Matthew 12:43 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.
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
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.
But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
But when the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and does not find [it].
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, when the unclean spirit may go forth from the man, it doth walk through dry places seeking rest, and doth not find;
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.
When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn’t find it.
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.
No sooner does a foul spirit leave a person, than it passes through places where there is no water, in search of rest, and does not find it.
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.
But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, goes through dry places looking for rest, and getting it not.
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.
When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn’t find it.
Word-for-word swaps
- the→an
- is→has
- walketh→passes
- dry→waterless
- none→doesn’t
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.