Psalms 55
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 55 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.
13 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo.
Psalms 55
1(56) For the end, concerning the people that were removed from the * sanctuary, by David for a memorial, when the Philistines caught him in Geth.Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων μεμακρυμμένου, τῷ Δαυὶδ εἰς στηλογραφίαν, ὁπότε ἐκράτησαν αὐτὸν οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι ἐν Γέθ.
2Have mercy upon me, O God; for man has trodden me down; all the day long he warring has afflicted me.Ἐλεήσον με ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι κατεπάτησέ με ἄνθρωπος, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν πολεμῶν ἔθλιψέ με.
3Mine enemies have trodden me down all the day from the dawning of the day; for there are many warring against me.Κατεπάτησάν με οἱ ἐχθροί μου ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἀπὸ ὕψους ἡμέρας, ὅτι πολλοὶ οἱ πολεμοῦντές με.
4They shall be afraid, but I will trust in you.Φοβηθήσονται, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐλπιῶ ἐπὶ σοί.
5In God I will praise my words; all the day have I hoped in God; I will not fear what flesh shall do to me.Ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἐπαινέσω τοὺς λόγους μου, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἤλπισα, οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιήσει μοι σάρξ.
6All the day long they have abominated my words; all their devices are against me for evil.Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν τοὺς λόγους μου ἐβδελύσσοντο, κατʼ ἐμοῦ πάντες οἱ διαλογισμοὶ αὐτῶν εἰς κακόν.
7They will dwell near and hide themselves; they will watch my steps, accordingly as I have waited patiently in my soul.Παροικήσουσι καὶ κατακρύψουσιν αὐτοὶ, τὴν πτέρναν μου φυλάξουσι· καθάπερ ὑπέμεινα τῇ ψυχῇ μου.
8You will on no account save them; you will bring down the people in wrath.Ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηθενὸς σώσεις αὐτοὺς ἐν ὀργῇ λαοὺς κατάξεις· ὁ Θεὸς
9O God, I have declared my life to you; you have set my tears before you, even according to your promise.τὴν ζωήν μου ἐξήγγειλά σοι, ἔθου τὰ δάκρυά μου ἐνώπιόν σου, ὡς καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐπαγγελίᾳ σου.
10Mine enemies shall be turned back, in the day wherein I shall call upon you; behold, I know that you are my God.Ἐπιστρέψουσιν οἱ ἐχθροί μου εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, ἐν ᾗ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπικαλέσωμαί σε· ἰδοὺ ἔγνων ὅτι Θεός μου εἶ σύ.
11In God, will I praise his word; in the Lord will I praise his saying.Ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ αἰνέσω ῥῆμα, ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ αἰνέσω λόγον.
12I have hoped in God; I will not be afraid of what man shall do to me.Ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ ἤλπισα, οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιήσει μοι ἄνθρωπος.
13The vows of your praise, O God, which I will pay, are upon me.Ἐν ἐμοὶ ὁ Θεὸς αἱ εὐχαὶ, ἃς ἀποδώσω αἰνέσεώς σου.
14For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from sliding, that I should be well-pleasing before God in the land of the living.Ὅτι ἐῤῥύσω τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐκ θανάτου, καὶ τοὺς πόδας μου ἐξ ὀλισθήματος, τοῦ εὐαρεστῆσαι ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν φωτὶ ζώντων.
