Matthew 5:12 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.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
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.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Rejoice and exult, for your reward is great in the heavens; for thus have they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
rejoice ye and be glad, because your reward is great in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were before you.
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.
Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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.
Be glad and rejoice, because your reward in heaven will be great; this is the way they persecuted the prophets who lived before you.
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.
Be glad and full of joy; for great is your reward in heaven: for so were the prophets attacked who were before you.
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.
Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Word-for-word swaps
- exceeding→exceedingly
- persecuted→that
- which→who
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.