Mark 4:16 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.
And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
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 these in like manner are they that are sown upon the rocky [places], who, when they have heard the word, straightway receive it with joy;
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And these are they in like manner who are sown upon the rocky places, who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy,
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 these are they, in like manner, who on the rocky ground are sown: who, whenever they may hear the word, immediately with joy do receive it,
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.
These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.
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, too, those meant by the seed sown on the rocky places are the people who, when they have heard the message, at once accept it joyfully;
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.
And in the same way, these are they who are planted on the stones, who, when the word has come to their ears, straight away take it with joy;
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.
these in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.
Word-for-word swaps
- which→those
- ground→the
- gladness→joy
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.