Leviticus 23:4 in 6 translations
6 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.
These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
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.
These are the set feasts of Jehovah, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their appointed season.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
These are the set feasts of Jehovah, holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons:
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`These are appointed seasons of Jehovah, holy convocations, which ye proclaim in their appointed seasons:
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.
“‘These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
These are the fixed feasts of the Lord, the holy days of worship which you will keep at their regular times.
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.
These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.
Word-for-word swaps
- LORD→Yahweh
- ye→you
- seasons→appointed
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.
Not shown for this verse: Open English Bible (US), Open English Bible (Commonwealth). Those translations are still incomplete in the corpus, and empty cards are not padded in.