Matthew 20:1 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.
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
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.
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who went out with the early morn to hire workmen for his vineyard.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`For the reign of the heavens is like to a man, a householder, who went forth with the morning to hire workmen for his vineyard,
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.
“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
For the kingdom of heaven is like an employer who went out in the early morning to hire laborers for his vineyards.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
For the kingdom of heaven is like an employer who went out in the early morning to hire labourers for his vineyards.
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.
For the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a house, who went out early in the morning to get workers into his vine-garden.
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.
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
Word-for-word swaps
- which→who
- into→laborers
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.