Hosea 10:2 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.
Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
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.
Their heart is divided; now shall they be found guilty: he will smite their altars, he will destroy their pillars.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Their heart is divided; now shall they be found guilty: he will break down their altars, he will destroy their statues.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Their heart hath been divided, now they are guilty, He doth break down their altars, He doth destroy their standing-pillars.
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.
Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones.
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.
Their heart is false, now they must be punished. God himself will break the necks of their altars, he will destroy their sacred pillars.
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.
Their mind is taken away; now they will be made waste: he will have their altars broken down, he will give their pillars to destruction.
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.
Their heart is divided; now they will be found guilty. he will demolish their altars, he will destroy their sacred stones.
Word-for-word swaps
- faulty→guilty
- down→will
- spoil→will
- images→sacred
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.