Psalms 5
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 5 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 (4) follow the text.
Psalms 5
1For the end, a Psalm of David, concerning her that inherits.Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ὑπὲρ τῆς κληρονομούσης, ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυίδ.
2Listen to my words, O Lord, * attend to my cry.Τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐνώτισαι Κύριε, σύνες τῆς κραυγῆς μου,
3Attend to the voice of my supplication, my King, and my God: for to you, O Lord, will I pray.πρόσχες τῇ φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου, ὁ βασιλεύς μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου· ὅτι πρὸς σὲ προσεύξομαι Κύριε,
4In the morning you shall hear my voice: in the morning will I wait upon you, and will look up.τοπρωῒ εἰσακούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου· τοπρωῒ παραστήσομαί σοι, καὶ ἐπόψομαι.
5For you are not a god that desires iniquity; neither shall the worker of wickedness dwell with you.Ὅτι οὐχὶ Θεὸς θέλων ἀνομίαν σὺ εἶ· οὐδὲ παροικησει σοι πονηρευόμενος,
6Neither shall the transgressors continue in your sight: you hate, O Lord, all them that work iniquity.οὐδὲ διαμενοῦσι παράνομοι κατέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σου· ἐμίσησας Κύριε πάντας τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀνομίαν,
7You will destroy all that speak falsehood: the Lord abhors the bloody and deceitful man.ἀπολεῖς πάντας τοὺς λαλοῦντας τὸ ψεῦδος· ἄνδρα αἱμάτων καὶ δόλιον βδελύσσεται Κύριος.
8But I will enter into your house in the multitude of your mercy: I will worship in your fear toward your holy temple.Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐν τῷ πλήθει τοῦ ἐλέου σου εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου, προσκυνήσω πρὸς ναὸν ἅγιόν σου ἐν φόβῳ σου.
9Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make my way plain before your face.Κύριε ὁδήγησόν με ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου, κατεύθυνον ἐνώπιόν σου τὴν ὁδόν μου.
10For there is no truth in their mouth; their heart is vain; their ✡ throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit.Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν ἀλήθεια· ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν ματαία· τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν· ταῖς γλώσσαις αὐτῶν ἐδολιοῦσαν.
11Judge them, O God; let them † fail of their counsels: cast them out according to the abundance of their ungodliness; for they have provoked you, O Lord.Κρίνον αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεός· ἀποπεσάτωσαν ἀπὸ τῶν διαβουλιῶν αὐτῶν· κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀσεβειῶν αὐτῶν ἔξωσον αὐτοὺς, ὅτι παρεπίκρανάν σε Κύριε.
12But let all that trust on you be glad in you: they shall exult for ever, and you shall dwell among them; and all that love your name shall rejoice in you.Καὶ εὐφρανθήτωσαν ἐπὶ σοὶ πάντες οἱ ἐλπίζοντες ἐπὶ σὲ, εἰς αἰῶνα ἀγαλλιάσονται, καὶ κατασκηνώσεις ἐν αὐτοῖς· καὶ καυχήσονται ἐπὶ σοὶ πάντες οἱ ἀγαπῶντες τὸ ὄνομά σου,
13For you, Lord, shall bless the righteous: you have ‡ compassed us as with a shield of favor.ὅτι σὺ εὐλογήσεις δίκαιον Κύριε, ὡς ὅπλῳ εὐδοκίας ἐστεφάνωσας ἡμᾶς.
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*Lit. understand.
- v. 9✡Rom 3:13
- v. 10†Gr. fall from, or, by reason of.
- v. 12‡Lit. crowned.
The Fathers on Psalms 5
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 5:2Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “Hear my words, O Lord” (ver. 1). Being called she calleth upon the Lord; that the same Lord being her helper, she may pass through the wickedness of this world, and attain unto Him. “Understand my cry.” The Psalmist well shows what this cry is; how from within, from the chamber of the heart, without the body’s utterance, it reaches unto God: for the bodily voice is heard, but the spiritual is understood.…
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On Psalms 5:3Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “Attend Thou to the voice of my supplication;” that is, to that voice, which he maketh request that God would understand: of which what the nature is, he hath already intimated, when he said, “Understand my cry. Attend Thou to the voice of my supplication, my King, and my God” (ver. 2). Although both the Son is God, and the Father God, and the Father and the Son together One God; and if asked of the Holy…
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On Psalms 5:3Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “Because I will pray unto Thee (ver. 3). O Lord, in the morning Thou wilt hear my voice.” What does that, which he said above, “Hear Thou,” mean, as if he desired to be heard immediately? But now he saith, “in the morning Thou wilt hear;” not, hear Thou: and, “I will pray unto Thee;” not, I do pray unto Thee: and, as follows, “in the morning I will stand by Thee, and will see;” not, I do stand by Thee, and do…
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On Psalms 5:3, 6Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “In the morning I will stand by Thee, and will see” (ver. 3). What is, “I will stand,” but “I will not lie down”? Now what else is, to lie down, but to take rest on the earth, which is a seeking happiness in earthly pleasures? “I will stand by,” he says, “and will see.” We must not then cleave to things earthly, if we would see God, who is beheld by a clean heart. “For Thou art not a God who hast pleasure in…
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On Psalms 5:8Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “The man of blood, and the crafty man, the Lord will abominate.” What he said above, “Thou hast hated all that work iniquity, Thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie,” may well seem to be repeated here: so that one may refer “the man of blood” to “the worker of iniquity,” and “the crafty man” to the “lie.” For it is craft, when one thing is done, another pretended. He used an apt word too, when he said, “will…
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On Psalms 5:9Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “O Lord, lead me forth in Thy justice because of mine enemies” (ver. 8). He has here sufficiently plainly declared that he is on his onward road, that is, in progress toward perfection, not yet in perfection itself, when he desires eagerly that he may be led forth. But, “in Thy justice,” not in that which seems so to men. For to return evil for evil seems justice: but it is not His justice of whom it is said,…
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On Psalms 5:10Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “Direct in Thy sight my way.” Nothing is clearer, than that he here sets forth that time, in which he is journeying onward. For this is a way which is traversed not in any regions of the earth, but in the affections of the heart. “In Thy sight,” he says, “direct my way:” that is, where no man sees; who are not to be trusted in their praise or blame. For they can in no wise judge of another man’s conscience,…
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On Psalms 5:11Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “Judge them, O God: let them fall from their own thoughts” (ver. 10). It is a prophecy, not a curse. For he does not wish that it should come to pass; but he perceives what will come to pass. For this happens to them, not because he appears to have wished for it, but because they are such as to deserve that it should happen. For so also what he says afterwards, “Let all that hope in Thee rejoice,” he says by…
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On Psalms 5:12Saint Augustine of Hippo16. “And let all rejoice that hope in Thee;” those of course to whose taste the Lord is sweet. “They will exult for evermore, and Thou wilt dwell in them” (ver. 11). This will be the exultation for evermore, when the just become the Temple of God, and He, their Indweller, will be their joy. “And all that love Thy name shall glory in Thee:” as when what they love is present for them to enjoy. And well is it said,…
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On Psalms 5:13Open Psalms 5 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 Hippo17. “For Thou wilt bless the just man” (ver. 12). This is blessing, to glory in God, and to be inhabited by God. Such sanctification is given to the just. But that they may be justified, a calling goes before: which is not of merit, but of the grace of God. “For all have sinned, and want the glory of God.” “For whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” Since then…
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