Psalms 115
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 115 is given here in full, verse by verse, in Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), with the Greek text of the Septuagint set beneath each verse. The text follows the Septuagint tradition received throughout the Orthodox Church.
14 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (3) follow the text.
Psalms 115
1(116) Alleluia. (115) Alleluia. I am well pleased, because the Lord will listen to the voice of my supplication.Ἀλληλούϊα. Ἐπιστεύσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐταπεινώθην σφόδρα.
2Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore will I call upon him while I live.Ἐγὼ δὲ εἶπα ἐν τῇ ἐκστάσει μου, πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης.
3The pangs of death compassed me; the dangers of hell found me: I found affliction and sorrow.Τί ἀνταποδώσω τῷ Κυρίῳ περὶ πάντων ὧν ἀνταπέδωκέ μοι;
4Then I called on the name of the Lord: O Lord, deliver my soul.Ποτήριον σωτηρίου λήψομαι, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου ἐπικαλέσομαι·
4aΤὰς εὐχάς μου τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀποδώσω, ἐναντίον παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ.
5The Lord is merciful and righteous; yes, our God has pity.
6The Lord preserves * the simple: I was brought low, and he delivered me.Τίμιος ἐναντίον Κυρίου ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ.
7Return to your rest, O my soul; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.Ὦ Κύριε ἐγὼ δοῦλος σὸς, ἐγὼ δοῦλος σὸς, καὶ υἱὸς τῆς παιδίσκης σου, διέῤῥηξας τοὺς δεσμούς μου.
8For he has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.Σοὶ θύσω θυσίαν αἰνέσεως, καὶ ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἐπικαλέσομαι·
9I shall be well-pleasing before the Lord in the land of the living.Τὰς εὐχάς μου τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀποδώσω, ἐναντίον παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ,
10†✡ I believed, therefore I have spoken: but I was greatly afflicted.ἐν αὐλαῖς οἴκου Κυρίου, ἐν μέσῳ σου Ἱερουσαλήμ.
11And I said in my amazement, Every man is a liar.
12What shall I render to the Lord for all the things wherein he has rewarded me?
13I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.
14I will pay my vows to the Lord, in the presence of all his people.
15Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
16O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, and the son of your handmaid: you have burst my bonds asunder.
17I will offer to you the sacrifice of praise, and will call upon the name of the Lord.
18I will pay my vows to the Lord, in the presence of all his people,
19in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of you, Jerusalem.
Translator's Notes
These notes come from the printed edition of Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), and record where the Greek differs from the English rendering or admits more than one reading.
- v. 6*Gr. infants.
- v. 10†In Brenton's text, Psalm 115 commences here, but verse numbers continue from v10 to v19.
- v. 10✡2 Cor 4:13
The Fathers on Psalms 115
Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this chapter. Each excerpt below is drawn from the full text held in the Fathers Library; follow the link on any entry to read the whole work.
On Psalms 115:1Saint Augustine of Hippo1. “I have loved, since the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer” (ver. 1). Let the soul that is sojourning in absence from the Lord sing thus, let that sheep which had strayed sing thus, let that son who had “died and returned to life,” who had “been lost and was found;” let our soul sing thus, brethren, and most beloved sons. Let us be taught, and let us abide, and let us sing thus with the Saints: “I have…
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On Psalms 115:2Saint Augustine of Hippo2. But whence hath he hoped for this? Since, he saith, “He hath inclined His ear unto me: and in my days I have called upon Him” (ver. 2). I loved, therefore, because He will hear; He will hear, “because He hath inclined His ear unto me.” But whence knowest thou, O human soul, that God hath inclined His ear unto thee, except thou sayest, “I have believed”? These three things, therefore, “abide, faith, hope,…
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On Psalms 115:3Saint Augustine of Hippo3. And what are thy days, since thou hast said, “In my days I have called upon Him”? Are they those perchance, in which “the fulness of time came,” and “God sent His Son,” who had already said, “In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee”?…I may rather call my days the days of my misery, the days of my mortality, the days according to Adam, full of toil and sweat, the…
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On Psalms 115:4Saint Augustine of Hippo4. But after “I too found trouble and heaviness, I called upon the Name of the Lord” (ver. 4). For trouble and profitable sorrow I did not feel; trouble, wherein He giveth aid, unto whom it is said, “O be Thou our help in trouble: and vain is the help of man.” For I thought I might rejoice and exult in the vain help of man; but when I had heard from my Lord, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be…
