Matthew 6:1 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.
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
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.
Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Take heed not to do your alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`Take heed your kindness not to do before men, to be seen by them, and if not--reward ye have not from your Father who is in the heavens;
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.
“Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
“Take care not to perform your religious duties in public in order to be seen by others; if you do, your Father who is in heaven has no reward for you.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
‘Take care not to perform your religious duties in public in order to be seen by others; if you do, your Father who is in heaven has no reward for you.
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.
Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
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.
“Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them: or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Word-for-word swaps
- heed→Be
- ye→you
- alms→charitable
- of→by
- ye→or
- of→from
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.