Psalms 37
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 37 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.
20 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (1) follow the text.
Psalms 37
1(38) A Psalm of David for remembrance concerning the Sabbath-day.Φαλμὸς τῷ Δαυὶδ εἰς ἀνάμνησιν περὶ σαββάτου.
2O Lord, rebuke me not in your wrath, neither chasten me in your anger.Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῃς με.
3For your weapons are fixed in me, and you have pressed your hand heavily upon me.Ὅτι τὰ βέλη σου ἐνεπάγησάν μοι, καὶ ἐπεστήριξας ἐπʼ ἐμὲ τὴν χεῖρά σου.
4For there is no health in my flesh because of your anger; there is no peace to my bones because of my sins.Οὐκ ἔστιν ἴασις ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ὀργῆς σου, οὐκ ἔστιν εἰρήνη τοῖς ὀστέοις μου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν μου.
5For my transgressions have gone over my head: they have pressed heavily upon me like a weighty burden.Ὅτι αἱ ἀνομίαι μου ὑπερῇραν τὴν κεφαλήν μου, ὡσεὶ φορτίον βαρὺ ἐβαρύνθησαν ἐπʼ ἐμέ.
6My bruises have become noisome and corrupt, because of my foolishness.Προσώζεσαν καὶ ἐσάπησαν οἱ μώλωπές μου, ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ἀφροσύνης μου.
7I have been wretched and bowed down continually: I went with a mourning countenance all the day.Ἐταλαιπώρησα καὶ κατεκάμφθην ἕως τέλους, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν σκυθρωπάζων ἐπορευόμην.
8For my soul is filled with mockings; and there is no health in my flesh.Ὅτι ἡ ψυχή μου ἐπλησθη ἐμπαιγμῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἴασις ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου.
9I have been afflicted and brought down exceedingly: I have roared for the groaning of my heart.Ἐκακώθην καὶ ἐταπεινώθην ἕως σφόδρα, ὠρυόμην ἀπὸ στεναγμοῦ τῆς καρδίας μου.
10But all my desire is before you; and my groaning is not hidden from you.Καὶ ἐναντίον σου πᾶσα ἡ ἐπιθυμία μου, καὶ ὁ στεναγμός μου οὐκ ἀπεκρύβη ἀπὸ σοῦ.
11My heart is troubled, my strength has failed me; and the light of my eyes is not with me.Ἡ καρδία μου ἐταράχθη, ἐγκατέλιπέ με ἡ ἰσχύς μου, καὶ τὸ φῶς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου οὐκ ἔστι μετʼ ἐμοῦ.
12My friends and my neighbors drew near before me, and stood still; and my nearest of kin stood afar off.Οἱ φίλοι μου καὶ οἱ πλησίον μου ἐξ ἐναντίας μου ἤγγισαν καὶ ἔστησαν, καὶ οἱ ἔγγιστά μου μακρόθεν ἔστησαν,
13While they pressed hard upon me that sought my soul: and they that sought my hurt spoke vanities, and devised deceits all the day.καὶ ἐξεβιάζοντο οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχήν μου· καὶ οἱ ζητοῦντες τὰ κακά μοι ἐλάλησαν ματαιότητας, καὶ δολιότητας ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐμελέτησαν.
14But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and was as a dumb man not opening his mouth.Ἐγὼ δὲ ὡσεὶ κωφὸς οὐκ ἤκουον, καὶ ὡσεὶ ἄλαλος οὐκ ἀνοίγων τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ·
15And I was as a man that hears not, and who has no reproofs in his mouth.Καὶ ἐγενόμην ὡσεὶ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἀκούων, καὶ οὐκ ἔχων ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ ἐλεγμούς.
16For I hoped in you, O Lord: you will hear, O Lord my God.Ὅτι ἐπὶ σοὶ Κύριε ἤλπισα, σὺ εἰσακούσῃ Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου.
17For I said, Lest my enemies rejoice against me: for when my feet were moved, they spoke boastingly against me.Ὅτι εἶπα, μή ποτε ἐπιχαρῶσί μοι οἱ ἐχθροί μου, καὶ ἐν τῷ σαλευθῆναι πόδας μου, ἐπʼ ἐμὲ ἐμεγαλοῤῥημόνησαν.
18For I am ready for * plagues, and my grief is continually before me.Ὅτι ἐγὼ εἰς μάστιγας ἕτοιμος, καὶ ἡ ἀλγηδών μου ἐνώπιόν μου διαπαντός.
