Psalms 31:19 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.
how great thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
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.
Oh how great is thy goodness, Which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, Which thou hast wrought for them that take refuge in thee, Before the sons of men!
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
[Oh] how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, [which] thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee, before the sons of men!
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
How abundant is Thy goodness, That Thou hast laid up for those fearing Thee,
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.
Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the sons of men!
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.
How great is the goodness you have treasured for those who fear you, and wrought for those who take refuge in you, in plain sight of all!
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.
O how great is your grace, which you have put in store for your worshippers, and which you have made clear to those who had faith in you, before the sons of men!
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.
Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the sons of men!
Word-for-word swaps
- thy→is
- hast→you
- that→those
- wrought→you
- trust→those
- thee→you
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.