Passage

Psalms 138.2

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{A Psalm of David.} I will give thee thanks with my whole heart: Before the gods will I sing praises unto thee."

"2. I will worship toward thy holy temple, And give thanks unto thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."

"3. In the day that I called thou answeredst me, Thou didst encourage me with strength in my soul. 4. All the kings of the earth shall give thee thanks, O Jehovah, For they have heard the words of thy mouth." (Psalms 138:1-4, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. By David. I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you."

"2. I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all."

"3. In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul. 4. All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh, for they have heard the words of your mouth." (Psalms 138:1-4, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee."

"2. I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."

"3. In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. 4. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth." (Psalms 138:1-4, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. By David. I confess Thee, with all my heart, Before the gods I do praise Thee."

"2. I bow myself toward Thy holy temple, And I confess Thy name, For Thy kindness, and for Thy truth, For Thou hast made great Thy saying above all Thy name."

"3. In the day I called, when Thou dost answer me, Thou dost strengthen me in my soul [with] strength. 4. O Jehovah, all kings of earth confess Thee, When they have heard the sayings of Thy mouth." (Psalms 138:1-4, 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.

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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.