Matthew 10:11 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 into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.
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 into whatsoever city or village ye shall enter, search out who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go forth.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But into whatsoever city or village ye enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there remain till ye go forth.
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 into whatever city or village ye may enter, inquire ye who in it is worthy, and there abide, till ye may go forth.
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.
Into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy; and stay there until you go on.
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.
Whatever town or village you visit, find out who is worthy in that place, and remain there until you leave.
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 into whatever town or small place you go, make search there for someone who is respected, and make his house your resting-place till you go away.
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.
into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy; and stay there until you go on.
Word-for-word swaps
- whatsoever→whatever
- shall→village
- enquire→find
- ye→until
- thence→on
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.