Bible Verses
Translation comparison

Baruch 3:2 in 2 translations

2 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.

King James Version
KJV

Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; ar thou art merciful: and have pity upon us, because we have sinned before thee.

1611 / 1769 · Public domain · The Authorised Version, revised to the 1769 Blayney text. Includes the Apocrypha as printed in 1611.

Modern English

Contemporary vocabulary and punctuation, aiming for the sentence a present-day reader would write while staying close to the source.

World English Bible
WEB

Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for you are a merciful God: yes, have mercy upon us, because we have sinned 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.

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.

Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for you are a merciful: God: yes, have mercy upon us, because we have sinned before you.

Word-for-word swaps

  • artfor
  • andGod
  • pitymercy
  • theeyou

The verses either side

King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.

1O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee.
2Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; ar thou art merciful: and have pity upon us, because we have sinned before thee.
3For thou endurest for ever, and we perish utterly.

Not shown for this verse: American Standard Version, Darby Bible, Young's Literal Translation, Open English Bible (US), Open English Bible (Commonwealth), Bible in Basic English. Most modern translations do not include the Apocrypha.