Matthew 12:27 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 if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast out? therefore they shall be your judges.
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 if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And if *I* cast out demons by Beelzebub, your sons, by whom do they cast [them] out? For this reason *they* shall be your judges.
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 if I, by Beelzeboul, do cast out the demons, your sons--by whom do they cast out? because of this they--they shall be your judges.
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.
If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
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.
And, if it is by Beelzebul’s help that I drive out demons, by whose help is it that your own sons drive them out? Therefore they will themselves be your judges.
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 if I by Beelzebub send evil spirits out of men, by whom do your sons send them out? So let them be your judges.
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.
if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they will be your judges.
Word-for-word swaps
- Beelzebub→Beelzebul
- devils→demons
- shall→will
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.