Hosea 7:10 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.
And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.
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.
And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: yet they have not returned unto Jehovah their God, nor sought him, for all this.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face; and they do not return to Jehovah their God, nor seek him for all this.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
And humbled hath been the excellency of Israel to his face, And they have not turned back unto Jehovah their God, Nor have they sought Him for all this.
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.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they haven’t returned to Yahweh their God, nor sought him, for all this.
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.
Israel’s arrogance testifies against them yet they do not return to the Lord their God, and in all this they do not seek him.
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.
And the pride of Israel gives an answer to his face; but for all this, they have not gone back to the Lord their God, or made search for him.
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.
the pride of Israel testifies to his face: yet they haven’t returned to Yahweh their God, nor sought him for all this.
Word-for-word swaps
- testifieth→testifies
- and→yet
- return→haven’t
- LORD→Yahweh
- seek→sought
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.