Passage

Psalms 88

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Opening (verses 1-9)

ASV (ASV)

"1. 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. 4. I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no help, 5. Cast off among the dead, Like the slain that lie in the grave, Whom thou rememberest no more, And they are cut off from thy hand. 6. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in the deeps. 7. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah 8. Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me; Thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. 9. Mine eye wasteth away by reason of affliction: I have called daily upon thee, O Jehovah; I have spread forth my hands unto thee." (Psalm 88:1-9, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. 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. 4. I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help, 5. set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand. 6. You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. 7. Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah. 8. You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can’t escape. 9. My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you." (Psalm 88:1-9, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: 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. 4. I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5. Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. 6. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 7. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. 8. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. 9. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee." (Psalm 88:1-9, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. 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. 4. I have been reckoned with those going down [to] the pit, I have been as a man without strength. 5. Among the dead, free, As pierced ones lying in the grave, Whom Thou hast not remembered any more, Yea, they by Thy hand have been cut off. 6. Thou hast put me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in depths. 7. Upon me hath Thy fury lain, And [with] all Thy breakers Thou hast afflicted. Selah. 8. Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me, Thou hast made me an abomination to them, Shut up, I go not forth. 9. Mine eye hath grieved because of affliction, I called Thee, O Jehovah, all the day, I have spread out unto Thee my hands." (Psalm 88:1-9, YLT)

Closing (verses 14-18)

ASV (ASV)

"14. Jehovah, why castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me? 15. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. 16. Thy fierce wrath is gone over me; Thy terrors have cut me off. 17. They came round about me like water all the day long; They compassed me about together. 18. Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, And mine acquaintance into darkness." (Psalm 88:14-18, ASV)

Setting

Speaker: "Heman the Ezrahite" (per superscription); a Korahite singer
Audience: the worshipping community of Israel
Location: Jerusalem and Judah
Time period: various Psalms span c. 1000 BC (Davidic) to post-exilic; Psalm 88's composition date uncertain

Theological reading

Psalm 88 is famously the psalm with no resolution, the only psalm in the Psalter that does not move from lament to praise or assurance. It ends with the line "lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness." Cited in the existential-problem-of-evil discussion (Lesson 4.1, The Problem of Evil, Problem of Evil) as Scripture's own acknowledgment that the felt-experience of divine abandonment is a real, named, canonical category, not a deficiency in the sufferer's faith. The book of Psalms hub (Psalms) provides higher-level theological context.

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.