Psalms 42
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 42 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.
5 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo.
Psalms 42
1(43) A Psalm of David. Judge me, O God, and plead my cause, against an ungodly nation: deliver me from the unjust and crafty man.Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυίδ. Κρίνον με ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ δίκασον τὴν δίκην μου, ἐξ ἔθνους οὐχ ὁσίου, ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἀδίκου καὶ δολίου ῥῦσαί με.
2For you, O God, are my strength: therefore have you cast me off? and why do I go sad of countenance, while the enemy oppresses me?Ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεὸς κραταίωμά μου, ἱνατί ἀπώσω με; καὶ ἱνατί σκυθρωπάζων πορεύομαι ἐν τῷ ἐκθλίβειν τὸν ἐχθρόν μου;
3Send forth your light and your truth: they have led me, and brought me to your holy mountain, and to your tabernacles.Ἐξαπόστειλον τὸ φῶς σου καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου, αὐτά με ὡδήγησαν καὶ ἤγαγόν με εἰς ὄρος ἅγιόν σου, καὶ εἰς τὰ σκηνώματά σου.
4And I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gladdens my youth: I will give thanks to you on the harp, O God, my God.Καὶ εἰσελεύσομαι πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ, πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν τὸν εὐφραίνοντα τὴν νεότητά μου, ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν κιθάρᾳ ὁ Θεὸς ὁ Θεός μου.
5Therefore are you very sad, O my soul? and therefore do you trouble me? Hope in God; for I will give thanks to him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.Ἱνατί περίλυπος εἶ ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ ἱνατί συνταράσσεις με; ἔλπισον ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν, ὅτι ἐξομολογήσομαι αὐτῷ, σωτήριον τοῦ προσώπου μου, ὁ Θεός μου.
The Fathers on Psalms 42
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 42:1Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “Judge me, O Lord, and separate my cause from the ungodly nation” (ver. 1). I do not dread Thy judgment, because I know Thy mercy. “Judge me, O God,” he cries. Now, meanwhile, in this state of pilgrimage, Thou dost not yet separate my place, because I am to live together with the “tares” even to the time of the “harvest:” Thou dost not as yet separate my rain from theirs; my light from theirs: “separate my…
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On Psalms 42:2Saint Augustine of Hippo3. And since patience is needful in order to endure, until the harvest, a certain distinction without separation, if we may so speak (for they are together with us, and therefore not yet separated; the tares however being still tares, and the corn still corn, and therefore they are already distinct); since then a kind of strength is needful, which must be implored of Him who bids us to be strong, and without…
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On Psalms 42:3Saint Augustine of Hippo4. But in order that she may do this, hear what she says, what she supplicates, what she prays for. Pray thou for what thou hearest; pray for it when thou hearest it; let these words be the voice of us all: “O send out Thy Light and Thy Truth. They have led me, and brought me on unto Thy holy hill, and into Thy Tabernacles” (ver. 3). For that very “Light” and “Truth” are indeed two in name; the reality expressed…
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On Psalms 42:4Saint Augustine of Hippo5. Now then that we have been led on even to “the Tabernacle,” and are placed on “His holy Hill,” what hope do we carry with us? “Then will I go in unto the Altar of God” (ver. 4). For there is a certain invisible Altar on high, which the unrighteous man approaches not. To that Altar he alone draws nigh, who draws nigh to this one without cause to fear. There he shall find his Life, who in this one “separates his…
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On Psalms 42:5Open Psalms 42 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 Hippo6. And again, in order that he may draw the sound from that sounding-board below, he addresses his soul: he says, “Why art thou sorrowful, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me?” (ver. 5). I am in tribulations, in weariness, in mourning, “Why dost thou disquiet me, O my soul?” Who is the speaker, to whom is he speaking? That it is the soul to which he is speaking, everybody knows: for it is obvious: the appeal…
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