Psalms 117
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 117 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.
23 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from 2 Fathers — Attributed to Saint Methodius of Olympus and Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (4) follow the text.
Psalms 117
1(118) Alleluia. Give thanks to the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.Ἀλληλούϊα. Ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ.
2Let now the house of Israel say, that he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.Εἰπάτω δὴ οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ.
3Let now the house of Aaron say, that he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.Εἰπάτω δὴ οἶκος Ἀαρὼν, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ.
4Let now all that fear the Lord say, that he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.Εἰπάτωσαν δὴ πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν Κύριον, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ.
5I called on the Lord out of affliction: and he listened to me, so as to bring me into a wide place.Ἐκ θλίψεως ἐπεκαλεσάμην τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἐπήκουσέ μου εἰς πλατυσμόν.
6✡ The Lord is my helper; and I will not fear what man shall do to me.Κύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθὸς, καὶ οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιησει μοι ἄνθρωπος.
7The Lord is my helper; and I shall see my desire upon my enemies.Κύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθὸς, κᾀγὼ ἐπόψομαι τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου.
8It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man.Ἀγαθὸν πεποιθέναι ἐπὶ Κύριον, ἢ πεποιθέναι ἐπʼ ἄνθρωπον.
9It is better to hope in the Lord, than to hope in princes.Ἀγαθὸν ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ Κύριον, ἢ ἐλπίζειν ἐπʼ ἄρχουσι.
10All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord I repulsed them.Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐκύκλωσάν με, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἠμυνάμην αὐτούς·
11They completely compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord I repulsed them.Κυκλώσαντες ἐκύκλωσάν με, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἠμυνάμην αὐτούς·
12They compassed me about as bees do a honeycomb, and they burst into flame as fire among thorns: but in the name of the Lord I repulsed them.Ἐκύκλωσάν με ὡσεὶ μέλισσαι κηρίον, καὶ ἐξεκαύθησαν ὡς πῦρ ἐν ἀκάνθαις, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἠμυνάμην αὐτούς.
13I was thrust, and sorely shaken, that I might fall: but the Lord helped me.Ὠσθεὶς ἀνετράπην τοῦ πεσεῖν, καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἀντελάβετό μου.
14The Lord is my strength and my song, and is become my salvation.Ἰσχύς μου καὶ ὕμνησίς μου ὁ Κύριος, καὶ ἐγένετό μοι εἰς σωτηρίαν.
15The voice of exultation and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord has wrought mightily.Φωνὴ ἀγαλλιάσεως καὶ σωτηρίας ἐν σκηναῖς δικαίων· δεξιὰ Κυρίου ἐποίησε δύναμιν,
16The right hand of the Lord has exalted me: the right hand of the Lord has wrought powerfully.δεξιὰ Κυρίου ὕψωσέ με· δεξιὰ Κυρίου ἐποίησε δύναμιν.
17I shall not die, but live, and recount the works of the Lord.Οὐκ ἀποθανοῦμαι, ἀλλὰ ζήσομαι, καὶ διηγήσομαι τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου.
18The Lord has chastened me sore: but he has not given me up to death.Παιδεύων ἐπαίδευσέ με ὁ Κύριος, καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ οὐ παρέδωκέ με.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and give praise to the Lord.Ἀνοίξατέ μοι πύλας δικαιοσύνης, εἰσελθὼν ἐν αὐταῖς ἐξομολογήσομαι τῷ Κυρίῳ.
20This is the gate of the Lord: the righteous shall enter by it.Αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ Κυρίου, δίκαιοι εἰσελεύσονται ἐν αὐτῇ.
21I will give thanks to you; because you have heard me, and are become my salvation.Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, ὅτι ἐπήκουσάς μου, καὶ ἐγένου μου εἰς σωτηρίαν.
22✡ The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας.
23This has been done of the Lord; and it is wonderful in our eyes.Παρὰ Κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη, καὶ ἔστι θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν.
24This is the day which the Lord has made: let us exult and rejoice in it.Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ.
25O Lord, save now: O Lord, send now prosperity.Ὦ Κύριε σῶσον δὴ, ὦ Κύριε εὐόδωσον δή.
26✡ Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου· εὐλογήκαμεν ὑμᾶς ἐξ οἴκου Κυρίου.
27God is the Lord, and he has shined upon us: celebrate the feast with * thick branches, binding the victims even to the horns of the altar.Θεὸς Κύριος, καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν· συστήσασθε ἑορτὴν ἐν τοῖς πυκάζουσιν, ἕως τῶν κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου.
