Psalms 123:4 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.
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.
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.
Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scoffing of those that are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud. Psalm 124 A Song of Ascents; of David.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Greatly hath our soul been filled With the scorning of the easy ones, With the contempt of the arrogant!
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.
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.
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.
More than enough have we borne of derision from those at their ease, of scorn from those who are haughty.
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.
For long enough have men of pride made sport of our soul.
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.
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.
Word-for-word swaps
- scorning→scoffing
- that→who
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.