Psalms 81-90 (Translated)

Psalm 81[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
1	Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2	Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3	Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4	For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
5	This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
6	I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
7	Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
8	Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
9	There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10	I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11	But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12	So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13	Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
14	I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
15	The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
16	He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

Psalm 82[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
1	God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
2	How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3	Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4	Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5	They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6	I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
7	But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
8	Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Psalm 83[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
1	Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
2	For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
3	They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4	They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5	For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:
6	The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7	Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8	Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.
9	Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
10	Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.
11	Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:
12	Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
13	O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.
14	As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
15	So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
16	Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.
17	Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
18	That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

Psalm 84[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
1	How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
2	My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
3	Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
4	Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
5	Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
6	Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
7	They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
8	O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.
9	Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
10	For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11	For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12	O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Psalm 85[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
1	LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2	Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
3	Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.
4	Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.
5	Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
6	Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
7	Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.
8	I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
9	Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
10	Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11	Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12	Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
13	Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

Psalm 86[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
1	Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
2	Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
3	Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
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.
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.
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.

Psalm 87[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
1	His foundation is in the holy mountains.
2	The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3	Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
4	I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.
5	And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.
6	The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.
7	As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.

Psalm 88[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
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.
10	Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
11	Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
12	Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13	But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
14	LORD, 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 goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
17	They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.
18	Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

Psalm 89[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
1	I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
2	For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
3	I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
4	Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
5	And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
6	For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
7	God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
8	O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
9	Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
10	Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
11	The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them.
12	The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
13	Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14	Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
15	Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
16	In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17	For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
18	For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
19	Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
20	I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
21	With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.
22	The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23	And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
24	But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25	I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
26	He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
27	Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
28	My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
29	His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
30	If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
31	If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
32	Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
33	Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
34	My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35	Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
36	His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me.
37	It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
38	But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.
39	Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
40	Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.
41	All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.
42	Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
43	Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
44	Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.
45	The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.
46	How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
47	Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
48	What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
49	Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
50	Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;
51	Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
52	Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

Psalm 90[edit]

Verse	King James Version	Proposed Conservative Translation	Analysis
1	LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.	Lord, You have been our sanctuary for every generation.
2	Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
3	Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
4	For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
5	Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
6	In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
7	For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
8	Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9	For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
10	The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.	Our lifespan is 70 years; if good living extends that to 80 years, labor and sorrow accompany it, because it is soon ended and our souls depart.	This verse inspired the first words of the Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago ...."
11	Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
12	So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
13	Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
14	O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15	Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16	Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
17	And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.