Psalms 140
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 140 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.
9 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (4) follow the text.
Psalms 140
1(141) A Psalm of David. O Lord, I have cried to you; hear me: attend to the voice of my supplication, when I cry to you.Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυίδ. Κύριε ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σὲ, εἰσάκουσόν μου· πρόσχες τῇ φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου, ἐν τῷ κεκραγέναι με πρὸς σέ.
2Let my prayer be set forth before you as incense; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.Κατευθυνθήτω ἡ προσευχή μου ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν σου· ἔπαρσις τῶν χειρῶν μου θυσία ἑσπερινή.
3Set a watch, O Lord, on my mouth, and a * strong door about by lips.Θοῦ, Κύριε, φυλακὴν τῷ στόματί μου, καὶ θύραν περιοχῆς περὶ τὰ χείλη μου.
4Incline not my heart to evil things, to † employ pretexts ‡ for sins, with those who work iniquity. Let me not unite with their choice ones.Μὴ ἐκκλίνῃς τὴν καρδίαν μου εἰς λόγους πονηρίας, τοῦ προφασίζεσθαι προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, σὺν ἀνθρώποις ἐργαζομένοις τὴν ἀνομίαν, καὶ οὐ μὴ συνδοιάσω μετὰ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτῶν.
5The righteous shall chasten me with mercy, and reprove me: but let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head: for yet shall my prayer also be in their § pleasures.Παιδεύσει με δίκαιος ἐν ἐλέει καὶ ἐλέγξει με, ἔλαιον δὲ ἁμαρτωλοῦ μὴ λιπανάτω τὴν κεφαλήν μου, ὅτι ἔτι καὶ ἡ προσευχή μου ἐν ταῖς εὐδοκίαις αὐτῶν.
6Their mighty ones have been swallowed up near the rock: they shall hear my words, for they are sweet.Κατεπόθησαν ἐχόμενα πέτρας οἱ κραταιοὶ αὐτῶν· ἀκούσονται τὰ ῥήματά μου, ὅτι ἠδύνθησαν.
7As a lump of earth is crushed upon the ground, our bones have been scattered by the mouth of the grave.Ὡσεὶ πάχος γῆς διεῤῥάγη ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, διεσκορπίσθη τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸν ᾅδην.
8For my eyes are to you, O Lord God: I have hoped in you; take not away my life.Ὅτι πρὸς σὲ, Κύριε Κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, μὴ ἀντανέλῃς τὴν ψυχήν μου.
9Keep me from the snare which they have set for me, and from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.Φύλαξόν με ἀπὸ παγίδος ἧς συνεστήσαντό μοι, καὶ ἀπὸ σκανδάλων τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν.
10Sinners shall fall by their own net: I am alone until I shall escape.Πεσοῦνται ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτωλοὶ, καταμόνας εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἕως οὗ ἂν παρέλθω.
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*Lit. a door of fortification.
- v. 4†Gr. pretend pretences.
- v. 4‡Gr. in.
- v. 5§q.d. lest I be injured by them.
The Fathers on Psalms 140
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 140:1Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “Lord, I have cried unto Thee, hear Thou me” (ver. 1). This we all can say. This not I alone say: whole Christ saith it. But it is said rather in the name of the Body: for He too, when He was here and bore our flesh, prayed; and when He prayed, drops of blood streamed down from His whole Body. So is it written in the Gospel: “Jesus prayed earnestly, and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood.” What is…
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On Psalms 140:2Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “Let my prayer be set forth in Thy sight as incense, and the lifting up of my hands an evening sacrifice” (ver. 2). That this is wont to be understood of the Head Himself, every Christian acknowledgeth. For when the day was now sinking towards evening, the Lord upon the Cross “laid down His life to take it again,” did not lose it against His will. Still we too are figured there. For what of Him hung upon the…
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On Psalms 140:3–4Saint Augustine of Hippo4. …“Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth, and a door of restraint around my lips” (ver. 3). He said not a barrier of restraint, but “a door of restraint.” A door is opened as well as shut. If then it be a “door,” let it be both opened and shut; opened, to confession of sin; closed, to excusing sin. So will it be a “door of restraint,” not of ruin. For what doth this “door of restraint” profit us? What doth…
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On Psalms 140:5Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “The righteous One shall amend me in mercy, and convict me” (ver. 5). Behold the sinner confessing. He desireth to be amended in mercy, rather than praised deceitfully.…“Shall convict me,” but “in mercy:” shall convict, yet hateth not: yea, shall all the more convict, because He hateth not. And why doth he therefore give thanks? Because, “rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.” “The righteous One shall…
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On Psalms 140:6Saint Augustine of Hippo8. Thou sayest to me, What am I doing? I am beset with flatterers; they cease not to besiege me; they praise in me what I would not, that praise in me what I hold in little esteem; what I hold dear they blame in me; flatterers, treacherous, deceivers. For instance, “Gaiuseius is a great man, great, learned, wise; but why is he a Christian? For great is his learning, great his reading, great his wisdom.” If great…
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On Psalms 140:7Saint Augustine of Hippo10. What then have all those deaths of the martyrs accomplished? Listen: “As the fatness of the earth is spread over the earth, our bones have been scattered beside the pit” (ver. 7). “The bones” of the martyrs, that is, the bodies of the witnesses of Christ. The martyrs were slain, and they who slew them seemed to prevail. They prevailed by persecution, that the words of Christ might prevail by preaching. And…
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On Psalms 140:8Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “For unto Thee, Lord, are mine eyes; in Thee have I hoped, take not Thou away my life” (ver. 8). For they were tortured in persecutions, and many failed. It occurreth to him that many have failed, many have been in hazard, and as it were in the midst of the tribulation of persecution is sent forth the voice of one praying; “For unto Thee, Lord, are mine eyes:” I care not what they threaten who stand around,…
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On Psalms 140:9Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me” (ver. 9). What was the trap? “If thou consentest, I spare thee.” In the trap was set the bait of the present life; if the bird love this bait, it falleth into the trap: but if the bird be able to say, “The day of man have I not desired: Thou knowest:” “He shall pluck his feet out of the net,” etc. Two things he hath mentioned to be distinguished the one from…
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On Psalms 140:10Open Psalms 140 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 Hippo13. “Sinners shall fall into his nets” (ver. 10). Not all sinners, certain sinners, who are so great sinners, as to love this life to such a degree as to prefer it to everlasting life, “shall fall into his trap.” But what sayest thou? Shall they that are such, thinkest thou, fall into his nets? what of Thy disciples, O Christ? Behold, when persecution was raging, when they all “left Thee alone, and went every one…
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