# Psalms 97.2

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-06-01 | updated: 2026-06-01 -->

**Book:** [Psalms](/codex/psalms/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 1. Jehovah reigneth; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad.
>
> **2. Clouds and darkness are round about him: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.**
>
> 3. A fire goeth before him, And burneth up his adversaries round about. 4. His lightnings lightened the world: The earth saw, and trembled. (Psalms 97:1-4, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 1. Yahweh reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad!
>
> **2. Clouds and darkness are around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.**
>
> 3. A fire goes before him, and burns up his adversaries on every side. 4. His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and trembles. (Psalms 97:1-4, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 1. The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. <sup>multitude: Heb. many, or, great isles</sup>
>
> **2. Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. <sup>habitation: or, establishment</sup>**
>
> 3. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. 4. His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. (Psalms 97:1-4, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 1. Jehovah hath reigned, The earth is joyful, many isles rejoice.
>
> **2. Cloud and darkness [are] round about Him, Righteousness and judgment the basis of His throne.**
>
> 3. Fire before Him goeth, And burneth round about His adversaries. 4. Lightened have His lightnings the world, The earth hath seen, and is pained. (Psalms 97:1-4, 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_

<!-- BACKLINKS:START -->
## Quoted in

**Lexicon:**

- [H4941 - mishpat](/codex/h4941-mishpat/)
- [H6664 - tzedeq](/codex/h6664-tzedeq/)

<!-- BACKLINKS:END -->
---

_Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_

## 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](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/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](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.