Bible Verses
Translation comparison

Psalms 63:5 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.

King James Version
KJV

My soul shall be satisfied as marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise with joyful lips:

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.

American Standard Version
ASV

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips;

1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.

Darby Bible
DARBY

My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise [thee] with joyful lips.

1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.

Young's Literal Translation
YLT

As with milk and fatness is my soul satisfied, And with singing lips doth my mouth praise.

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.

World English Bible
WEB

My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.

Open English Bible (US) · Open English Bible (Commonwealth)
OEB-US
OEB-CW

These 2 editions word this verse identically.

As with marrow and fat am I feasted; with joyful lips I will praise you.

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.

Bible in Basic English
BBE

My soul will be comforted, as with good food; and my mouth will give you praise with songs of joy;

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.

My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips:

Word-for-word swaps

  • andwith

The verses either side

King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.

4Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5My soul shall be satisfied as marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise with joyful lips:
6When I remember thee upon my bed, meditate on thee in the watches.