Psalms 54
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 54 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.
19 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (5) follow the text.
Psalms 54
1(55) For the end, among Hymns of instruction by David.Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ἐν ὕμνοις συνέσεως τῷ Δαυίδ.
2Listen, O God, to my prayer; and disregard not my supplication.Ἐνωτίσαι ὁ Θεὸς τὴν προσευχήν μου, καὶ μὴ ὑπερίδῃς τὴν δέησίν μου·
3Attend to me, and listen to me: I was grieved in my meditation, and troubled;Πρόσχες μοι, καὶ εἰσάκουσόν μου· ἐλυπήθην ἐν τῇ ἀδολεσχίᾳ μου, καὶ ἐταράχθην
4because of the voice of the enemy, and because of the oppression of the sinner: for they brought iniquity against me, and were wrathfully angry with me.ἀπὸ φωνῆς ἐχθροῦ, καὶ ἀπὸ θλίψεως ἁμαρτωλοῦ· ὅτι ἐξέκλιναν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ ἀνομίαν, καὶ ἐν ὀργῇ ἐνεκότουν μοι.
5My heart was troubled within me; and the fear of death fell upon me.Ἡ καρδία μου ἐταράχθη ἐν ἐμοὶ, καὶ δειλία θανάτου ἐπέπεσεν ἐπʼ ἐμέ.
6Fear and trembling came upon me, and darkness covered me.Φόβος καὶ τρόμος ἦλθεν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ καὶ ἐκάλυψέ με σκότος.
7And I said, O that I had wings as those of a dove! then would I flee away, and be at rest.Καὶ εἶπα, τίς δώσει μοι πτέρυγας ὡσεὶ περιστερᾶς; καὶ πετασθήσομαι καὶ καταπαύσω.
8Behold! I have fled afar off, and lodged in the wilderness. Pause.Ἰδοὺ ἐμάκρυνα φυγαδεύων, καὶ ηὐλίσθην ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· διάψαλμα.
9I waited for him that should deliver me from distress of spirit and tempest.Προσεδεχόμην τὸν σώζοντά με ἀπὸ ὀλιγοψυχίας καὶ καταιγίδος.
10Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen iniquity and gain saying in the city.Καταπόντισον Κύριε καὶ καταδίελε τὰς γλώσσας αὐτῶν, ὅτι εἶδον ἀνομίαν καὶ ἀντιλογίαν ἐν τῇ πόλει.
11Day and night * he shall go round about it upon its walls: iniquity and sorrow and unrighteousness are in the midst of it;Ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς κυκλώσει αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τὰ τείχη αὐτῆς, ἀνομία καὶ πόνος ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῆς
12and usury and craft have not failed from its streets.καὶ ἀδικία, καὶ οὐκ ἐξέλιπεν ἐκ τῶν πλατειῶν αὐτῆς τόκος καὶ δόλος.
13For if an enemy had reproached me, I would have endured it; and if one who hated me had spoken vauntingly against me, I would have hid myself from him.Ὅτι εἰ ἐχθρὸς ὠνείδισέ με, ὑπήνεγκα ἂν, καὶ εἰ ὁ μισῶν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ ἐμεγαλοῤῥημόνησεν, ἐκρύβην ἂν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ.
14But you, O man like minded, my guide, and my acquaintance,Σὺ δὲ ἄνθρωπε ἰσόψυχε, ἡγεμών μου καὶ γνωστέ μου,
15who in companionship with me sweetened our food: we walked in the house of God in concord.ὃς ἐπιτοαυτὸ ἐγλύκανας ἐδέσματα, ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπορεύθημεν ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ.
16Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into Hades, for iniquity is in their dwellings, in the midst of them.Ἐλθέτω θάνατος ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς, καὶ καταβήτωσαν εἰς ᾅδου ζῶντες· ὅτι πονηρία ἐν ταῖς παροικίαις αὐτῶν ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν.
17I cried to God, and the Lord listened to me.Ἐγὼ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐκέκραξα, καὶ ὁ Κύριος εἰσήκουσέ μου.
18Evening, and morning, and at noon I will declare and make known my wants: and he shall hear my voice.Ἑσπέρας καὶ πρωῒ καὶ μεσημβρίας διηγήσομαι, καὶ ἀπαγγελῶ, καὶ εἰσακούσεται τῆς φωνῆς μου.
19He shall deliver my soul in peace from them that draw near to me: for they were with me in many cases.Λυτρώσεται ἐν εἰρήνῃ τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπὸ τῶν ἐγγιζόντων μοι, ὅτι ἐν πολλοῖς ἦσαν σὺν ἐμοί.
