Matthew 13:48 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.
Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
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.
which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
which, when it has been filled, having drawn up on the shore and sat down, they gathered the good into vessels and cast the worthless out.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
which, when it was filled, having drawn up again upon the beach, and having sat down, they gathered the good into vessels, and the bad they did cast out,
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.
which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away.
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.
When it was full, they hauled it up on the beach, and sat down and sorted the good fish into baskets, but threw the worthless ones away.
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.
When it was full, they took it up on the sands; and seated there they put the good into vessels, but the bad they put away.
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.
Which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away.
Word-for-word swaps
- full→filled
- and→up
- vessels→containers
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.