Psalms 142
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 142 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.
11 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (1) follow the text.
Psalms 142
1(143) A Psalm of David, when his son pursued him. O Lord, attend to my prayer: listen to my supplication in your truth; hear me in your righteousness.Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυὶδ, ὅτε αὐτὸν ὁ υἱὸς κατεδιώκει. Κύριε εἰσάκουσον τῆς προσευχῆς μου, ἐνώτισαι τὴν δέησίν μου ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου, ἐπάκουσόν μου ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου.
2And enter not into judgment with your servant, for in your sight shall no man living be justified.Καὶ μὴ εἰσέλθῃς εἰς κρίσιν μετὰ τοῦ δούλου σου, ὅτι οὐ δικαιωθήσεται ἐνώπιόν σου πᾶς ζῶν.
3For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has brought my life down to the ground; he has made me to dwell in a dark place, as those that have been long dead.Ὅτι κατεδίωξεν ὁ ἐχθρὸς τὴν ψυχήν μου· ἐταπείνωσεν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ζωήν μου, ἐκάθισέ με ἐν σκοτεινοῖς ὡς νεκροὺς αἰῶνος,
4Therefore my spirit was grieved in me; my heart was troubled within me.καὶ ἠκηδίασεν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ τὸ πνεῦμά μου· ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐταράχθη ἡ καρδία μου.
5I remembered the days of old; and I meditated on all your doings: yes, I meditated on the works of your hands.Ἐμνήσθην ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων· καὶ ἐμελέτησα ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις σου, ἐν ποιήμασι τῶν χειρῶν σου ἐμελέτων.
6I spread forth my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you, as a dry land. Pause.Διεπέτασα πρὸς σὲ τὰς χεῖράς μου, ἡ ψυχή μου ὡς γῆ ἄνυδρός σοι· διάψαλμα.
7Hear me speedily, O Lord; my spirit has failed; turn not away your face from me, else I shall be like to them that go down to the pit.Ταχὺ εἰσάκουσόν μου, Κύριε, ἐξέλιπε τὸ πνεῦμά μου· μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, καὶ ὁμοιωθήσομαι τοῖς καταβαίνουσιν εἰς λάκκον.
8Cause me to hear your mercy in the morning; for I have hoped in you; make known to me, O Lord, the way wherein I should walk; for I have lifted up my soul to you.Ἀκουστὸν ποίησόν μοι τοπρωῒ τὸ ἔλεός σου, ὅτι ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα· γνώρισόν μοι, Κύριε, ὁδὸν ἐν ᾗ πορεύσομαι, ὅτι πρὸς σὲ ᾖρα τὴν ψυχήν μου.
9Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord; for I have fled to you for refuge.Ἐξελοῦ με ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου Κύριε, ὅτι πρὸς σὲ κατέφυγον.
10Teach me to do your will; for you are my God; your good Spirit shall guide me in the * straight way.Δίδαξόν με τοῦ ποιεῖν τὸ θέλημά σου, ὅτι Θεός μου εἶ σὺ, τὸ πνεῦμά σου τὸ ἁγαθὸν ὁδηγήσει με ἐν τῇ εὐθείᾳ.
11You shall quicken me, O Lord, for your name's sake; in your righteousness you shall bring my soul out of affliction.Ἕνεκα τοῦ ὀνόματός σου, Κύριε, ζήσεις με, ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου ἐξάξεις ἐκ θλίψεως τὴν ψυχήν μου.
12And in your mercy you will destroy my enemies, and will destroy all those that afflict my soul; for I am your servant.Καὶ ἐν τῷ ἐλέει σου ἐξολοθρεύσεις τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου, καὶ ἀπολεῖς πάντας τοὺς θλίβοντας τὴν ψυχήν μου, ὅτι δοῦλός σου εἰμὶ ἐγώ.
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. 10*Alex. as Heb. 'land of uprightness.'
