Psalms 139
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 139 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.
12 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (2) follow the text.
Psalms 139
1(140) For the end, a Psalm of David.Εἰς τὸ τέλος, τῷ Δαυὶδ ψαλμός.
2Rescue me, O Lord, from the evil man; deliver me from the unjust man.Ἐξελοῦ με Κύριε ἐξ ἀνθρώπου πονηροῦ, ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς ἀδίκου ῥῦσαί με·
3Who have devised injustice in their hearts; all the day they prepared war.οἵτινες ἐλογίσαντο ἀδικίας ἐν καρδίᾳ, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν παρετάσσοντο πολέμους.
4They have sharpened their tongue as the tongue of a serpent; ✡ the poison of asps is under their lips. Pause.Ἠκόνησαν γλῶσσαν αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ ὄφεως, ἰὸς ἀσπίδων ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη αὐτῶν· διάψαλμα.
5Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the sinner; rescue me from unjust men; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.Φύλαξόν με Κύριε ἐκ χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων ἀδίκων ἐξελοῦ με· οἵτινες ἐλογίσαντο τοῦ ὑποσκελίσαι τὰ διαβήματά μου.
6The proud have hid a snare for me, and have stretched out ropes for snares for my feet; they set a stumbling block for me near the path. Pause.Ἔκρυψαν ὑπερήφανοι παγίδα μοι· καὶ σχοινία διέτειναν παγίδας τοῖς ποσί μου, ἐχόμενα τρίβου σκάνδαλον ἔθεντό μοι· διάψαλμα.
7I said to the Lord, You are my God; listen, O Lord, to the voice of my supplication.Εἶπα τῷ Κυρίῳ, Θεός μου εἶ σὺ· ἐνώτισαι, Κύριε, τὴν φωνὴν τῆς δεήσεώς μου.
8O Lord God, the strength of my salvation; you have screened my head in the day of battle.Κύριε Κύριε, δύναμις τῆς σωτηρίας μου, ἐπεσκίασας ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλήν μου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πολέμου.
9Deliver me not, O Lord, to the sinner, * according to my desire: they have devised mischief against me; forsake me not, lest they should be exalted. Pause.Μὴ παραδῷς με, Κύριε, ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας μου ἁμαρτωλῷ· διελογίσαντο κατʼ ἐμοῦ, μὴ ἐγκαταλίπῃς με, μή ποτε ὑψωθῶσι· διάψαλμα.
10As for the head of them that compass me, the mischief of their lips shall cover them.Ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ κυκλώματος αὐτῶν, κόπος τῶν χειλέων αὐτῶν καλύψει αὐτούς.
11Coals of fire shall fall upon them on the earth; and you shall cast them down in afflictions: they shall not bear up under them.Πεσοῦνται ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἄνθρακες πυρὸς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ καταβαλεῖς αὐτοὺς ἐν ταλαιπωρίαις, οὐ μὴ ὑποστῶσιν.
12A talkative man shall not prosper on the earth: evils shall hunt the unrighteous man to destruction.Ἀνὴρ γλωσσώδης οὐ κατευθυνθήσεται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ἄνδρα ἄδικον κακὰ θηρεύσει εἰς καταφθοράν.
13I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the † poor, and the right of the needy ones.Ἔγνων ὅτι ποιήσει Κύριος τὴν κρίσιν τοῦ πτωχοῦ, καὶ τὴν δίκην τῶν πενήτων.
14Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name: the upright shall dwell in your presence.Πλὴν δίκαιοι ἐξομολογήσονται τῷ ὀνόματί σου, κατοικήσουσιν εὐθεῖς σὺν τῷ προσώπῳ σου.
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. 3✡Rom 3:13 * 139:8
- v. 12†Gr. singular.
