Matthew 26:13 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.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
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.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Verily I say to you, Wheresoever these glad tidings may be preached in the whole world, that also which this [woman] has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Verily I say to you, Wherever this good news may be proclaimed in the whole world, what this one did shall also be spoken of--for a memorial of her.'
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.
Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
I tell you, wherever, in the whole world, this good news is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her.”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
I tell you, wherever, in the whole world, this good news is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her.’
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.
Truly I say to you, Wherever this good news goes out in all the world, what this woman has done will be talked of in memory of her.
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.
Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done, will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.
Word-for-word swaps
- Verily→Most
- unto→tell
- Wheresoever→wherever
- be→Good
- that→what
- hath→has
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.