Matthew 26:34 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.
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
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.
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Jesus said to him, Verily I say to thee, that during this night, before [the] cock shall crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Jesus said to him, `Verily I say to thee, that, this night, before cock-crowing, thrice thou wilt deny me.'
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.
Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you that tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
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,” replied Jesus, “that this very night, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times!”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
‘I tell you,’ replied Jesus, ‘that this very night, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times!’
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.
Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you that this night, before the hour of the cock's cry, you will say three times that you have no knowledge of me.
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.
Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you That tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
Word-for-word swaps
- unto→to
- Verily→Most
- thee→tell
- night→tonight
- shalt→rooster
- thrice→three
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.