Psalms 98:9 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.
Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
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.
Before Jehovah; for he cometh to judge the earth: He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity. Psalm 99
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Before Jehovah, for he cometh to judge the earth: he will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Before Jehovah, For He hath come to judge the earth, He judgeth the world in righteousness, And the people in uprightness!
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.
Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
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.
before the Lord for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice and the nations with equity.
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.
Before the Lord, for he has come as judge of the earth; judging the world in righteousness, and giving true decisions for the peoples.
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.
Let them sing Before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth: he will judge the world, with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
Word-for-word swaps
- LORD→Yahweh
- cometh→comes
- people→peoples
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.