Psalms 90:4 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 a thousand years in thy sight as yesterday when it is past, and a watch in the night.
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 a thousand years in thy sight Are but as yesterday when it is past, And as a watch in the night.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
For a thousand years, in thy sight, are as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night.
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 a thousand years in Thine eyes are as yesterday, For it passeth on, yea, a watch by night.
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 a thousand years in your sight are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night.
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 you see a thousand years as the passing of yesterday, as a watch in the night.
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.
For to you a thousand years are no more than yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.
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 a thousand years in your sight are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night.
Word-for-word swaps
- thy→your
- as→are
- and→like
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.