Psalms 30
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 30 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.
24 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo.
Psalms 30
1(31) For the end, a Psalm of David, an utterance of * extreme fear.Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυὶδ, ἐκστάσεως.
2O Lord, I have hoped in you; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in your righteousness and rescue me.Ἐπὶ σοὶ Κύριε ἤλπισα, μὴ καταισχυνθείην εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου ῥῦσαί με καὶ ἐξελοῦ με.
3Incline your ear to me; make haste to rescue me: be you to me for a protecting God, and for a house of refuge to save me.Κλῖνον πρὸς μὲ τὸ οὖς σου, τὰχυνον τοῦ ἐξελέσθαι με γενοῦ μοι εἰς Θεὸν ὑπερασπιστὴν καὶ εἰς οἶκον καταφυγῆς τοῦ σῶσαί με.
4For you are my strength and my refuge; and you shall guide me for your name's sake, and maintain me.Ὅτι κραταίωμά μου καὶ καταφυγή μου εἶ σὺ, καὶ ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματός σου ὁδηγήσεις με, καὶ διαθρέψεις με.
5You shall bring me out of the snare which they have hidden for me; for you, O Lord, are my defender.Ἐξάξεις με ἐκ παγίδος ταύτης ἧς ἔκρυψάν μοι, ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ ὑπερασπιστής μου, Κύριε.
6Into your hands I will commit my spirit: you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.Εἰς χεῖράς σου παραθήσομαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου, ἐλυτρώσω με Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς τῆς ἀληθέιας.
7You have hated them that idly persist in vanities: but I have hoped in the Lord.Ἐμίσησας τοὺς διαφυλάσσοντας ματαιότητας διακενῆς· ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἤλπισα.
8I will exult and be glad in your mercy: for you have looked upon my affliction; you have saved my soul from distresses.Ἀγαλλιάσομαι καὶ εὐφρανθήσομαι ἐπὶ τῷ ἐλέει σου· ὅτι ἐπεῖδες τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου, ἔσωσας ἐκ τῶν ἀναγκῶν τὴν ψυχήν μου.
9And you have not shut me up into the hands of the enemy: you have set my feet in a wide place.Καὶ οὐ συνέκλεισάς με εἰς χεῖρας ἐχθροῦ, ἔστησας ἐν εὐρυχώρῳ τοὺς πόδας μου.
10Pity me, O Lord, for I am afflicted: my eye is troubled with indignation, my soul and by belly.Ἐλέησόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι θλίβομαι· ἐταράχθη ἐν θυμῷ ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου, ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ ἡ γαστήρ μου.
11For my life is spent with grief, and my years with groanings: my strength has been weakened through poverty, and my bones are troubled.Ὅτι ἐξέλιπεν ἐν ὀδύνῃ ἡ ζωή μου, καὶ τὰ ἔτη μου ἐν στεναγμοῖς· ἠσθένησεν ἐν πτωχείᾳ ἡ ἰσχύς μου, καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐταράχθησαν.
12I became a reproach among all my enemies, but exceedingly so to my neighbors, and a fear to my acquaintance: they that saw me without fled from me.Παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου ἐγενήθην ὄνειδος, καὶ τοῖς γείτοσί μου σφόδρα, καὶ φόβος τοῖς γνωστοῖς μου· οἱ θεωροῦντές με ἔξω ἔφυγον ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ·
13I have been forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am become as a broken vessel.Ἐπελήσθην ὡσεὶ νεκρὸς ἀπὸ καρδίας· ἐγενήθην ὡσεὶ σκεῦος ἀπολωλὸς,
14For I heard the slander of many that lived round about: when they were gathered together against me, they took counsel to take my life.ὅτι ἤκουσα ψόγον πολλῶν παροικούντων κυκλόθεν· ἐν τῷ συναχθῆναι αὐτοὺς ἅμα ἐπʼ ἐμὲ, τοῦ λαβεῖν τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐβουλεύσαντο.
15But I hoped in you, O Lord: I said, You are my God.Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, Κύριε· εἶπα, σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεός μου,
16My lots are in your hands: deliver me from the hand of my enemies,ἐν ταῖς χερσί σου οἱ κλῆροί μου· ῥῦσαί με ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν μου, καὶ ἐκ τῶν καταδιωκόντων με.
17and from them that persecute me. Make your face to shine upon your servant: save me in your mercy.Ἐπίφανον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἐπὶ τὸν δοῦλόν σου, σῶσόν με ἐν τῷ ἐλέει σου.
18O Lord, let me not be ashamed, for I have called upon you: let the ungodly be ashamed, and brought down to Hades.Κύριε, μὴ καταισχυνθείην, ὅτι ἐπεκαλεσάμην σε· αἰσχυνθείησαν οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, καὶ καταχθείησαν εἰς ᾅδου.
19Let the deceitful lips become dumb, which speak iniquity against the righteous with pride and scorn.Ἄλαλα γενηθήτω τὰ χείλη τὰ δόλια, τὰ λαλοῦντα κατὰ τοῦ δικαίου ἀνομίαν ἐν ὑπερηφανίᾳ καὶ ἐξουδενώσει.
