# Psalms 36.5
**Book:** [Psalms](/codex/psalms/) · ASV
## Immediate context (±2 verses)
**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 3. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: He hath ceased to be wise and to do good. 4. He deviseth iniquity upon his bed; He setteth himself in a way that is not good; He abhorreth not evil.
>
> **5. Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, is in the heavens; Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the skies.**
>
> 6. Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God; Thy judgments are a great deep: O Jehovah, thou preservest man and beast. 7. How precious is thy lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge under the shadow of thy wings. (Psalms 36:3-7, ASV)
**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 3. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good. 4. He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil.
>
> **5. Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.**
>
> 6. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. Your judgments are like a great deep. Yahweh, you preserve man and animal. 7. How precious is your loving kindness, God! The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings. (Psalms 36:3-7, WEB)
**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 3. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good. 4. He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil. mischief: or, vanity
>
> **5. Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.**
>
> 6. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast. the: Heb. the mountains of God 7. How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. excellent: Heb. precious (Psalms 36:3-7, KJV)
**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 3. The words of his mouth [are] iniquity and deceit, He ceased to act prudently, to do good. 4. Iniquity he deviseth on his bed, He stationeth himself on a way not good, Evil he doth not refuse.'
>
> **5. O Jehovah, in the heavens [is] Thy kindness, Thy faithfulness [is] unto the clouds.**
>
> 6. Thy righteousness [is] as mountains of God, Thy judgments [are] a great deep. Man and beast Thou savest, O Jehovah. 7. How precious [is] Thy kindness, O God, And the sons of men In the shadow of Thy wings do trust. (Psalms 36:3-7, YLT)
## Setting
- **Speaker:** David
- **Audience:** Israel in corporate worship; reader as worshipper
- **Location:** Jerusalem temple liturgy tradition
- **Time period:** Davidic monarchy (c. 1010-970 BC)
## Theological reading
Psalm 36:5 is one of the most cosmically scaled *emunah*-doxologies in the Psalter. After describing the moral collapse of the wicked (vv. 1-4), David pivots to YHWH's *hesed* and *emunah*, picturing them as reaching from earth to the heavens and the skies. The vertical-cosmic scale matters: the believer's confidence is in attributes that exceed the bounds of the visible creation. The parallelism of [*hesed*](/codex/h2617-hesed/) (covenant loyalty) and [*emunah*](/codex/h0530-emunah/) (faithfulness) names the twin pillars of God's covenantal character, the loyal love and the trustworthy reliability that together ground the believer's refuge (v. 7). The verse appears in the *Te Deum* liturgical tradition.
## Key words
- [H0530 - emunah](/codex/h0530-emunah/), *emunah*
- [H2617 - hesed](/codex/h2617-hesed/), *hesed*
## See also
- [H0530 - emunah](/codex/h0530-emunah/), the lexical hub
- [H2617 - hesed](/codex/h2617-hesed/)
- [Psalms](/codex/psalms/)
## Quoted in
**Lexicon:**
- [H0530 - emunah](/codex/h0530-emunah/)
## 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](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/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](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.