Matthew 27:31 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 after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify
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 when they had mocked him, they took off from him the robe, and put on him his garments, and led him away to crucify him.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And when they had mocked him, they took the cloak off him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify.
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 when they had mocked him, they took off from him the cloak, and put on him his own garments, and led him away to crucify him.
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.
When they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
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.
and, when they had left off mocking him, they took off the military cloak, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to be crucified.
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 when they had made sport of him, they took the robe off him, and put his clothing on him, and took him away to put him on the cross.
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.
When they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
Word-for-word swaps
- that→When
- raiment→clothes
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.