Deuteronomy 32 Comparison: Wycliffe Bible (1395) vs King James Version
Deuteronomy 32
1Ye heuenes, here what thingis Y schal speke; the erthe here the wordis of my mouth.
2My techyng wexe togidere as reyn; my speche flete out as dew, as lytil reyn on eerbe, and as dropis on gras.
3For Y schal inwardli clepe the name of the Lord; yyue ye glorie to oure God.
4The werkis of God ben perfit, and alle hise weies ben domes; God is feithful, and without ony wickidnesse; God is iust and riytful.
5Thei synneden ayens hym, and not hise sones in filthis, `that is, of idolatrie; schrewid and waiward generacioun.
6Whether thou yeldist these thingis to the Lord, thou fonned puple and vnwijs? Whether he is not thi fadir, that weldide thee, and made, `and made thee of nouyt?
7Haue thou minde of elde daies, thenke thou alle generaciouns; axe thi fadir, and he schal telle to thee, axe thi grettere men, and thei schulen seie to thee.
8Whanne the hiyeste departide folkis, whanne he departide the sones of Adam, he ordeynede the termes of puplis bi the noumbre of the sones of Israel .
9Forsothe the part of the Lord is his puple; Jacob is the litil part of his eritage.
10The Lord foond hym in a deseert lond, `that is, priued of Goddis religioun, in the place of orrour `ethir hidousnesse, and of wast wildirnesse; the Lord ledde hym aboute, and tauyte hym, and kepte as the apple of his iye.
11As an egle stirynge his briddis to fle, and fleynge on hem, he spredde forth his wyngis, and took hem, and bar in hise schuldris.
12The Lord aloone was his ledere, and noon alien god was with hym.
13The Lord ordeynede hym on an hiy lond, that he schulde ete the fruytis of feeldis, that he schulde souke hony of a stoon, and oile of the hardeste roche;
14botere of the droue, and mylke of scheep, with the fatnesse of lambren and of rammes, of the sones of Basan; and that he schulde ete kydis with the merowe of wheete, and schulde drynke the cleereste blood of grape.
15The louede puple was `maad fat, and kikide ayen ; maad fat withoutforth, maad fat with ynne, and alargid; he forsook God his makere, and yede awei fro `God his helthe.
16Thei terriden hym to ire in alien goddis, and thei excitiden to wrathfulnesse in abhomynaciouns.
17Thei offriden to feendis, and not to God, to goddis whiche thei knewen not, newe goddis, and freische camen, whiche `the fadris of hem worschipiden not.
18Thou hast forsake God that gendride thee, and thou hast foryete `thi Lord creatour.
19The Lord siy, and was stirid to wrathfulnesse; for hise sones and douytris terriden hym.
20And the Lord seide, Y schal hyde my face fro hem, and Y schal biholde `the laste thingis of hem; for it is a waiward generacioun, and vnfeithful sones.
21Thei terriden me in hym that was not God, and thei `terriden to ire in her vanytees; and Y schal terre hem in hym, that is not a puple, and Y schal terre hem `to yre in a fonned folk.
22Fier, that is, peyne maad redi to hem, is kyndlid in my stronge veniaunce, and it schal brenne `til to the laste thingis of helle; and it schal deuoure the lond with his fruyt, and it schal brenne the foundementis of hillis.
23Y schal gadere `yuels on hem, and Y schal fille myn arewis in hem.
24Thei schulen be waastid with hungur, and briddis schulen deuoure hem with bitteriste bityng; Y schal sende in to hem the teeth of beestis, with the woodnesse of wormes drawynge on erthe, and of serpentis.
25Swerd with outforth and drede with ynne schal waaste hem; a yong man and a virgyn togidre, a soukynge child with an elde man.
26And Y seide, Where ben thei? Y schal make the mynde of hem to ceesse of men.
27But Y delayede for the yre of enemyes, lest perauenture `the enemyes of hem shulden be proude, and seie, Oure hiy hond, and not the Lord, dide alle these thingis.
28It is a folk with out counsel, and with out prudence;
29Y wolde that thei saueriden, and `vnderstoden, and purueiden the laste thingis.
30How pursuede oon of enemyes a thousynde of Jewis, and tweyne dryuen awey ten thousynde? Whether not therfore for her God selde hem, and the Lord closide hem togidere?
31For oure God is not as the goddis of hem, and oure enemyes ben iugis.
