Matthew 25:15 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.
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
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 unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several ability; and he went on his journey.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to each according to his particular ability, and immediately went away out of the country.
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 to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each according to his several ability, went abroad immediately.
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.
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.
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.
He gave five bags of gold to one, two to another, and one bag to a third, in proportion to the ability of each. Then he set out on his travels.
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.
And to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to everyone as he was able; and he went on his journey.
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.
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability; Then he went on his journey.
Word-for-word swaps
- unto→To
- man→each
- several→own
- took→Then
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.