Hosea 10:10 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.
It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
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.
When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the peoples shall be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
At my pleasure will I chastise them; and the peoples shall be assembled against them, when they are bound for their two iniquities.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
When I desire, then I do bind them, And gathered against them have peoples, When they bind themselves to their two iniquities.
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.
When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.
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.
When I please, I will punish them. Nations will gather against them to chain them for their double crimes.
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.
I will come and give them punishment; and the peoples will come together against them when I give them the reward of their two sins.
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.
When It is my desire I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.
Word-for-word swaps
- should→will
- shall→nations
- in→are
- furrows→transgressions
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.