Mark 4:22 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.
For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.
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 there is nothing hid, save that it should be manifested; neither was [anything] made secret, but that it should come to light.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest; nor does any secret thing take place, but that it should come to light.
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 there is not anything hid that may not be manifested, nor was anything kept hid but that it may come to light.
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 there is nothing hidden, except that it should be made known; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light.
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.
There is nothing hidden that will not come to light and nothing is concealed that will not be brought into the open.
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.
There is nothing covered which will not be seen openly, and nothing has been made secret which will not come to light.
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 there is nothing hidden, except that it should be made known; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light.
Word-for-word swaps
- not→hidden
- manifested→made
- kept→anything
- abroad→to
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.