Revelation 8:8 in 8 translations
6 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.
These 2 editions word this verse identically.
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
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.
And the second angel sounded [his] trumpet: and as a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood;
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 second messenger did sound, and as it were a great mountain with fire burning was cast into the sea, and the third of the sea became blood,
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 second angel sounded, and something like a great burning mountain was thrown into the sea. One third of the sea became blood,
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.
Then the second angel blew; and what appeared to be a great mountain, burning, was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea became blood,
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.
And at the sounding of the second angel, it was as if a great mountain burning with fire was sent into the sea: and a third part of the sea became blood,
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 second angel sounded, and something like a great burning mountain was thrown into the sea: One third of the sea became blood;
Word-for-word swaps
- were→something
- fire→mountain
- cast→thrown
- the→One
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.