Psalms 144:14 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.
our oxen strong to labour; no breaking in, nor going out; that no complaining in our streets.
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.
[When] our oxen are well laden; [When there is] no breaking in, and no going forth, And no outcry in our streets:
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Our kine laden [with young]; no breaking in and no going forth, and no outcry in our streets.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Our oxen are carrying, there is no breach, And there is no outgoing, And there is no crying in our broad places.
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 oxen will pull heavy loads. There is no breaking in, and no going away, and no outcry in our streets.
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.
May our cattle be fat, our walls unbreached, may no cry of distress ring in our streets.
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.
Our oxen are well weighted down; our cows give birth safely; there is no going out, and there is no cry of sorrow in our open places.
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 oxen will pull heavy loads. There is no breaking in, and no going away, and no outcry in our streets.
Word-for-word swaps
- labour→will
- nor→and
- that→away
- complaining→outcry
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.