Psalms 138:6 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.
Though the LORD high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
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.
For though Jehovah is high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly; But the haughty he knoweth from afar.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For Jehovah is high; but he looketh upon the lowly, and the proud he knoweth afar off.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
For high is Jehovah, and the lowly He seeth, And the haughty from afar He knoweth.
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.
For though Yahweh is high, yet he looks after the lowly; but the proud, he knows from afar.
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.
For, high though the Lord is, he looks on the lowly, and strikes down the haughty from far away.
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.
Though the Lord is high, he sees those who are low; and he has knowledge from far off of those who are lifted up.
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.
For Though Yahweh is high, yet he looks after the lowly: but the proud he knows from afar
Word-for-word swaps
- LORD→Yahweh
- unto→looks
- knoweth→knows
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.