Psalms 52:5 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.
God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
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.
God will likewise destroy thee for ever; He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent, And root thee out of the land of the living. Selah
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
God shall likewise destroy thee for ever; he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of [thy] tent, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Also--God doth break thee down for ever, Taketh thee, and pulleth thee out of the tent, And He hath uprooted thee Out of the land of the living. Selah.
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.
God will likewise destroy you forever. He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.
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 God, on his part, shall destroy you forever, grasp you and pluck you out of your tent, and root you out of the land of the living.Selah
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.
But God will put an end to you for ever; driving you out from your tent, uprooting you from the land of the living. (Selah.)
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.
God will likewise destroy you forever. he will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.
Word-for-word swaps
- shall→will
- ever→you
- away→you
- thee→you
- place→your
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.