20How abundant is the multitude of your goodness, O Lord, which you have laid up for them that fear you! you have wrought it out for them that hope on you, in the presence of the sons of men.Ὡς πολὺ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς χρηστότητός σου, Κύριε, ἧς ἔκρυψας τοῖς φοβουμένοις σε; ἐξειργάσω τοῖς ἐλπίζουσιν ἐπὶ σὲ, ἐναντίον τῶν υἱῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
21You will hide them in the secret of your presence from the vexation of man: you will screen them in a tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues.Κατακρύψεις αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ τοῦ προσώπου σου ἀπὸ ταραχῆς ἀνθρώπων, σκεπάσεις αὐτοὺς ἐν σκηνῇ ἀπὸ ἀντιλογίας γλωσσῶν.
22Blessed be the Lord: for he has magnified his mercy in a fortified city.Εὐλογητὸς Κύριος, ὅτι ἐθαυμάστωσε τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ ἐν πόλει περιοχῆς.
23But I said in my extreme fear, I am cast out from the sight of your eyes: therefore you did listen, O Lord, to the voice of my supplication when I cried to you.Ἐγὼ δὲ εἶπα ἐν τῇ ἐκστάσει μου, ἀπέῤῥιμμαι ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σου· διὰ τοῦτο εἰσήκουσας, Κύριε, τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου ἐν τῷ κεκραγέναι με πρὸς σέ.
24Love the Lord, all you his saints: for the Lord seeks for truth, and renders a reward to them that deal very proudly.Ἀγαπήσατε τὸν Κύριον πάντες οἱ ὅσιοι αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἀληθείας ἐκζητεῖ Κύριος, καὶ ἀνταποδίδωσι τοῖς περισσῶς ποιοῦσιν ὑπερηφανίαν.
25Be of good courage, and let your heart be strengthened, all you that hope in the Lord.Ἀνδρίζεσθε, καὶ κραταιούσθω ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν, πάντες οἱ ἐλπίζοντες ἐπὶ Κύριον.
The Fathers on Psalms 30
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 30:2Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted, let Me not be put to confusion for ever” (ver. 1). In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted, let Me never be confounded, whilst they shall insult Me as one like other men. “In Thy righteousness rescue Me, and deliver Me.” And in Thy righteousness rescue Me from the pit of death, and deliver Me out of their company.
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On Psalms 30:3Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “Bend down Thine ear unto Me” (ver. 2). Hear Me in My humiliation, nigh at hand unto Me. “Make haste to deliver Me.” Defer not to the end of the world, as with all who believe on Me, My separation from sinners. “Be unto Me a God who protecteth Me.” Be unto Me God, and Protector. “And a house of refuge, that Thou mayest save Me.” And as a house, wherein taking refuge I may be saved.
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On Psalms 30:4Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “For Thou art My strength, and My refuge” (ver. 3). For Thou art unto Me My strength to bear My persecutors, and My refuge to escape them. “And for Thy Name’s sake Thou shalt be My guide, and shalt nourish Me.” And that by Me Thou mayest be known to all the Gentiles. I will in all things follow Thy will; and, by assembling, by degrees, Saints unto Me, Thou shalt fulfil My body, and My perfect stature.
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On Psalms 30:5Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “Thou shalt bring Me out of this trap, which they have hidden for Me” (ver. 4). Thou shalt bring Me out of these snares, which they have hidden for Me. “For Thou art My Protector.”
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On Psalms 30:6Saint Augustine of Hippo6. “Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit” (ver. 5). To Thy power I commend My Spirit, soon to receive It back. “Thou hast redeemed Me, O Lord God of truth.” Let the people too, redeemed by the Passion of their Lord, and joyful in the glorifying of their Head, say, “Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.”
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On Psalms 30:7Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “Thou hatest them that hold to vanity uselessly” (ver. 6). Thou hatest them that hold to the false happiness of the world. “But I have trusted in the Lord.”
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On Psalms 30:8Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “I will be glad, and rejoice in Thy mercy:” which doth not deceive me. “For Thou hast regarded My humiliation:” wherein Thou hast subjected me to vanity in hope. “Thou hast saved my soul from necessities” (ver. 7). Thou hast saved my soul from the necessities of fear, that with a free love it may serve Thee.
