Passage

Psalms 104.5-10

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"3. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; Who maketh the clouds his chariot; Who walketh upon the wings of the wind; 4. Who maketh winds his messengers; Flames of fire his ministers;"

"5. Who laid the foundations of the earth, That it should not be moved for ever. 6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture; The waters stood above the mountains. 7. At thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away 8. (The mountains rose, the valleys sank down) Unto the place which thou hadst founded for them. 9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; That they turn not again to cover the earth. 10. He sendeth forth springs into the valleys; They run among the mountains;"

"11. They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild asses quench their thirst. 12. By them the birds of the heavens have their habitation; They sing among the branches." (Psalms 104:3-12, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"3. He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind. 4. He makes his messengers winds; his servants flames of fire."

"5. He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever. 6. You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains. 7. At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away. 8. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them. 9. You have set a boundary that they may not pass over; that they don’t turn again to cover the earth. 10. He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains."

"11. They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12. The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches." (Psalms 104:3-12, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"3. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: 4. Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:"

"5. Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. ^{Who: Heb. He hath founded the earth upon her bases} 6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. 7. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. 8. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. ^{They go up: or, The mountains ascend, the valleys descend} 9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth. 10. He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. ^{He: Heb. Who} ^{run: Heb. walk}"

"11. They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst. ^{quench: Heb. break} 12. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. ^{sing: Heb. give a voice}" (Psalms 104:3-12, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"3. Who is laying the beam of His upper chambers in the waters, Who is making thick clouds His chariot, Who is walking on wings of wind, 4. Making His messengers, the winds, His ministers, the flaming fire."

"5. He hath founded earth on its bases, It is not moved to the age and for ever. 6. The abyss! as with clothing Thou hast covered it, Above hills do waters stand. 7. From Thy rebuke they flee, From the voice of Thy thunder haste away. 8. They go up hills, they go down valleys, Unto a place Thou hast founded for them. 9. A border Thou hast set, they pass not over, They turn not back to cover the earth. 10. Who is sending forth fountains in valleys, Between hills they go on."

"11. They water every beast of the field, Wild asses break their thirst. 12. By them the fowl of the heavens doth dwell, From between the branches They give forth the voice." (Psalms 104:3-12, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.