Matthew 14:31 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.
And immediately Jesus stretched forth hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
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 immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught hold of him, and says to him, O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?
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 immediately Jesus, having stretched forth the hand, laid hold of him, and saith to him, `Little faith! for what didst thou waver?'
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.
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Instantly Jesus stretched out his hand, and caught hold of him. “You of little faith!” he said, “Why did you falter?”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Instantly Jesus stretched out his hand, and caught hold of him. ‘You of little faith!’ he said, ‘Why did you falter?’
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.
And straight away Jesus put out his hand and took a grip of him, and said to him, O man of little faith, why were you in doubt?
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.
immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?
Word-for-word swaps
- forth→out
- caught→took
- unto→to
- thou→You
- thou→why
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.