The Fathers on Psalms 142
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 142:1Saint Augustine of Hippo2. Let then our Lord speak; let Christ with us, whole Christ, speak. “Lord, hear my prayer, receive with Thine ears my entreaty” (ver. 1). “Hear” and “receive with ears” are the same thing. It is repetition, it is confirmation. “In Thy truth hear me, in Thy righteousness.” Take it not without emphasis when it is said, “in Thy righteousness.” For it is a commendation of grace, that none of us think his…
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On Psalms 142:2Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “And enter not into judgment with Thy servant” (ver. 2). Who are willing to enter into judgment with Him, save they who, “being ignorant of the righteousness of God, go about to establish their own?” “Wherefore have we fasted, and Thou hast not seen; wherefore have we afflicted our souls, and Thou takest no knowledge?” As though they would say, “We have done what Thou hast commanded, wherefore dost Thou not…
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On Psalms 142:3Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath humbled my life on the earth” (ver. 3). Here we speak, here our Head speaketh for us. Manifestly both the devil persecuted the Soul of Christ and Judas the Soul of his Master: and now too the same devil remaineth to persecute the Body of Christ, and one Judas succeedeth another. There lacketh not then of whom the Body too may say, “For the enemy hath persecuted…
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On Psalms 142:4Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “And My Spirit within me,” saith He, “suffered weariness” (ver. 4). Remember, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” Here we see one voice. Do we not see plainly the transition from the Head to the members, from the members to the Head?…
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On Psalms 142:5Saint Augustine of Hippo6. But we too were there. He goes to the members. “I have called to mind the days of old” (ver. 5). Did He “call to mind the days of old,” by whom every day was made? No, but the body speaketh, each one who has been justified by His grace, who dwelleth in Him in love and devout humility, speaketh and saith, “I have meditated upon all Thy works:” plainly because Thou hast made all things good, and nothing would…
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On Psalms 142:6Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “I stretched forth,” saith he, “my hands to Thee: my soul is as a land without water to Thee” (ver. 6). Rain upon me, saith he, to bring forth from me good fruit. “For the Lord shall give sweetness, that our land may give her fruit.” “I have stretched forth my hands to Thee; my soul is as a land without water,” not to me, but “to Thee.” I can thirst for Thee, I cannot water myself.
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On Psalms 142:7Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “Speedily hear me, Lord” (ver. 7). For what need of delay to inflame my thirst, when already I thirst so eagerly? Thou didst delay the rain, that I might drink and imbibe, not reject, Thy inflowing. If then Thou didst for this cause delay, now give; for “my spirit hath failed.” Let Thy Spirit fill me. This is the reason why Thou shouldest speedily hear me. I am now become “poor in spirit,” make Thou me…
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On Psalms 142:8Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “Make me to hear in the morning Thy mercy, for in Thee have I hoped” (ver. 8). Behold, I am in the night, yet “in Thee have I hoped,” until the iniquity of the night pass away. “For we have,” as Peter saith, “a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts.” “Morning” then he calleth…
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On Psalms 142:9Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “Deliver me from mine enemies, O Lord, for unto Thee have I fled for refuge” (ver. 9). I who once fled from Thee, now flee to Thee. For Adam fled from the Face of God, and hid himself among the trees of Paradise, so that of him was said in the Book of Job, “As a servant that fleeth from his Lord, and findeth a shadow.” He fled from the Face of his Lord, and found a shadow. Woe to him, if he continue in the…
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On Psalms 142:10Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God” (ver. 10). Glorious confession! glorious rule! “For Thou,” saith he, “art my God.” To another will I hasten to be re-made, if by another I was made. Thou art my all, “for Thou art my God.” Shall I seek a father to get an inheritance? “Thou art my God,” not only the Giver of mine inheritance, but mine Inheritance itself. “The Lord is the portion of mine…
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On Psalms 142:11–12Open Psalms 142 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. Listen, then, with all your power, to the commendation of Grace, whereby ye are saved without price. “For Thy Name’s sake, O Lord, Thou shalt quicken me in Thy righteousness” (ver. 11); not in mine own: not because I have deserved, but because Thou hast mercy. For were I to show mine own desert, nought should I deserve of Thee, save punishment. Thou hast pruned off from me mine own merits; Thou hast grafted…
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