Bible Verses
Translation comparison

Baruch 3:34 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

The stars shined in their watches, and rejoiced: when he calleth them, they say, Here we be; and so with cheerfulness they shewed light unto him that made them.

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

and the stars shined in their watches, and were glad: when he called them, they said, Here we be; they shined with gladness to him that made them.

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.

and The stars shined in their watches, and were glad: when he called them, they said, Here we be; they shined with gladness to him that made them.

Word-for-word swaps

  • rejoicedwere
  • callethcalled
  • saysaid
  • untoshined

The verses either side

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

33He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth, calleth it again, and it obeyeth him with fear.
34The stars shined in their watches, and rejoiced: when he calleth them, they say, Here we be; and so with cheerfulness they shewed light unto him that made them.
35This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him

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.