Psalms 35:4 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.
Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
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.
Let them be put to shame and brought to dishonor that seek after my soul: Let them be turned back and confounded that devise my hurt.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Let them be put to shame and confounded that seek after my life; let them be turned backward and brought to confusion that devise my hurt:
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
They are ashamed and blush, those seeking my soul, Turned backward and confounded, Those devising my evil.
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.
Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
Dishonor and shame be on those who are seeking my life! Defeat and confusion on those who are planning my hurt!
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
Dishonour and shame be on those who are seeking my life! Defeat and confusion on those who are planning my hurt!
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.
Let them be overcome and put to shame who make attempts to take my soul; let those who would do me damage be turned back and made foolish.
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.
Let those who seek after my soul: be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
Word-for-word swaps
- that→those
- back→disappointed
- devise→dishonor
- hurt→ruin
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.