Psalms 141:5 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.
Let the righteous smite me; a kindness: and let him reprove me; an excellent oil, shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also in their calamities.
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.
Let the righteous smite me, [it shall be] a kindness; And let him reprove me, [it shall be as] oil upon the head; Let not my head refuse it: For even in their wickedness shall my prayer continue.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Let the righteous smite me, it is kindness; and let him reprove me, it is an excellent oil which my head shall not refuse: for yet my prayer also is [for them] in their calamities.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
The righteous doth beat me in kindness. And doth reprove me, Oil of the head my head disalloweth not, For still my prayer is about their vexations.
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.
Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
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.
A wound or reproof from a good person in kindness is oil which my head shall never refuse. In their misfortune my prayer is still with them.
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.
Let the upright give me punishment; and let the god-fearing man put me in the right way; but I will not let the oil of sinners come on my head: when they do evil I will give myself to prayer.
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.
Let the righteous strike me; it is kindness: let him reprove me; it is like oil, on the head; don’t let my head: refuse it; yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
Word-for-word swaps
- smite→strike
- a→it
- excellent→it
- break→on
- for→refuse
- calamities→is
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.