Psalms 68:8 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.
The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: Sinai itself at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
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.
The earth trembled, The heavens also dropped [rain] at the presence of God: Yon Sinai [trembled] at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God, yon Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
The earth hath shaken, Yea, the heavens have dropped before God, This Sinai--before God, the God of Israel.
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.
The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai— at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
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.
earth shook, the heavens poured rain at the presence of God, Sinai’s God at the presence of God, Israel’s 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.
The earth was shaking and the heavens were streaming, because God was present; even Sinai itself was moved before God, the God of Israel.
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.
The earth trembled. the sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God: of Sinai at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
Word-for-word swaps
- shook→trembled
- heavens→sky
- dropped→poured
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.