19For I will declare my iniquity, and be distressed for my sin.Ὅτι τὴν ἀνομίαν μου ἀναγγελῶ, καὶ μεριμνήσω ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁμαρτίας μου.
20But my enemies live, and are mightier than I: and they that hate me unjustly are multiplied.Οἱ δὲ ἐχθροί μου ζῶσι, καὶ κεκραταίωνται ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ, καὶ ἐπληθύνθησαν οἱ μισοῦντές με ἀδίκως.
21They that reward evil for good slandered me; because I followed righteousness.Οἱ ἀνταποδιδόντες κακὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν, ἐνδιέβαλλόν με, ἐπεὶ κατεδίωκον δικαιοσύνην.
22Forsake me not, O Lord my God: depart not from me.Μὴ ἐγκαταλίπῃς με Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, μὴ ἀποστῇς ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ.
23Draw near to my help, O Lord of my salvation.Πρόσχες εἰς τὴν βοήθειάν μου Κύριε τῆς σωτηρίας μου.
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. 17*Gr. scourges.
The Fathers on Psalms 37
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 37:2Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine indignation; neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure” (ver. 1). For it will be that some shall be chastened in God’s “hot displeasure,” and rebuked in His “indignation.” And haply not all who are “rebuked” will be “chastened;” yet are there some that are to be saved in the chastening. So it is to be indeed, because it is called “chastening,” but yet it shall be “so as by…
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On Psalms 37:3–4Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sore” (ver. 2). “There is no soundness in my flesh, from the face of Thine anger” (ver. 3). He has now begun telling these evils, which he is suffering here: and yet even this already was from the wrath of the Lord, because it was of the vengeance of the Lord. “Of what vengeance?” That which He took upon Adam. For think not that punishment was not…
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On Psalms 37:5Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “For mine iniquities have lifted up my head; and are like a heavy burden too heavy for me to bear” (ver. 4). Here too he has placed the cause first, and the effect afterwards. What consequence followed, and from what cause, he has told us. “Mine iniquities have lift up mine head.” For no one is proud but the unrighteous man, whose head is lifted up. He is “lifted up,” whose “head is lifted up on high” against…
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On Psalms 37:6Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “My wounds stink and are corrupt” (ver. 5). Now he who has wounds is not perfectly sound. Add to this, that the wounds “stink and are corrupt.” Wherefore do they “stink”? Because they are “corrupt:” now in what way this is explained in reference to human life, who doth not understand? Let a man but have his soul’s sense of smelling sound, he perceives how foully sins stink. The contrary to which stink of sin,…
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On Psalms 37:7Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “I am troubled, I am bowed down even unto the end” (ver. 6). Wherefore was he “bowed down”? Because he had been “lifted up.” If thou art “humble, thou shalt be exalted;” if thou exaltest thyself, thou shalt be “bowed down;” for God will be at no loss to find a weight wherewith to bow thee down.…Let him groan on these things; that he may receive the other; let him “call the Sabbath to remembrance,” that he may…
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On Psalms 37:7Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “I am become feeble, and am bowed down greatly” (ver. 8). He who calls to mind the transcendent height of the Sabbath, sees how “greatly” he is himself “bowed down.” For he who cannot conceive what is that height of rest, sees not where he is at present. Therefore another Psalm hath said, “I said in my trance, I am cast out of the sight of Thine eyes.” For his mind being taken up thither, he beheld something…
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On Psalms 37:8Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “For my soul is filled with illusions, and there is no soundness in my flesh” (ver. 7). Where there is the whole man, there there is soul and flesh both. The “soul is filled with illusions;” the flesh hath “no soundness.” What does there remain that can give joy? Is it not meet that one should “go mourning”? “All the day long have I gone mourning.” Let mourning be our portion, until our soul be divested of…
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On Psalms 37:10Saint Augustine of Hippo13. And who observed and noticed the cause of his groaning? “All my desire is before Thee” (ver. 9). For it is not before men who cannot see the heart, but it is before Thee that all my desire is open! Let your desire be before Him; and “the Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee.” For it is thy heart’s desire that is thy prayer; and if thy desire continues uninterrupted, thy prayer continueth also. For…
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On Psalms 37:11Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “My heart is troubled” (ver. 10). Wherefore is it troubled? “And my courage hath failed me.” Generally something comes upon us on a sudden; the “heart is troubled;” the earth quakes; thunder is sent from Heaven; a formidable attack is made upon us, or a horrible sound heard. Perhaps a lion is seen on the road; the “heart is troubled.” Perhaps robbers lie in wait for us; the “heart is troubled:” we are filled…
