Matthew 20:15 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.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
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.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
is it not lawful for me to do what I will in my own affairs? Is thine eye evil because *I* am good?
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
is it not lawful to me to do what I will in mine own? is thine eye evil because I am good?
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.
Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Don’t I have the right to do as I choose with what is mine? Are you envious because I am liberal?’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Don’t I have the right to do as I choose with what is mine? Are you envious because I am liberal?”
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.
Have I not the right to do as seems good to me in my house? or is your eye evil, because I am good?
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.
Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or Is your eye evil, because I am good?’
Word-for-word swaps
- Is→Isn’t
- will→want
- mine→what
- thine→your
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.