Nahum 2:5 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.
He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
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.
He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
He bethinketh him of his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the shelter is prepared.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
He doth remember his honourable ones, They stumble in their goings, They hasten to its wall, and prepared is the covering.
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.
He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.
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.
A leader rallies his nobles, they hurl themselves forward. They speed on toward the wall; the storming-shield is set up.
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.
He takes the record of his great men: they go falling on their way; they go quickly to the wall, the cover is made ready.
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.
He summons his picked troops. they stumble on their way. they dash to its wall and the protective shield is put in place.
Word-for-word swaps
- recount→summons
- worthies→picked
- in→on
- walk→way
- haste→dash
- the→its
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.