Psalms 13:2 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.
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
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.
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, with sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Till when do I set counsels in my soul? Sorrow in my heart daily? Till when is mine enemy exalted over me?
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.
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
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.
How long must I nurse grief inside me, and in my heart a daily sorrow? How long are my foes to exult over me?
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.
How long is my soul to be in doubt, with sorrow in my heart all the day? how long will he who is against me be given power over me?
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.
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? how long shall my enemy triumph over me?
Word-for-word swaps
- daily→every
- mine→my
- exalted→triumph
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.