Psalms 49:10 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.
For he seeth wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.
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 he shall see it. Wise men die; The fool and the brutish alike perish, And leave their wealth to others.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For he seeth that wise men die; all alike, the fool and the brutish perish, and they leave their wealth to others.
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 he seeth wise men die, Together the foolish and brutish perish, And have left to others their wealth.
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 he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
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.
But see it they will. Even wise people die, the fool and the brutish perish alike, and abandon their wealth to others.
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.
For he sees that wise men come to their end, and foolish persons of low behaviour come to destruction together, letting their wealth go to others.
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 he sees that wise men die, likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
Word-for-word swaps
- seeth→sees
- person→senseless
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.