Matthew 12:44 in 8 translations
8 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.
Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth empty, swept, and garnished.
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.
Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Then he says, I will return to my house whence I came out; and having come, he finds [it] unoccupied, swept, and adorned.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
then it saith, I will turn back to my house whence I came forth; and having come, it findeth it unoccupied, swept, and adorned:
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.
Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came out,’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Then it says ‘I will go back to the home which I left’; but, on coming there, it finds it unoccupied, and swept, and put in order.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Then it says “I will go back to the home which I left”; but, on coming there, it finds it unoccupied, and swept, and put in order.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
Then he says, I will go back into my house from which I came out; and when he comes, he sees that there is no one in it, but that it has been made fair and clean.
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.
Then he says, I will return into my house from which I came out,’ and when he has come, back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
Word-for-word swaps
- saith→says
- whence→which
- is→has
- findeth→finds
- garnished→put
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.