Mark 5:42 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 straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
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 straightway the damsel rose up, and walked; for she was twelve years old. And they were amazed straightway with a great amazement.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And immediately the damsel arose and walked, for she was twelve years old. And they were astonished with great astonishment.
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 immediately the damsel arose, and was walking, for she was twelve years old; and they were amazed with a great amazement,
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.
Immediately the girl rose up and walked, for she was twelve years old. They were amazed with great amazement.
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.
The little girl stood up at once, and began to walk about; for she was twelve years old. And, as soon as they saw it, they were overwhelmed with amazement;
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 the young girl got up straight away, and was walking about; she being twelve years old. And they were overcome with wonder.
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.
Immediately the girl rose up and walked; for she was twelve years. old. they were amazed with great amazement.
Word-for-word swaps
- straightway→Immediately
- arose→girl
- And→old
- astonished→amazed
- astonishment→amazement
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.