Passage
Psalms 88.1
Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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.
- 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
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.
- 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
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
- 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
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,
- 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)
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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.
- H3444 - yeshuah, yeshuah, Strong's H3444
- H6031 - anah, anah, Strong's H6031
- H0430 - elohim, elohim, Strong's H0430
- H1121 - ben, ben, Strong's H1121
- H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068
Quoted in
Lexicon:
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.