Matthew 13:13 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.
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
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.
Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For this cause I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor understand;
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`Because of this, in similes do I speak to them, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand,
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.
Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.
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.
That is why I speak to them in parables, because, though they have eyes, they do not see, and though they have ears, they do not hear or understand.
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.
For this reason I put things into the form of stories; because they see without seeing, and give ear without hearing, and the sense is not clear to them.
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.
Therefore I speak to them in parables: because seeing they don’t see and hearing they don’t hear neither do they understand.
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.