Passage

Psalms 86

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{A Prayer of David.} Bow down thine ear, O Jehovah, and answer me; For I am poor and needy. 2. Preserve my soul; For I am godly: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. 3. Be merciful unto me, O Lord; For unto thee do I cry all the day long. 4. Rejoice the soul of thy servant; For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness unto all them that call upon thee. 6. Give ear, O Jehovah, unto my prayer; And hearken unto the voice of my supplications. 7. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee; For thou wilt answer me. 8. There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord; Neither are there any works like unto thy works. 9. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; And they shall glorify thy name. 10. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone. 11. Teach me thy way, O Jehovah; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name. 12. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart; And I will glorify thy name for evermore. 13. For great is thy lovingkindness toward me; And thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol. 14. O God, the proud are risen up against me, And a company of violent men have sought after my soul, And have not set thee before them. 15. But thou, O Lord, art a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth. 16. Oh turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; Give thy strength unto thy servant, And save the son of thy handmaid. 17. Show me a token for good, That they who hate me may see it, and be put to shame, Because thou, Jehovah, hast helped me, and comforted me." (Psalms 86:1-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. A Prayer by David. Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2. Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you. 3. Be merciful to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. 4. Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5. For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive; abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you. 6. Hear, Yahweh, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions. 7. In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me. 8. There is no one like you among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds like your deeds. 9. All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord. They shall glorify your name. 10. For you are great, and do wondrous things. You are God alone. 11. Teach me your way, Yahweh. I will walk in your truth. Make my heart undivided to fear your name. 12. I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart. I will glorify your name forever more. 13. For your loving kindness is great toward me. You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol. 14. God, the proud have risen up against me. A company of violent men have sought after my soul, and they don’t hold regard for you before them. 15. But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth. 16. Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your servant. 17. Show me a sign of your goodness, that those who hate me may see it, and be shamed, because you, Yahweh, have helped me, and comforted me." (Psalms 86:1-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. A Prayer of David. Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. ^{A Prayer: or, A Prayer, being a Psalm of David} 2. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. ^{holy: or, one whom thou favourest} 3. Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. ^{daily: or, all the day} 4. Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 6. Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. 7. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. 8. Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. 9. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. 10. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. 11. Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. 12. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. 13. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. ^{hell: or, grave} 14. O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them. ^{violent: Heb. terrible} 15. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. 16. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid. 17. Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me." (Psalms 86:1-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. A Prayer of David. Incline, O Jehovah, Thine ear, Answer me, for I [am] poor and needy. 2. Keep my soul, for I [am] pious, Save Thy servant, who is trusting to Thee, O Thou, my God. 3. Favour me, O Lord, for to Thee I call all the day. 4. Rejoice the soul of Thy servant, For unto Thee, O Lord, my soul I lift up. 5. For Thou, Lord, [art] good and forgiving. And abundant in kindness to all calling Thee. 6. Hear, O Jehovah, my prayer, And attend to the voice of my supplications. 7. In a day of my distress I call Thee, For Thou dost answer me. 8. There is none like Thee among the gods, O Lord, And like Thy works there are none. 9. All nations that Thou hast made Come and bow themselves before Thee, O Lord, And give honour to Thy name. 10. For great [art] Thou, and doing wonders, Thou [art] God Thyself alone. 11. Show me, O Jehovah, Thy way, I walk in Thy truth, My heart doth rejoice to fear Thy name. 12. I confess Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I honour Thy name to the age. 13. For Thy kindness [is] great toward me, And Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol. 14. O God, the proud have risen up against me, And a company of the terrible sought my soul, And have not placed Thee before them, 15. And Thou, O Lord, [art] God, merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth. 16. Look unto me, and favour me, Give Thy strength to Thy servant, And give salvation to a son of Thine handmaid. 17. Do with me a sign for good, And those hating me see and are ashamed, For Thou, O Jehovah, hast helped me, Yea, Thou hast comforted me!" (Psalms 86:1-17, 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
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Quoted in

GodLogic vs Jacob Hansen, Is The Trinity Biblical (GodLogic 2026)

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.