Psalms 68:35 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.
O God, terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel he that giveth strength and power unto people. Blessed God.
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.
O God, [thou art] terrible out of thy holy places: The God of Israel, he giveth strength and power unto [his] people. Blessed be God. Psalm 69 For the Chief Musician; set to Shoshanim. [A Psalm] of David.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Terrible art thou, O God, out of thy sanctuaries, the God of Israel! He it is that giveth strength and might unto the people. Blessed be God!
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Fearful, O God, out of Thy sanctuaries, The God of Israel Himself, Giving strength and might to the people. Blessed is God!
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.
You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries. The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God!
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.
Awe-inspiring is God in his holy place, it is Israel’s God who gives strength and might to his people. Blessed be God.
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.
O God, you are to be feared in your holy place: the God of Israel gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God.
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.
You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries. the God of Israel gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God.
Word-for-word swaps
- O→You
- places→in
- giveth→gives
- unto→to
- Blessed→Praise
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.