Psalms 30:5 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.
For his anger a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy in the morning.
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.
For his anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a life-time: Weeping may tarry for the night, But joy [cometh] in the morning.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For a moment [is passed] in his anger, a life in his favour; at even weeping cometh for the night, and at morn there is rejoicing.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
For--a moment is in His anger, Life is in His good-will, At even remaineth weeping, and at morn singing.
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.
For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
For his anger lasts only a moment, his favor endures for a lifetime. Weeping may lodge for the night, but the morning brings shouts of joy.
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
For his anger lasts only a moment, his favour endures for a lifetime. Weeping may lodge for the night, but the morning brings shouts of joy.
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.
For his wrath is only for a minute; in his grace there is life; weeping may be for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
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.
For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Word-for-word swaps
- favour→favor
- life→for
- endure→stay
- a→the
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.