Psalms 61:2 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.
From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock is higher than I.
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.
From the end of the earth will I call unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
From the end of the earth will I call unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: thou wilt lead me on to a rock which is too high for me.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
From the end of the land unto Thee I call, In the feebleness of my heart, Into a rock higher than I Thou dost lead me.
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.
From the end of the earth, I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
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.
From the ends of the earth I call unto you, when my heart is faint: lead me to the rock that is high above me.
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.
From the end of the earth will I send up my cry to you, when my heart is overcome: take me to the rock which is over-high for me.
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.
From the end of the earth I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Word-for-word swaps
- thee→will
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.