Mark 7:19 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.
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
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.
because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? [This he said], making all meats clean.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
because it does not enter into his heart but into his belly, and goes out into the draught, purging all meats?
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
because it doth not enter into his heart, but into the belly, and into the drain it doth go out, purifying all the meats.'
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.
because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, thus purifying all foods?”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
because it does not pass into his heart, but into his stomach, and is afterward got rid of?” – in saying this Jesus pronounced all food clean.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
because it does not pass into his heart, but into his stomach, and is afterwards got rid of?’ – in saying this Jesus pronounced all food clean.
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 it goes not into the heart but into the stomach, and goes out with the waste? He said this, making all food clean.
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.
Because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, thus purifying all foods?”
Word-for-word swaps
- not→doesn’t
- out→his
- purging→latrine
- meats→foods
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.