Psalms 17:7 in 8 translations
8 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.
Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust from those that rise up
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.
Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that take refuge [in thee ]From those that rise up [against them].
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Shew wondrously thy loving-kindnesses, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that trust [in thee] from those that rise up [against them].
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Separate wonderfully Thy kindness, O Saviour of the confiding, By Thy right hand, from withstanders.
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.
Show your marvelous loving kindness, you who save those who take refuge by your right hand from their enemies.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Show your marvelous love, you who save from enemies those who take refuge at your right hand.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Show your marvellous love, you who save from enemies those who take refuge at your right hand.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
Make clear the wonder of your mercy, O saviour of those who put their faith in your right hand, from those who come out against them.
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.
Show your marvelous loving kindness, you who save those who take refuge by your right hand from their enemies.
Word-for-word swaps
- savest→Show
- thy→your
- up→their
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.