The Fathers on Psalms 55
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 55:2Saint Augustine of Hippo4. Let whatsoever holy men therefore that are suffering pressing from those that have been put afar off from the saints, give heed to this Psalm, let them perceive here themselves, let them speak what here is spoken, that suffer what here is spoken of.…Private enmities therefore let no one think of, when about to hear the words of this Psalm: “Know ye that for us the wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but…
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On Psalms 55:3Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “Mine enemies have trodden me down all day long” (ver. 2). They that have been put afar off from holy men, these are mine enemies. All day long: already it hath been said, “From the height of the day.” What meaneth, “from the height of the day”? Perchance it is a high thing to understand. And no wonder, because the height of the day it is. For perchance they for this reason have been put afar off from holy…
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On Psalms 55:3Saint Augustine of Hippo6. “For many men that war against me, shall fear” (ver. 3). Shall fear when? When the day shall have passed away, wherein they are high. For for a time high they are, when the time of their height is finished they will fear. “But I in Thee will hope, O Lord.” He saith not, “But I will not fear:” but, “Many men, that war against me, shall fear.” When there shall have come that day of Judgment, then “shall mourn…
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On Psalms 55:5Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “In God I will praise my discourses, in God I have hoped: I will not fear what flesh doeth to me” (ver. 4). Wherefore? Because in God I will praise my discourses. If in thyself thou praisest thy discourses: I say not that thou art not to fear; it is impossible that thou have not to fear. For thy discourses either false thou wilt have, and therefore thine own, because false: or if thy discourses shall be true,…
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On Psalms 55:6Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “All day long my words they abhorred” (ver. 5). Thus they are, ye know. Speak truth, preach truth, proclaim Christ to the heathen, proclaim the Church to heretics, proclaim to all men salvation: they contradict, they abhor my words. But when my words they abhor, whom think ye they abhor, save Him in whom I shall praise my discourses? “All day long my words they abhorred.” Let this at least suffice, let them…
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On Psalms 55:4Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “They shall sojourn, and shall hide” (ver. 6). To sojourn is to be in a strange land. Sojourners is a term used of those then that live in a country not their own. Every man in this life is a foreigner: in which life ye see that with flesh we are covered round, through which flesh the heart cannot be seen. Therefore the Apostle saith, “Do not before the time judge anything, until the Lord come, and He shall…
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On Psalms 55:8Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “For nothing Thou shalt save them” (ver. 7). He hath taught us even for these very men to pray. However “they shall sojourn and hide,” however deceitful they be, however dissemblers and liers in wait they be; do thou pray for them, and do not say, Shall God amend even such a man, so evil, so perverse? Do not despair: give heed to Him whom thou askest, not him for whom thou askest. The greatness of the disease…
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On Psalms 55:9Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “O God, my life I have told out to Thee” (ver. 8). For that I live hath been Thy doing, and for this reason I tell out my life to Thee. But did not God know that which He had given? What is that which thou tellest out to Him? Wilt thou teach God? Far be it. Therefore why saith he, “I have told out to Thee”? Is it perchance because it profiteth Thee that I have told out my life? And what doth it profit God? To…
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On Psalms 55:10Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “Turned be mine enemies backward” (ver. 9). This thing to these very men is profitable, no ill to these men he is wishing. For to go before they are willing, therefore to be amended they are not willing. Thou warnest thine enemy to live well, that he amend himself: he scorneth, he rejecteth thy word: “Behold him that adviseth me; behold him from whom I am to hear the commandments whereby I shall live!” To go…
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On Psalms 55:10Saint Augustine of Hippo15. “In whatsoever day I shall have called upon Thee, behold I have known that my God art Thou” (ver. 9). A great knowledge. He saith not, “I have known that God Thou art:” but, “that my God art Thou.” For thine He is, when thee He succoureth: thine He is, when thou to Him art not an alien. Whence is said, “Blessed the people of whom is the Lord the God of the same.” Wherefore “of whom is”? For of whom is He not?…
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On Psalms 55:11–12Saint Augustine of Hippo16. Let us therefore love God, brethren, purely and chastely. There is not a chaste heart, if God for reward it worshippeth. How so? Reward of the worship of God shall not we have? We shall have evidently, but it is God Himself whom we worship. Himself for us a reward shall be, because “we shall see Him as He is.” Observe that a reward thou shalt obtain.…I will tell you, brethren: in these human alliances…
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On Psalms 55:13–14Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “In me, O God, are Thy vows, which I will render of praise to Thee” (ver. 12). “Vow ye, and render to the Lord your God.” What vow, what render? Perchance those animals which were offered at the altars aforetime? No such thing offer thou: in thyself is what thou mayest vow and render. From the heart’s coffer bring forth the incense of praise; from the store of a good conscience bring forth the sacrifice of…
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On Psalms 55:14Open Psalms 55 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 Hippo18. “Because Thou hast rescued my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from slipping: that I may be pleasing before God in the light of the living” (ver. 13). With reason he is not pleasing to alien sons, that are put afar off from holy men, because they have not the light of the living, whence they may see that which to God is pleasing. “Light of the living,” is light of the immortal, light of holy…
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