Psalms 18:43 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.
Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people I have not known shall serve me.
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.
Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; Thou hast made me the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; thou hast made me the head of the nations: a people I knew not doth serve me.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Thou dost deliver me From the strivings of the people, Thou placest me for a head of nations, A people I have not known do serve me.
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.
You have delivered me from the strivings of the people. You have made me the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
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.
From the strife of the peoples you saved me, you made me head of the nations, peoples I knew not did serve 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.
You have made me free from the fightings of the people; you have made me the head of the nations: a people of whom I had no knowledge will be my servants.
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.
You have delivered me from the strivings of the people; You have made me the head of the nations. a people whom I have not known shall serve me.
Word-for-word swaps
- hast→You
- heathen→nations
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.