Habakkuk 3:9 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.
Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
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.
Thy bow was made quite bare; The oaths to the tribes were a [sure] word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Thy bow was made naked, The rods [of discipline] sworn according to [thy] word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Utterly naked Thou dost make Thy bow, Sworn are the tribes--saying, `Pause!' With rivers Thou dost cleave the earth.
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.
You uncovered your bow. You called for your sworn arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.
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.
Why you bare your bow? Why you fill your quiver with shafts? You split the earth with torrents.
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.
Your bow was quite uncovered. Selah. By you the earth was cut through with rivers.
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.
You uncovered your bow You called for your sworn arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.
Word-for-word swaps
- Thy→You
- word→You
- cleave→You
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.