Passage

Psalms 51.4

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"2. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3. For I know my transgressions; And my sin is ever before me."

"4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, And done that which is evil in thy sight; That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, And be clear when thou judgest."

"5. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me. 6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom." (Psalms 51:2-6, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"2. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. 3. For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me."

"4. Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge."

"5. Behold, I was born in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me. 6. Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place." (Psalms 51:2-6, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"2. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me."

"4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest."

"5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. ^{conceive: Heb. warm me} 6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom." (Psalms 51:2-6, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"2. Thoroughly wash me from mine iniquity, And from my sin cleanse me, 3. For my transgressions I do know, And my sin [is] before me continually."

"4. Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done the evil thing in Thine eyes, So that Thou art righteous in Thy words, Thou art pure in Thy judging."

"5. Lo, in iniquity I have been brought forth, And in sin doth my mother conceive me. 6. Lo, truth Thou hast desired in the inward parts, And in the hidden part Wisdom Thou causest me to know." (Psalms 51:2-6, 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.