Passage

Psalms 34

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{A Psalm of David; when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.} I will bless Jehovah at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2. My soul shall make her boast in Jehovah: The meek shall hear thereof, and be glad. 3. Oh magnify Jehovah with me, And let us exalt his name together. 4. I sought Jehovah, and he answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. 5. They looked unto him, and were radiant; And their faces shall never be confounded. 6. This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. 7. The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that fear him, And delivereth them. 8. Oh taste and see that Jehovah is good: Blessed is the man that taketh refuge in him. 9. Oh fear Jehovah, ye his saints; For there is no want to them that fear him. 10. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; But they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing. 11. Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of Jehovah. 12. What man is he that desireth life, And loveth many days, that he may see good? 13. Keep thy tongue from evil, And thy lips from speaking guile. 14. Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it. 15. The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous, And his ears are open unto their cry. 16. The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17. The righteous cried, and Jehovah heard, And delivered them out of all their troubles. 18. Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit. 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But Jehovah delivereth him out of them all. 20. He keepeth all his bones: Not one of them is broken. 21. Evil shall slay the wicked; And they that hate the righteous shall be condemned. 22. Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants; And none of them that take refuge in him shall be condemned." (Psalms 34:1-22, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. 2. My soul shall boast in Yahweh. The humble shall hear of it, and be glad. 3. Oh magnify Yahweh with me. Let us exalt his name together. 4. I sought Yahweh, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5. They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame. 6. This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7. Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8. Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9. Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him. 10. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing. 11. Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of Yahweh. 12. Who is someone who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? 13. Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. 14. Depart from evil, and do good. seek peace, and pursue it. 15. Yahweh’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry. 16. Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth. 17. The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18. Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all. 20. He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken. 21. Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. 22. Yahweh redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned." (Psalms 34:1-22, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ^{Abimelech: or, Achish} 2. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 3. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. 4. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. ^{were lightened: or, they flowed unto him} 6. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 8. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 9. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. 10. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. 11. Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? 13. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 14. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. 15. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 16. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 18. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. ^{unto: Heb. to the broken of heart} ^{of a contrite: Heb. contrite of spirit} 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. 20. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. 21. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. ^{desolate: or, guilty} 22. The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. ^{desolate: or, guilty}" (Psalms 34:1-22, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. By David, in his changing his behaviour before Abimelech, and he driveth him away, and he goeth. I do bless Jehovah at all times, Continually His praise [is] in my mouth. 2. In Jehovah doth my soul boast herself, Hear do the humble and rejoice. 3. Ascribe ye greatness to Jehovah with me, And we exalt His name together. 4. I sought Jehovah, and He answered me, And from all my fears did deliver me. 5. They looked expectingly unto Him, And they became bright, And their faces are not ashamed. 6. This poor [one] called, and Jehovah heard, And from all his distresses saved him. 7. A messenger of Jehovah is encamping, Round about those who fear Him, And He armeth them. 8. Taste ye and see that Jehovah [is] good, O the happiness of the man who trusteth in Him. 9. Fear Jehovah, ye His holy ones, For there is no lack to those fearing Him. 10. Young lions have lacked and been hungry, And those seeking Jehovah lack not any good, 11. Come ye, children, hearken to me, The fear of Jehovah I do teach you. 12. Who [is] the man that is desiring life? Loving days to see good? 13. Keep thy tongue from evil, And thy lips from speaking deceit. 14. Turn aside from evil and do good, Seek peace and pursue it. 15. The eyes of Jehovah [are] unto the righteous, And His ears unto their cry. 16. (The face of Jehovah [is] on doers of evil, To cut off from earth their memorial.) 17. They cried, and Jehovah heard, And from all their distresses delivered them. 18. Near [is] Jehovah to the broken of heart, And the bruised of spirit He saveth. 19. Many [are] the evils of the righteous, Out of them all doth Jehovah deliver him. 20. He is keeping all his bones, One of them hath not been broken. 21. Evil doth put to death the wicked, And those hating the righteous are desolate. 22. Jehovah redeemeth the soul of His servants, And none trusting in Him are desolate!" (Psalms 34:1-22, 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.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

_log-archive-2026-05

Notes

Your annotations.

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.