Mark 14:38 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.
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly ready, but the flesh weak.
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.
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh weak.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Watch ye and pray, that ye may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is forward, but the flesh weak.'
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.
Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Watch and pray,” he said to them all, “so that you may not fall into temptation. True, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Watch and pray,’ he said to them all, ‘so that you may not fall into temptation. True, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’
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.
Keep watch with prayer, so that you may not be put to the test; the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is feeble.
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.
Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Word-for-word swaps
- ye→that
- ready→indeed
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.