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On Psalms 115:5–6Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful” (ver. 5). He is gracious, righteous, and merciful. Gracious in the first place, because He hath inclined His ear unto me; and I knew not that the ear of God had approached my lips, till I was aroused by those beautiful feet, that I might call upon the Lord’s Name: for who hath called upon Him, save he whom He first called? Hence therefore He is in…
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On Psalms 115:7–9Saint Augustine of Hippo6. “Turn again then unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath done good to thee” (ver. 7): not for thy deservings, or through thy strength; but because the Lord hath done good to thee. “Since,” he saith, “He hath delivered my soul from death” (ver. 8). It is wonderful, most beloved brethren, that, after he had said that his soul should turn unto rest, since the Lord had rewarded him; he added, since “He hath…
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On Psalms 115:10Saint Augustine of Hippo7. …“I believed,” saith he, “and therefore did I speak. But I was sorely brought down” (ver. 10). For he suffered many tribulations, for the sake of the word which he faithfully held, faithfully preached; and he was sorely brought down; as they feared who loved the praise of men better than that of God. But what meaneth, “But I”? He should rather say, I believed, and therefore I have spoken, and I was sorely…
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On Psalms 115:11Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “I said in my trance, All men are liars” (ver. 11). By trance he meaneth fear, which when persecutors threaten, and when the sufferings of torture or death impend, human weakness suffereth. For this we understand, because in this Psalm the voice of Martyrs is heard. For trance is used in another sense also, when the mind is not beside itself by fear, but is possessed by some inspiration of revelation. “But I…
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On Psalms 115:12Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “What,” he asketh, “what reward shall I give unto the Lord, for all the benefits that He hath returned unto me?” (ver. 12). He saith not, for all the benefits that He hath done unto me but “for all the benefits that He hath returned unto me.” What deeds then on the man’s part had preceded, that all the benefits of God were not said to be given, but returned? What had preceded, on the man’s part, save sins? God…
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On Psalms 115:13–15Saint Augustine of Hippo10. But this man seeketh what he may return unto the Lord, and findeth not, save out of those things which the Lord Himself returneth. “I will receive,” he saith, “the cup of salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord” (ver. 13). “My vows will I render to the Lord, before all His people” (ver. 14). Who hath given thee the cup of salvation, which when thou takest, and callest upon the Name of the Lord, thou…
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On Psalms 115:16Saint Augustine of Hippo11. Let therefore the slave purchased at so great a price confess his condition, and say, “Behold, O Lord, how that I am Thy servant: “I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid” (ver. 16).…This, therefore, is the son of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is above, the free mother of us all. And free indeed from sin she is, but the handmaid of righteousness; to whose sons still pilgrims it is said, “Ye have been…
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On Psalms 115:17Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of praise” (ver. 17). For I have not found any deserts of mine, since Thou hast broken my bonds asunder; I therefore owe Thee the sacrifice of praise; because, although I will boast that I am Thy servant, and the son of Thy handmaid, I will glory not in myself, but in Thee, my Lord, who hast broken asunder my bonds, that when I return from my desertion, I may again be bound…
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On Psalms 115:18Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “I will pay my vows unto the Lord” (ver. 18). What vows wilt thou pay? What victims hast thou vowed? what burnt-offerings, what holocausts? Dost thou refer to what thou hast said a little before, “I will receive the cup of salvation, and will call upon the Name of the Lord;” and, “I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving”? and indeed whosoever well considereth what he is vowing to the Lord, and what…
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On Psalms 115:19Open Psalms 115 in the interactive reader Switch translations, hear the chapter read aloud, tap any verse for its patristic commentary, and study the Greek word by word.Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “In the courts,” he saith, “of the Lord’s house” (ver. 19). What is the Lord’s house, the same is the Lord’s handmaid: and what is God’s house, save all His people? It therefore followeth, “In the sight of all His people.” And now he more openly nameth his mother herself. For what else is His people, but what followeth, “In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem”? For than that which is returned grateful, if it be…
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