20God shall hear, and bring them low, even he that has existed from eternity. Pause. † For they suffer no reverse, and therefore they have not feared God.Εἰσακούσεται ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ταπεινώσει αὐτοὺς, ὁ ὑπάρχων πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων· διάψαλμα·
21He has reached forth his hand for retribution; they have profaned his covenant.Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἀντάλλαγμα, καὶ οὐκ ἐφοβήθησαν τὸν Θεόν. Ἐξέτεινε τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ ἀποδιδόναι· ἐβεβήλωσαν τὴν διαθήκην αὐτοῦ.
22They were scattered at the anger of his countenance, and his heart drew near ‡ them. His words were smoother than oil, yet are they darts.Διεμερίσθησαν ἀπὸ ὀργῆς τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἤγγισεν ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ· ἡπαλύνθησαν οἱ λόγοι αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ ἔλαιον, καὶ αὐτοί εἰσι βολίδες.
23✡ Cast your care upon the Lord, and he shall § sustain you; he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.Ἐπίῤῥιψον ἐπὶ Κύριον τὴν μέριμνάν σου, καὶ αὐτός σε διαθρέψει, οὐ δώσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα σάλον τῷ δικαίῳ.
24But you, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction; bloody and crafty men shall not live out half their days; but I will hope in you, O Lord.Σὺ δὲ ὁ Θεὸς κατάξεις αὐτοὺς εἰς φρέαρ διαφθορᾶς· ἄνδρες αἱμάτων καὶ δολιότητος οὐ μὴ ἡμισεύσωσι τὰς ἡμέρας αὐτῶν· ἐγὼ δὲ ἐλπιῶ ἐπὶ σε, Κύριε.
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. 10*Or, it, sc. iniquity.
- v. 19†Or, they have nothing to give in exchange, q. d. to redeem their souls. Compare Ps. 48. 7,8. Mark 8:37.
- v. 21‡Compare Heb. and A. V.
- v. 22✡1 Pe 5:7
- v. 22§Or, nourish. * 55: Or, holy things.
The Fathers on Psalms 54
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 54:2–3Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “Hear Thou, O God, my entreaty, and despise not my prayer: give heed unto me, and hearken unto me” (ver. 1). Of one earnest, anxious, of one set in tribulation, are these words. He is praying, suffering many things, from evil yearning to be delivered: it remaineth that we hear in what evil he is, and when he beginneth to speak, let us acknowledge there ourselves to be; in order that the tribulation being…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:4Saint Augustine of Hippo5. Whence then doth this man pray, set among evil men, with whose enmities he was being exercised? Why saith he, “I have been made sad in my exercise, and have been troubled”? While he is extending his love so as to love enemies, he hath been affected with disgust, being bayed at all around by the enmities of many men, by the frenzy of many and under a sort of human infirmity he hath sunk. He hath seen himself…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:5Saint Augustine of Hippo6. But this man being troubled and made sad was praying, his eye being disturbed as it were on account of anger. But the anger of a brother if it shall have been inveterate is then hatred. Anger doth trouble the eye, hatred doth quench it: anger is a straw, hatred is a beam. Sometimes thou hatest and chidest an angry man: in thee is hatred, in him whom thou chidest anger: with reason to thee is said, “Cast out…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:6–7Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and darkness hath covered me” (ver. 5). “And I have said,” “He that hateth his brother, is in darkness until now.” If love is light, hatred is darkness. And what saith to himself one set in that weakness and troubled in that exercise? “Who shall give me wings as to a dove, and I shall fly and shall rest?” (ver. 6). Either for death he was wishing, or for solitude…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:8Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “Behold I have gone afar fleeing, and have abode in the desert” (ver. 7). In what desert? Wherever thou shalt be, there will gather them together other men, the desert with thee they will seek, will attach themselves to thy life, thou canst not thrust back the society of brethren: there are mingled with thee also evil men; still exercise is thy due portion, “Behold I have gone afar, and have abode in the…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:9Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “I was looking for him that should save me from weakness of mind and tempest” (ver. 8). Sea there is, tempest there is: nothing for thee remaineth but to cry out, “Lord, I perish.” Let Him stretch forth hand, who doth the waves tread fearlessly, let Him relieve thy dread, let Him confirm in Himself thy security, let Him speak to thee within, and say to thee, “Give heed to Me, what I have borne:” an evil…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:10Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “Sink, O Lord, and divide the tongues of them” (ver. 9). He is referring to men troubling him and shadowing him, and he hath wished this thing not of anger, brethren. They that have wickedly lifted up themselves, for them it is expedient that they be sunk. They that have wickedly conspired, it is expedient for them that their tongues should be divided: to good let them consent, and let their tongues agree…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:12Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “There hath not failed from the streets thereof usury and deceit” (ver. 11). Usury and deceit are not hidden at least, because they are evil things, but in public they rage. For he that in his house doth any evil thing, however for his evil thing doth