Passage

Psalms 88.1

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{A Song, a Psalm of the sons of Korah; for the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath Leannoth. Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.} O Jehovah, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee."

"2. Let my prayer enter into thy presence; Incline thine ear unto my cry. 3. For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draweth nigh unto Sheol." (Psalms 88:1-3, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Suffering of Affliction.” A contemplation by Heman, the Ezrahite. Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you."

"2. Let my prayer enter into your presence. Turn your ear to my cry. 3. For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol." (Psalms 88:1-3, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: ^{for the sons: or, of the sons} ^{Maschil: or, A Psalm of Heman the Ezrahite, giving instruction}"

"2. Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; 3. For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave." (Psalms 88:1-3, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. A Song, a Psalm, by sons of Korah, to the Overseer, 'Concerning the Sickness of Afflictions.', An instruction, by Heman the Ezrahite. O Jehovah, God of my salvation, Daily I have cried, nightly before Thee,"

"2. My prayer cometh in before Thee, Incline Thine ear to my loud cry, 3. For my soul hath been full of evils, And my life hath come to Sheol." (Psalms 88:1-3, 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
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

H3444 - yeshuah

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.