The Fathers on Psalms 139
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 139:2Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man” (ver. 1). Not from one only, but from the class; not from the vessels only, but from their prince himself, that is, the devil. Why “from man,” if he meaneth from the devil? Because he too is called a man in a figure.…Now then being made light, not in ourselves, but in the Lord, let us pray not only against darkness, that is, against sinners, whom still the devil…
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On Psalms 139:3–4Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “Who have imagined unrighteousnesses in their heart” (ver. 2).…From them free me, from them let Thy hand be most powerful to deliver me. For easy is it to avoid open enmities, easy is it to turn aside from an enemy declared and manifest, while iniquity is in his lips as well as his heart; he is a troublesome enemy, he is secret, he is with difficulty avoided, who beareth good things in his lips, while in his…
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On Psalms 139:5Saint Augustine of Hippo6. “Preserve me, O Lord, from the hand of the sinner, from unrighteous men deliver me” (ver. 4). Here they wear their real colours, they are known; here we have no need to understand, but to act: we have need to pray, not to ask who they are. But how thou shouldest pray against such men, he explaineth in what followeth. For many pray unskilfully against wicked men. “Who have imagined,” saith he, “to trip up my…
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On Psalms 139:6Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “The proud have hidden a trap for me” (ver. 5). He hath briefly described the whole body of the devil, when he saith, “the proud.” Hence is it that for the most part they call themselves righteous when they are unrighteous. Hence is it that nothing is so grievous to them as to confess their sins. They are men who, being falsely righteous, must needs envy the truly righteous. For none envieth another in that…
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On Psalms 139:7Saint Augustine of Hippo9. And what remaineth? what remedy amid such ills, in such temptations, such dangers? “I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God” (ver. 6). Loud is the voice of prayer, it exciteth confidence. Is He not the God of the others? Of whom is not He God, who is the true God? Yet is He specially theirs, who enjoy Him, who serve Him, who willingly submit to Him. For the wicked too, though unwillingly, are subject to…
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On Psalms 139:8Saint Augustine of Hippo10. Commending this to the ears of God, let him say, “Lord, Lord.” Thou Lord-Lord, that is, most truly Lord, not like unto the lords-men, not like the lords who buy with money-bags, but the Lord who buyeth with His Blood. “Lord, Lord, Thou strength of my health” (ver. 7), that is, who givest strength to my health. What is the meaning of “strength of my health”? He complained of the stumbling-blocks and snares of…
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On Psalms 139:9Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “Deliver me not over, O Lord, by my own longing to the sinner” (ver. 8). Behold to what end Thy overshadowing shall avail for me, that I suffer not heat from myself. And what could that “sinner” do to me, rage as he would? For wicked men raged against the martyrs, dragged them away, bound them with chains, shut them up in prisons, slew them with the sword, exposed them to wild beasts, consumed them with fire:…
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On Psalms 139:10Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “The head of their going about, the toil of their own lips shall cover them” (ver. 9). Me, he saith, the shadow of Thy wings shall cover: for, “Thou hast covered me in the day of battle.” Them what shall cover? “The head of their going about;” that is, pride. What is, “their going about”? How they go about and stand not, how they go in the circle of error, where is journeying without end. He who goeth in a…
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On Psalms 139:11Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “Coals of fire shall fall upon them upon earth, and Thou shalt cast them down” (ver. 10). What is, “upon earth”? Here, even in this life, here “coals of fire shall fall upon them.” What are, “coals of fire”? We know these coals. Are they different from those of which we are about to speak? For these I see avail for punishment, those that I am about to speak of, for salvation. For we have spoken of certain…
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On Psalms 139:12Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “A man full of words shall not be guided upon earth” (ver. 11). “A man full of words” loveth lies. For what pleasure hath he, save in speaking? He careth not what he speaketh, so long as he speaks. It cannot be that he will be guided. What then ought the servant of God to do, who is kindled with these “coals,” and himself made a coal of salvation, what should he do? He should wish rather to hear than to…
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On Psalms 139:13Saint Augustine of Hippo15. “I know that the Lord will maintain the right of the needy” (ver. 12). This “needy” one is not “full of words;” for he that is full of words, wisheth to abound, knoweth not to hunger. He is “needy” of whom it is said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” They groan among the stumbling-blocks of the wicked, they pray to their Head, “to be delivered from…
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On Psalms 139:14Open Psalms 139 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 Hippo16. “But the just shall confess to Thy Name” (ver. 13). Both when Thou shalt plead their cause, and when Thou shalt maintain their right, they “shall confess to Thy Name;” nought shall they attribute to their own merits, all they shall attribute to nought save to Thy mercy.…Therefore see what followeth, see wherewith he concludeth. “The upright shall dwell with Thy Countenance.” For ill was it with them in their…
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