Psalms 78:31 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 wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen 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.
When the anger of God went up against them, And slew of the fattest of them, And smote down the young men of Israel.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
When the anger of God went up against them; and he slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men 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.
And the anger of God hath gone up against them, And He slayeth among their fat ones, And youths of Israel He caused to bend.
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.
when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their fattest, and struck down the young men 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.
the wrath of God rose against them. He slew the stoutest among them, and laid low the young men of Israel.
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 wrath of God came on them, and put to death the fattest of them, and put an end to the young men 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.
when The anger of God went up against them, killed some of their fattest, and struck down the young men of Israel.
Word-for-word swaps
- wrath→anger
- upon→went
- fattest→killed
- them→their
- smote→struck
- chosen→young
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.