Psalms 58:7 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.
Let them melt away as waters run continually: he bendeth his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
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 melt away as water that runneth apace: When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
Let them melt away as waters that flow off; when he aimeth his arrows, let them be as blunted:
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 melted as waters, They go up and down for themselves, His arrow proceedeth as they cut themselves off.
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 them vanish like water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
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.
May they melt away like running water! Like tender grass, cut down may they be!
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.
Let them be turned to liquid like the ever-flowing waters; let them be cut off like the grass by the way.
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 them vanish like water that flows away When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
Word-for-word swaps
- melt→vanish
- arrows→When
- them→their
- pieces→made
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.