, saying, What is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.
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 they were all amazed, so as to reason among themselves, saying, `What is this? what new teaching is this? that with authority also the unclean spirits he commandeth, and they obey him!'
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.
They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
They were all so amazed that they kept asking each other, “What is this? What is this, a new kind of teaching? He gives his commands with authority even to the foul spirits, and they obey him!”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
They were all so amazed that they kept asking each other, ‘What is this? What is this, a new kind of teaching? He gives his commands with authority even to the foul spirits, and they obey him!’
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 they were all greatly surprised, so that they put questions to one another, saying, What is this? a new teaching! with authority he gives orders even to the unclean spirits, and they do what he says.
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.
they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? A new teaching? for with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.
Word-for-word swaps
- insomuch→so
- what→A
- this→teaching
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.