Psalms 55:21 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.
of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet they drawn swords.
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.
His mouth was smooth as butter, But his heart was war: His words were softer than oil, Yet were they drawn swords.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Smooth were the milky [words] of his mouth, but his heart was war; his words were softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
Sweeter than honey hath been his mouth, And his heart is war! Softer have been his words than oil, And they are drawn swords.
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.
His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
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.
His mouth was smoother than butter, but war filled his heart. His words were softer than oil, but sharper than swords.
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.
The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, but they were sharp swords.
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.
his mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart: was war. his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
Word-for-word swaps
- than→was
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.