Psalms 142:4 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.
I looked on right hand, and beheld, but no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
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.
Look on [my] right hand, and see; For there is no man that knoweth me: Refuge hath failed me; No man careth for my soul.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Look on the right hand and see; there is no man that knoweth me: refuge hath failed me; no man careth for my soul.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Looking on the right hand--and seeing, And I have none recognizing; Perished hath refuge from me, There is none inquiring for my soul.
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.
Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.
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.
I look to the right and the left; but not a friend have I. No place of refuge is left me, not a man to care for 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.
Looking to my right side, I saw no man who was my friend: I had no safe place; no one had any care for my 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.
Look on my right and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me: refuge has fled from me; no one cares for my soul.
Word-for-word swaps
- looked→Look
- but→see
- know→one
- failed→has
- cared→one
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.