Psalms 69:26 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.
For they persecute whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
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.
For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; And they tell of the sorrow of those whom thou hast wounded.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For they persecute him whom *thou* hast smitten, and they talk for the sorrow of those whom thou hast wounded.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
For they have pursued him Thou hast smitten, And recount of the pain of Thy pierced ones.
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.
For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.
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.
For those whom you struck, they persecute, and those whom you wounded, they pain yet more.
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.
Because they are cruel to him against whom your hand is turned; they make bitter the grief of him who is wounded by you.
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.
For they persecute him whom you have wounded. they tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.
Word-for-word swaps
- and→you
- to→tell
- grief→sorrow
- wounded→you
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.