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On Psalms 37:12Saint Augustine of Hippo15. “My lovers;” why should I henceforth speak of my enemies? “My lovers and my neighbours drew nigh, and stood over against me” (ver. 11). Understand this that he saith, “Stood over against me.” For if they stood over against me, they fell against themselves. “My lovers and my neighbours drew nigh and stood over against me.” Let us now recognise the words of the Head speaking; now let our Head in His Passion…
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On Psalms 37:13Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “They also that sought after my soul were preparing violence against me” (ver. 12). It is now plain who “sought after His soul;” viz. those who had not His soul, in that they were not in His Body. They who were “seeking after His soul,” were far removed from His soul; but they were “seeking it” to destroy it. For His soul may be “sought after” in a right way also. For in another passage He finds fault with…
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On Psalms 37:14–15Saint Augustine of Hippo19. He saith then, “But I as a deaf man heard not” (ver. 13). He who replied not to what He heard, did, as it were, not hear them. “But I as a deaf man heard not. And I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.” And he repeats the same things again. “And I became as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs” (ver. 14). As if He had nothing to say unto them, as if He had nothing wherewith to…
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On Psalms 37:16Saint Augustine of Hippo20. “For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope; Thou wilt hear, O Lord, my God” (ver. 15). As if it were said to Him, “Wherefore openedst thou not thy mouth? Wherefore didst Thou not say, ‘Refrain’? Wherefore didst Thou not rebuke the unrighteous, while hanging on the Cross?” He goes on and says, “For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope; Thou, O Lord my God, wilt hear.” He warns you what to do, should tribulation haply befall. For…
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On Psalms 37:17Saint Augustine of Hippo21. “For I said, Let not mine enemies ever rejoice over me. And when my feet slip, they magnify themselves against me” (ver. 16). Again He returns to the infirmity of His Body: and again the Head takes heed of Its “feet.” The Head is not in such a manner in Heaven, as to forsake what It has on earth; He evidently sees and observes us. For sometimes, as is the way of this life, our feet are “turned aside,” and…
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On Psalms 37:18Saint Augustine of Hippo22. “For I am prepared for the scourges” (ver. 17). Quite a magnificent expression; as if He were saying, “It was even for this that I was born; that I might suffer.” For He was not to be born, but from Adam, to whom the scourge is due. But sinners are in this life sometimes not scourged at all, or are scourged less than their deserts: because the wickedness of their heart is given over as already desperate.…
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On Psalms 37:19Saint Augustine of Hippo23. “And my sorrow is continually before me.” What “sorrow” is that? Perhaps, a sorrow for my scourge. And, in good truth, my brethren, in good truth, let me say unto you, men do mourn for their scourges, not for the causes on account of which they are scourged. Not such was the person here. Listen, my brethren: If any person suffers any loss, he is more ready to say, “I did not deserve to suffer it,” than to…
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On Psalms 37:20Saint Augustine of Hippo24. “But mine enemies live” (ver. 19). They are well off: they rejoice in worldly prosperity, while I am suffering, and “roaring with the groaning of my heart.” In what way do His enemies “live,” in that He hath said of them already, that they have “spoken vanity”? Hear in another Psalm also: “Whose sons are as young plants; firmly rooted.” But above He had said, “Whose mouth speaketh vanity. Their daughters…
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On Psalms 37:21Saint Augustine of Hippo25. “They also that render evil for good, were speaking evil of me, because I have pursued the thing that is just” (ver. 20). Therefore was it that I was requited evil for good. What is meant by “pursued after the thing that is just”? Not forsaken it. That you might not always understand persecutio in a bad sense, He means by persecutus pursued after, thoroughly followed. “Because I have followed the thing that…
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On Psalms 37:22Saint Augustine of Hippo26. “Forsake me not, O Lord; O my God, depart not from me” (ver. 21). Let us speak in Him, let us speak through Him (for He Himself intercedeth for us), and let us say, “Forsake me not, O Lord my God.” And yet He had said, “My God! My God! why hast Thou forsaken Me?” and He now says, “O My God, depart not from Me.” If He does not forsake the body, did He forsake the Head? Whose words then are these but the First…
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On Psalms 37:23Open Psalms 37 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 Hippo27. “Depart not from me. Make haste to help me, Lord of my salvation” (ver. 22). This is that very “salvation,” Brethren, concerning which, as the Apostle Peter saith, “Prophets have enquired diligently,” and though they have enquired diligently, yet have not found it. But they searched into it, and foretold of it; while we have come and have found what they sought for. And see, we ourselves too have not as yet…
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