28You are my God, and I will give you thanks: you are my God, and I will exalt you. I will give thanks to you, for you have heard me, and are become my salvation.Θεός μου εἶ σὺ, καὶ ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι· Θεός μου εἶ σὺ, καὶ ὑψώσω σε· ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, ὅτι ἐπήκουσάς μου, καὶ ἐγένου μοι εἰς σωτηρίαν.
29Give thanks to the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.Ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι ἀγαθὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ.
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✡Heb 13:6
- v. 22✡Matt 21:42
- v. 26✡Matt 21:9
- v. 27*Possibly, the multitude, q. d. cœtu frequenti.
The Fathers on Psalms 117
Attributed to Saint Methodius of Olympus and Saint Augustine of Hippo comment 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 117Attributed to Saint Methodius of OlympusOration on the Palms. I. Blessed be God; let us proceed, brethren, from wonders to the miracles of the Lord, and as it were, from strength to strength. For just as in a golden chain the links are so intimately joined and connected together, as that the one holds the other, and is fitted on to it, and so carries on the chain—even so the miracles that have…
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On Psalms 117:1Saint Augustine of Hippo1. …We are taught in this Psalm, when we chaunt Allelujah, which meaneth, Praise the Lord, that we should, when we hear the words, “Confess unto the Lord” (ver. 1), praise the Lord. The praise of God could not be expressed in fewer words than these, “For He is good.” I see not what can be more solemn than this brevity, since goodness is so peculiarly the quality of God, that the Son of God Himself when addressed…
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On Psalms 117:2–5Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “Let Israel now confess that He is good, and that His mercy endureth for ever” (ver. 2). “Let the house of Aaron now confess that His mercy endureth for ever” (ver. 3). “Yea, let all now that fear the Lord confess that His mercy endureth for ever” (ver. 4). Ye remember, I suppose, most beloved, what is the house of Israel, what is the house of Aaron, and that both are those that fear the Lord. For they are…
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On Psalms 117:6–7Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man doeth unto me” (ver. 6). But are men, then, the only enemies that the Church hath? What is a man devoted to flesh and blood, save flesh and blood? But the Apostle saith, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against,”…he saith, “spiritual wickedness in high places;” that is, the devil and his angels; that devil whom elsewhere he calleth “the prince of the…
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On Psalms 117:8–9Saint Augustine of Hippo4. But, when my enemies have been brought to contempt, let not my friend present himself unto me as a good man, so as to bid me repose my hope in himself: for “It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put any confidence in man” (ver. 8). Nor let any one, who may in a certain sense be styled a good angel, be regarded by myself as one in whom I ought to put my trust: for “no one is good, save God alone;” and when…
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On Psalms 117:10–11Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “All nations compassed me round about, but in the Name of the Lord have I taken vengeance on them” (ver. 10). “They kept me in on every side, they kept me in, I say, on every side; but in the Name of the Lord have I taken vengeance on them” (ver. 11). He signifieth the toils and the victory of the Church; but, as if the question were asked how she could have overcome so great evils, he looketh back to the…
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On Psalms 117:12Saint Augustine of Hippo6. “They came about me as bees do a hive, and burned up even as the fire among the thorns: and in the Name of the Lord have I taken vengeance on them” (ver. 12). Here then the order of the words corresponds with the order of events. For we rightly understand that our Lord Himself, the Head of the Church, was surrounded by persecutors, even as bees surround a hive. For the Holy Spirit is speaking with mystic…
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On Psalms 117:13Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “I have been driven on like a heap of sand, so that I was falling, but the Lord upheld me” (ver. 13). For though there were a great multitude of believers, that might be compared to the countless sand, and brought into one communion as into one heap; yet “what is man, save Thou be mindful of Him?” He said not, the multitude of the Gentiles could not surpass the abundance of my host, but, “the Lord,” he saith,…
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On Psalms 117:14Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “The Lord is my strength and my praise, and is become my salvation” (ver. 14). Who then fall, when they are pushed, save they who choose to be their own strength and their own praise? For no man falleth in the contest, except he whose strength and praise faileth. He therefore whose strength and praise is the Lord, falleth no more than the Lord falleth. And for this reason He hath become their salvation; not…
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On Psalms 117:15Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “The voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous” (ver. 15); where they who raged against their bodies thought there was the voice of sorrow and destruction. For they did not know the inward joy of the saints in their future hope. Whence the Apostle also saith, “As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing;” and again, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also.”
