Psalms 31
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 31 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.
10 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (3) follow the text.
Psalms 31
1(32) A Psalm of * instruction by David. ✡ Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and who sins are covered.Συνέσεως τῷ Δαυίδ. Μακάριοι ὧν ἀφέθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι, καὶ ὧν ἐπεκαλύφθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι.
2Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, and whose mouth there is no guile.Μακάριος ἀνὴρ ᾧ οὐ μὴ λογίσηται Κύριος ἁμαρτίαν, οὐδέ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ δόλος.
3Because I kept silence, my bones waxed old, from my crying all the day.Ὅτι ἐσίγησα, ἐπαλαιώθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου, ἀπὸ τοῦ κράζειν με ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me: I became thoroughly miserable while a † thorn was fastened in me. Pause.Ὅτι ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἐβαρύνθη ἐπʼ ἐμὲ ἡ χείρ σου, ἐστράφην εἰς ταλαιπωρίαν ἐν τῷ ἐμπαγῆναι ἄκανθαν· διάψαλμα.
5I acknowledged my sin, and hid not my iniquity: I said, I will confess my iniquity to the Lord against myself; and you forgave the ungodliness of my heart. Pause.Τὴν ἁμαρτίαν μου ἐγνώρισα, καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου οὐκ ἐκάλυψα· εἶπα, ἐξαγορεύσω κατʼ ἐμοῦ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ σὺ ἀφῆκας τὴν ἀσέβειαν τῆς καρδίας μου· διάψαλμα.
6Therefore shall every holy one pray to you in a fit time: only in the deluge of many waters they shall not come near to him.Ὑπὲρ ταύτης προσεύξεται πρὸς σὲ πᾶς ὅσιος ἐν καιρῷ εὐθέτῳ· πλὴν ἐν κατακλυσμῷ ὑδάτων πολλῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐγγιοῦσι.
7You are my refuge from the affliction that encompasses me; my joy, to deliver me from them that have compassed me. Pause.Σύ μου εἶ καταφυγὴ ἀπὸ θλίψεως τῆς περιεχούσης με, τὸ ἀγαλλίαμά μου λύτρωσαί με ἀπὸ τῶν κυκλωσάντων με· διάψαλμα.
8I will instruct you and guide you in this way wherein you shall go: I will fix my eyes upon you.Συνετιῶ σε καὶ συμβιβῶ σε ἐν ὁδῷ ταύτῃ ᾗ πορεύσῃ, ἐπιστηριῶ ἐπὶ σὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου.
9Be you not as horse and mule, which have no understanding; ‡ but you must constrain their jaws with bit and curb, lest they should come near to you.Μὴ γίνεσθε ὡς ἵππος καὶ ἡμίονος, οἷς οὐκ ἔστι σύνεσις· ἐν χαλινῷ καὶ κημῷ τὰς σιαγόνας αὐτῶν ἄγξαι τῶν μὴ ἐγγιζόντων πρὸς σέ.
10Many are the scourges of the sinner: but him that hopes in the Lord mercy shall compass about.Πολλαὶ αἱ μάστιγες τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, τὸν δὲ ἐλπίζοντα ἐπὶ Κύριον ἔλεος κυκλώσει.
11Be glad in the Lord, and exult, you righteous: and glory, all you that are upright in heart.Εὐφράνθητε ἐπὶ Κύριον καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε δίκαιοι, καὶ καυχᾶσθε πάντες οἱ εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ.
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. 1✡Rom 4:7-8
- v. 4†See Heb.
- v. 9‡See Alex. ἄγξεις
The Fathers on Psalms 31
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 31:1–2Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “Blessed are they whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (ver. 1): and whose sins are buried in oblivion. “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin, nor is there guile in his mouth” (ver. 2): nor has he in his mouth boastings of righteousness, when his conscience is full of sins.
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 31:3Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “Because I kept silence, my bones waxed old:” because I made not with my mouth “confession unto salvation,” all firmness in me has grown old in infirmity. “Through my roaring all the day long” (ver. 3): when I was ungodly and a blasphemer, crying against God, as though defending and excusing my sins.
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 31:4Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “Because day and night Thy Hand was heavy upon me:” because, through the continual punishment of Thy scourges, “I was turned in misery, while a thorn was fixed through me” (ver. 4): I was made miserable by knowing my misery, being pricked with an evil conscience.
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 31:5Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “I acknowledged my sin, and my unrighteousness have I not hid:” that is, my unrighteousness have I not concealed. “I said, I will confess against myself my unrighteousness to the Lord:” I said, I will confess, not against God (as in my ungodly crying, when I kept silence), but against myself, my unrighteousness to the Lord. “And Thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart” (ver. 5); hearing the word of confession…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 31:6Saint Augustine of Hippo6. “For this shall every one that is holy pray unto Thee in an acceptable time:” for this wickedness of heart shall every one that is righteous pray unto Thee. For not by their own merits will they be holy, but by that acceptable time, that is, at His coming, who redeemed us from sin. “Nevertheless in the flood of great waters they shall not come nigh him” (ver. 6): nevertheless, let none think, when the end has…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 31:7Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “Thou art my refuge from the pressures, which have compassed me about:” Thou art my refuge from the pressure of my sins, which hath compassed my heart. “O Thou, my Rejoicing, deliver me from them that compass me about” (ver. 7): in Thee is my joy: deliver me from the sorrow which my sins bring upon me.
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 31:8Saint Augustine of Hippo8. Diapsalma. The answer of God: “I will give thee understanding, and will set thee in the way in which thou shalt go;” I will give thee understanding after confession, that thou depart not from the way in which thou shouldest go; lest thou wish to be in thine own power. “I will fix Mine Eyes upon thee” (ver. 8); so will make sure upon thee My Love.
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 31:9Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “Be not ye like unto horse or mule, which have no understanding:” and therefore would govern themselves. But saith the Prophet, “Hold in their jaws with bit and bridle.” Do Thou then, O God, unto them “that will not come nigh Thee” (ver. 9), what man doth to horse and mule, that by scourges Thou make them to bear Thy rule.
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 31:10Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “Many are the scourges of the sinner:” much is he scourged, who, confessing not his sins to God, would be his own ruler. “But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy compasseth him about” (ver. 10); but he that trusteth in the Lord, and submitteth himself to His rule, mercy shall compass him about.
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 31:11Open Psalms 31 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 Hippo11. “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous:” be glad, and rejoice, ye righteous, not in yourselves, but in the Lord. “And glory, all ye that are right in heart” (ver. 11): and glory in Him, all ye who understand that it is right to be subject unto Him, that so ye may be placed above all things beside.
Read Expositions on the Psalms →