Psalms 110:6 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 judge among the heathen, he shall fill with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
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 will judge among the nations, He will fill [the places] with dead bodies; He will strike through the head in many countries.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
He shall judge among the nations; he shall fill [all places] with dead bodies; he shall smite through the head over a great country.
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 judge among the nations, He hath completed the carcases, Hath smitten the head over the mighty earth.
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 will judge among the nations. He will heap up dead bodies. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth.
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.
He will execute judgment filling the valleys with dead, the broad fields with shattered heads.
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 will be judge among the nations, the valleys will be full of dead bodies; the head over a great country will be wounded by 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.
He will judge among the nations. he will heap up dead bodies; he will crush the ruler of the whole earth.
Word-for-word swaps
- shall→will
- heathen→nations
- the→will
- wound→will
- countries→ruler
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.