Joel 2:7 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.
They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
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.
They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not their ranks.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and break not their ranks.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
As mighty ones they run, As men of war they go up a wall, And each in his own ways they do go, And they embarrass not their paths.
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.
They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course.
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.
Like mighty men they run, like warriors they mount up a wall, they march each by himself, they break not their ranks,
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.
They are running like strong men, they go over the wall like men of war; every man goes straight on his way, their lines are not broken.
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.
They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like warriors. they each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course.
Word-for-word swaps
- and→warriors
- shall→each
- on→in
- ways→line
- ranks→don’t
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.