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On Psalms 117:16Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “The right hand of the Lord hath brought mighty things to pass” (ver. 16). What mighty things? saith he. “The right hand of the Lord,” he saith, “hath exalted me.” It is a mighty thing to exalt the humble, to deify the mortal, to bring perfection out of infirmity, glory from subjection, victory from suffering, to give help, to raise from trouble; that the true salvation of God might be laid open to the…
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On Psalms 117:17Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord” (ver. 17). But they, while they were dealing havoc and death on every side, thought that the Church of Christ was dying. Behold, he now declareth the works of the Lord. Everywhere Christ is the glory of the blessed Martyrs. By being beaten He conquered those who struck Him; by being patient of torments, the tormentors; by loving, those who raged…
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On Psalms 117:18Saint Augustine of Hippo12. Nevertheless, let him point out to us, why the body of Christ, the holy Church, the people of adoption, suffered such indignities. “The Lord,” he saith, “hast chastened and corrected me, but He hath not given me over unto death” (ver. 18). Let not then the boastful wicked imagine that aught hath been permitted to their power: they would not have that power, were it not given them from above. Oft doth the…
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On Psalms 117:19Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “Open me,” he saith, “the gates of righteousness” (ver 19). Behold, we have heard of the gates. What is within? “That I may,” he saith, “go into them, and give thanks unto the Lord.” This is the confession of praise full of wonder, “even unto the house of God, in the voice of joy and confession of praise, among such as keep holiday:” this is the everlasting bliss of the righteous, whereby they are blessed who…
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On Psalms 117:20Saint Augustine of Hippo14. But consider how the gates of righteousness are entered into. “These are the gates of the Lord” he saith, “the righteous shall enter into them” (ver. 20). At least let no wicked man enter there, that Jerusalem which receiveth not one uncircumcised, where it is said, “Without are dogs.” Be it enough, that in my long pilgrimage “I have had my habitation among the tents of Kedar:” I endured even unto the end the…
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On Psalms 117:21Saint Augustine of Hippo15. “I will confess unto Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation” (ver. 21). How often is that confession proved to be one of praise, that doth not point out wounds to the physician, but giveth thanks for the health it hath received. But the Physician Himself is the Salvation.
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On Psalms 117:22Saint Augustine of Hippo16. But who is this whom we speak of? “The Stone which the builders rejected” (ver. 22); for “It hath become the head Stone of the corner” to “make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body;” circumcision, to wit, and uncircumcision.
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On Psalms 117:24Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “By the Lord was it made unto it” (ver. 23): that is, it is made into the head stone of the corner by the Lord. For although He would not have become this, had He not suffered: yet He became not this through those from whom He suffered. For they who were building, refused Him: but in the edifice which the Lord was secretly raising, that was made the head stone of the corner which they rejected. “And it is…
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On Psalms 117:24Saint Augustine of Hippo18. “This is the day which the Lord hath made” (ver. 24). This man remembereth that he had said in former Psalms, “Since He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live;” making mention of his old days; whence he now saith, “This is the day which the Lord hath made;” that is, wherein He hath given me Salvation. This is the day whereof He said, “In an acceptable time have I heard…
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On Psalms 117:25Saint Augustine of Hippo19. “Save me now, O Lord: prosper Thou well my way, O Lord” (ver. 25). Because it is the day of Salvation, “save me:” because we, returning from a long pilgrimage, are separated from those who hated peace, with whom we were peaceful, and who, when we spoke to them, made war upon us without a cause; “prosper well our way” as we return, since Thou hast become our Way.
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On Psalms 117:26Saint Augustine of Hippo20. “Blessed be He that cometh in the Name of the Lord” (ver. 26). Cursed, therefore, is he that cometh in his own name; as He saith in the Gospel: “if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” “We have blessed you out of the house of God.” I believe that these are the words of the great to the little, of those great ones, to wit, who in spirit commune with God the Word, who is with God, as they…
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On Psalms 117:27–28Saint Augustine of Hippo21. “God is the Lord, who hath showed us light” (ver. 27). That Lord, who came in the Lord’s Name, whom the builders refused, and who became the head Stone of the corner, that “Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ,” is God, He is equal with the Father, He hath showed us light, that we might understand what we believed, and declare it to you who understand it not as yet, but already believe it. But that ye…
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On Psalms 117:29Open Psalms 117 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 Hippo22. And what shall we sing there, save His praises? What else shall we say there, save, “Thou art my God, and I will confess unto Thee; Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee. I wilt confess unto Thee, for Thou hast heard me, and art become my Salvation.” We will not say these things in loud words; but the love that abideth in Him of itself crieth out in these words, and these words are love itself. Thus as he…
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