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On Psalms 30:9Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “And hast not shut me up into the hands of the enemy” (ver. 8). And hast not shut me up, that I should have no opening for recovering unto liberty, and be given over for ever into the power of the devil, ensnaring me with the desire of this life, and terrifying me with death. “Thou hast set my feet in a large room.” The resurrection of my Lord being known, and mine own being promised me, my love, having been…
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On Psalms 30:10Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am troubled” (ver. 9). But what is this unlooked-for cruelty of the persecutors, striking such dread into me? “Have mercy on me, O Lord.” For I am now no more alarmed for death, but for torments and tortures. “Mine eye hath been disordered by anger.” I had mine eye upon Thee, that Thou shouldest not abandon me: Thou art angry, and hast disordered it. “My soul, and my belly.”…
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On Psalms 30:11Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “For my life hath failed in pain” (ver 10). For my life is to confess Thee, but it failed in pain, when the enemy had said, Let them be tortured until they deny Him. “And my years in groanings.” The time that I pass in this world is not taken away from me by death, but abides, and is spent in groanings. “My strength hath been weakened by want.” I want the health of this body, and racking pains come on me: I…
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On Psalms 30:12Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “I have been made a reproach above all mine enemies” (ver 11). All the wicked are my enemies; and nevertheless they for their wickednesses are tortured only till they confess: I then have overpassed their reproach, I, whose confession death doth not follow, but racking pains follow upon it. “And to my neighbours too much.” This hath seemed too much to them, who were already drawing near to know Thee, and to…
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On Psalms 30:13Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “I have been forgotten, as one dead from the heart” (ver. 12). And they have forgotten me, as if I were dead from their hearts. “I have become as a lost vessel.” I have seemed to myself to be lost to all the Lord’s service, living in this world, and gaining none, when all were afraid to join themselves unto me.
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On Psalms 30:14Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “For I have heard the rebuking of many dwelling by in a circuit” (ver. 13). For I have heard many rebuking me, in the pilgrimage of this world near me, following the circuit of time, and refusing to return with me to the eternal country. “Whilst they were assembling themselves together against me, they conspired that they might take my soul.” That my soul, which should by death easily escape from their power,…
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On Psalms 30:15Saint Augustine of Hippo15. “But I have hoped in Thee, O Lord; I have said, Thou art my God” (ver. 14). For Thou hast not changed, that Thou shouldest not save, Who dost correct.
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On Psalms 30:16Saint Augustine of Hippo16. “In Thy hands” are “my lots” (ver. 15). In Thy power are my lots. For I see no desert for which out of the universal ungodliness of the human race Thou hast elected me particularly to salvation. And though there be with Thee some just and secret order in my election, yet I, from whom this is hid, have attained by lot unto my Lord’s vesture. “Deliver me from the hands of mine enemies, and from them that…
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On Psalms 30:17Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “Make Thy Face to shine upon Thy servant” (ver. 16). Make it known to men, who do not think that I belong unto Thee, that Thy Face is bent upon me, and that I serve Thee. “Save me in Thy mercy.”
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On Psalms 30:18Saint Augustine of Hippo18. “O Lord, let me not be confounded, for I have called upon Thee” (ver. 17). O Lord, let me not be put to shame by those who insult me, for that I have called upon Thee. “Let the ungodly be ashamed, and be brought down to hell.” Let them rather who call upon stones be ashamed, and made to dwell with darkness.
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On Psalms 30:19Saint Augustine of Hippo19. “Let the deceitful lips be made dumb” (ver. 18). In making known to the peoples Thy mysteries wrought in me, strike with dumb amazement the lips of them that invent falsehood of me. “Which speak iniquity against the Righteous, in pride and contempt.” Which speak iniquity against Christ, in their pride and contempt of Him as a crucified man.
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On Psalms 30:20Saint Augustine of Hippo20. “How great” is “the multitude of Thy sweetness, O Lord” (ver. 19). Here the Prophet exclaims, having sight of all this, and admiring how manifoldly plenteous is Thy sweetness, O Lord. “Which Thou hast hid for them that fear Thee.” Even those, whom Thou correctest, Thou lovest much: but lest they should go on negligently from relaxed security, Thou hidest from them the sweetness of Thy love, for whom it is…
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On Psalms 30:21Saint Augustine of Hippo21. “Thou wilt protect them in Thy tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues” (ver. 20). But here meanwhile whilst evil tongues murmur against them, saying, Who hath come thence? Thou wilt protect them in the tabernacle, that of faith in those things, which the Lord wrought and endured for us in time.
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On Psalms 30:22Saint Augustine of Hippo22. “Blessed be the Lord; for He hath made His mercy marvellous, in the city of compassing” (ver. 21). Blessed be the Lord, for after the correction of the sharpest persecutions He hath made His mercy marvellous to all throughout the world, in the circuit of human society.
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On Psalms 30:23Saint Augustine of Hippo23. “I said in my ecstasy” (ver. 22). Whence that people again speaking saith, I said in my fear, when the heathen were raging horribly against me. “I have been cast forth from the sight of Thine eyes.” For if Thou hadst regard to me, Thou wouldest not suffer me to endure these things. “Therefore Thou heardest, O Lord, the voice of my prayer, when I cried unto Thee.” Therefore putting a limit to correction, and…
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On Psalms 30:24Saint Augustine of Hippo24. “Love the Lord, all ye His saints” (ver. 23). The Prophet again exhorts, having sight of these things, and saith, “Love the Lord, all ye His saints; for the Lord will require truth.” Since “if the righteous shall scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear?” “And He will repay them that do exceeding proudly.” And He will repay them who even when conquered are not converted, because they…
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On Psalms 30:25Open Psalms 30 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 Hippo25. “Quit you like men, and let your heart be strengthened” (ver. 24): working good without fainting, that ye may reap in due season. “All ye who trust in the Lord:” that is, ye who duly fear and worship Him, trust ye in the Lord.
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