Matthew 5:23 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.
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
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.
If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee,
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
If therefore thou shouldest offer thy gift at the altar, and there shouldest remember that thy brother has something against thee,
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`If, therefore, thou mayest bring thy gift to the altar, and there mayest remember that thy brother hath anything against thee,
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.
“If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against 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.
Therefore, when presenting your gift at the altar, if even there you remember that your brother or sister has something against 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.
If then you are making an offering at the altar and there it comes to your mind that your brother has something against 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.
if therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,
Word-for-word swaps
- thy→therefore
- to→at
- rememberest→remember
- thy→your
- ought→has
- thee→you
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.