32The vyner of hem is of the vyner of Sodom, and of the subarbis of Gomorre; the grape of hem is the grape of galle, and the clustre is most bittir.
33The galle of dragouns is the wyn of hem, and the venym of eddris, that may not be heelid.
34Whether these thingis ben not hid at me, and ben seelid in myn tresouris?
35Veniaunce is myn, and Y schal yelde to hem in tyme, that the foot of hem slide; the dai of perdicioun is nyy, and tymes hasten to be present.
36The Lord schal deme his puple, and he schal do merci in hise seruauntis; the puple schal se that the hond of fiyteres is sijk, and also men closid failiden, and the residues ben waastid.
37And thei schulen seie, Where ben `the goddis of hem, in whiche thei hadden trust?
38Of whos sacrifices thei eeten fatnessis, and drunkun the wyn of fletynge sacrifices, rise thei and helpe you, and defende thei you in nede.
39Se ye that Y am aloone, and noon other God is outakun me; Y schal sle, and Y schal make to lyue; Y schal smyte, and Y schal make hool; and noon is that may delyuere fro myn hond.
40And Y schal reise myn hond to heuene, and Y schal seie, Y lyue with outen ende.
41If Y schal whette my swerd as leit, and myn hond schal take doom, Y schal yelde veniaunce to myn enemyes, and Y schal quyte to hem that haten me.
42Y schal fille myn arewis with blood, and my swerd schal deuoure fleischis of the blood of hem that ben slayn, and of the caitifte of the heed of enemyes maad nakid .
43Folkis, preise ye the puplis of hym, for he schal venie the blood of hise seruauntis, and he schal yelde veniaunce in to the enemyes of hem; and he schal be merciful to the lond of his puple.
44Therfor Moises cam, and spak alle the wordis of this song in the eeris of the puple; bothe he and Josue, the sone of Nun.
45And `he fillide alle these wordis, and spak to alle Israel, and seide to hem,
46Putte ye youre hertis in to alle the wordis whiche Y witnesse to you to day, that ye comaunde to youre sones, to kepe, and do tho, and to fulfille alle thingis that ben writun in the book of this lawe;
47for not in veyn tho ben comaundid to you, but that alle men schulden lyue in tho; whiche wordis ye schulen do, and schulen contynue in long tyme in the lond, to which ye schulen entre to welde, whanne Jordan is passid.
48And the Lord spak to Moises in the same day,
49and seide, Stie thou in to this hil Abirym, that is, passyng, in to the hil of Nebo, which is in the lond of Moab, ayens Jerico; and se thou the lond of Canaan, which Y schal yyue to the sones of Israel to holde, and die thou in the hil.
50In to which hil thou schalt stie, and schalt be ioyned to thi puplis, as Aaron, thi brother, was deed in the hil of Hor, and was put to his puplis.
51For ye trespassiden ayens me, in the myddis of the sones of Israel, at the Watris of Ayenseiyng, in Cades of deseert of Syn; and ye halewiden not me among the sones of Israel.
52Ayenward thou schalt se the lond, and schalt not entre in to it, which Y schal yyue to the sones of Israel.
Deuteronomy 32
1Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
3Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
5They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
7Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
8When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
9For the Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
12So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.
13He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;
14Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
15But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
17They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
18Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
19And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
20And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
21They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
24They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
25The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
26I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
27Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.
28For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
29O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
30How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?
31For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
32For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
33Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
34Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
35To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
36For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
37And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
38Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
39See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
40For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
41If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
42I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
43Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.
44And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.
45And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:
46And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
47For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
48And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
49Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
50And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
51Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah–Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
52Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.
Understanding Wycliffe Bible (1395) vs King James Version in Deuteronomy 32
Wycliffe Bible (1395) (Wycliffe)
The first complete English translation of the Bible (1395) by John Wycliffe and his followers. Translated from the Latin Vulgate. A landmark in English history and the Reformation.
King James Version (KJV)
The classic 1611 English translation known for its majestic prose and literary influence. Ideal for traditional study and memorization thanks to its formal style. A foundational English Bible used for centuries.
You are viewing a side-by-side comparison of Deuteronomy 32 in the Wycliffe Bible (1395) and King James Version. Comparing these two versions can help shed light on the nuances of the original text.
Key Comparison: Deuteronomy 32:16
"Thei terriden hym to ire in alien goddis, and thei excitiden to wrathfulnesse in abhomynaciouns."
"They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger."