blush: “In the streets thereof usury and deceit.” Money-lending even hath a profession, Money-lending also is called a science; a corporation is spoken of, a…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:13–14Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “For if an enemy had upbraided me” (ver. 12). And indeed above he was “troubled in his exercise” by the voice of the enemy and by the tribulation of the sinner, perhaps being placed in that city, that proud city that was building a tower, which was “sunk,” that divided might be the tongues: give heed to his inward groaning because of perils from false brethren. “For if an enemy had upbraided me, I would have…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:16Saint Augustine of Hippo15. “Let there come death upon them, and let them go down unto Hell living” (ver. 15). How hath he cited and hath made us call to mind that first beginning of schism, when in that first people of the Jews certain proud men separated themselves, and would without have sacrificed? A new death upon them came: the earth opened herself, and swallowed them up alive. “Let there come,” he saith, “death upon them, and let…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:17Saint Augustine of Hippo16. “Therefore to the Lord I have cried out” (ver. 16). The Body of Christ and the oneness of Christ in anguish, in weariness, in uneasiness, in the tribulation of its exercise, that One Man, Oneness in One Body set, when He was wearying His soul in crying out from the ends of the earth; saith, “From the ends of the earth to Thee I have cried out, when My heart was being vexed.” Himself one, but a oneness that…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:18Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “In evening, in morning, at noon-day I will recount and will tell forth, and He shall hearken to my voice” (ver. 18). Do thou proclaim glad tidings, keep not secret that which thou hast received, “in evening” of things gone by, “in morning” of things to be, at “noonday” of things ever to be. Therefore, to that which he saith “in evening” belongeth that which he recounteth: to that which he saith, “in…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:18Saint Augustine of Hippo18. Therefore, my Brethren, those that in the very congregation of these walls ye see to be rebellious men, proud, seeking their own, lifted up; not having a zeal for God that is chaste, sound, quiet, but ascribing to themselves much; ready for dissension, but not finding opportunity; are the very chaff of the Lord’s floor. From hence these few men the wind of pride hath dislodged: the whole floor will not fly,…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:18Saint Augustine of Hippo19. “God will hear me, and He shall humble them That is before ages” (ver. 19). For they rely on some leader or other of theirs that hath begun but yesterday. “He shall humble them That is before ages.” For even if with reference to time Christ is of Mary the Virgin, nevertheless before ages: “In the beginning He is the Word and the Word with God, and the Word God.” “He shall humble them That is before ages. For…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:21Saint Augustine of Hippo20. “He stretcheth forth His hand in requiting” (ver. 20). “They have polluted His Testament.” Read the testament which they have polluted: “In thy seed shall be blessed all nations.” Thou against these words of the Testator sayest what? The Africa of holy Donatus hath alone deserved this grace, in him hath remained the Church of Christ. Say at least the Church of Donatus. Wherefore addest thou, of Christ? Of…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:22Saint Augustine of Hippo21. “And His heart hath drawn near” (ver. 22). Of whom do we understand it, except of Him, by the anger of whom they have been divided? How “hath his heart drawn near”? In such sort, that we may understand His will. For by heretics hath been vindicated the Catholic Church, and by those that think evil have been proved those that think well. For many things lay hid in the Scriptures: and when heretics had been cut…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:22Saint Augustine of Hippo22. “His discourses have been softened above oil, and themselves are darts” (ver. 21). For certain things in the Scriptures were seeming hard, while they were obscure; when explained, they have been softened. For even the first heresy in the disciples of Christ, as it were from the hardness of His discourse arose. For when He said, “Except a man shall have eaten My flesh and shall have drunk My blood, he shall…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:22Saint Augustine of Hippo23. Furthermore, just as Peter, after their having been scandalized by the hardness, as they thought, of the discourse of the Lord, even then said, “to whom shall we go?” so he hath added, “Cast upon the Lord thy care, and He shall Himself nourish thee up” (ver. 22). A little one thou art, not yet thou understandest the secret things of words: perchance from thee the bread is hidden, and as yet with milk thou…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 54:24Open Psalms 54 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 Hippo24. But to the others what? “But Thou, O God, shall bring them down unto the pit of corruption” (ver. 23). The pit of corruption is the darkness of sinking under. When blind leadeth blind, they both fall into a ditch. God bringeth them down into the pit of corruption, not because He is the author of their own guilt, but because He is Himself the judge of their iniquities. “For God hath delivered them unto the…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →