Matthew 11:29 in 8 translations
6 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.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
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.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
take up my yoke upon you, and learn from me, because I am meek and humble in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls,
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.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.
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.
Take my yoke on you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for your souls;
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.
Take my yoke on you and become like me, for I am gentle and without pride, and you will have rest for your souls;
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.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart: and you will find rest for your souls.
Word-for-word swaps
- of→from
- meek→gentle
- lowly→humble
- shall→you
- unto→for
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.