Mark 9:36 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 he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them,
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 he took a little child, and set him in the midst of them: and taking him in his arms, he said unto them,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And taking a little child he set it in their midst, and having taken it in his arms he said to them,
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 having taken a child, he set him in the midst of them, and having taken him in his arms, said to them,
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.
He took a little child, and set him in the middle of them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
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.
Then Jesus took a little child, and placed it in the middle of them. Taking it in his arms, he said to them,
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 he took a little child, and put him in the middle of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them,
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.
he took a little child, and set him in the middle of them: Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
Word-for-word swaps
- midst→middle
- taken→Taking
- unto→to
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.