Luke 21:26 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.
Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
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.
men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
men ready to die through fear and expectation of what is coming on the habitable earth, for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
men fainting at heart from fear, and expectation of the things coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
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.
men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
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.
People’s hearts will fail them through dread of what is coming upon the world; for the forces of the heavens will be convulsed.
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.
Men's strength will go from them in fear and in waiting for the things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of the heavens will be moved.
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.
men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Word-for-word swaps
- them→men
- those→expectation
- earth→world
- shall→the
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.