Mark 12:44 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.
For all did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, all her living.
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.
for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, [even] all her living.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
for all have cast in of that which they had in abundance, but she of her destitution has cast in all that she had, the whole of her living.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
for all, out of their abundance, put in, but she, out of her want, all that she had put in--all her living.'
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.
for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
for everyone else put in something from what he had to spare, while she, in her need, put in all she had – everything that she had to live on.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
for everyone else put in something from what he had to spare, while she, in her need, put in all she had – everything that she had to live on.’
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.
Because they all put in something out of what they had no need for; but she out of her need put in all she had, even all her living.
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.
For they all gave out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty, gave all that she had, to live on.”
Word-for-word swaps
- in→gave
- in→poverty
- living→to
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.