Psalms 72:17 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.
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
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 name shall endure for ever; His name shall be continued as long as the sun: And men shall be blessed in him; All nations shall call him happy.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and [men] shall bless themselves in him; all nations shall call him blessed.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
His name is to the age, Before the sun is his name continued, And they bless themselves in him, All nations do pronounce him happy.
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 name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.
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 his name be blessed forever, may his fame endure as the sun. May all nations envy his blessedness, all tribes of the earth call him happy.
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.
May his name go on for ever, as long as the sun: may men be blessing themselves by him; may all nations be blessing his name.
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 name endures forever. his name continues as long as the sun: Men shall be blessed by him: all nations will call him blessed.
Word-for-word swaps
- ever→endures
- continued→continues
- and→Men
- in→by
- shall→will
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.