Psalms 65
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 65 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.
14 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (1) follow the text.
Psalms 65
1(66) For the end, a Song of Psalm of resurrection. Shout to God, all the earth.Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ᾠδὴ ψαλμοῦ ἀναστάσεως. Ἀλαλάξατε τῷ Θεῷ, πᾶσα ἡ γῆ,
2O sing praises to his name; give glory to his praise.ψάλατε δὴ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ, δότε δόξαν αἰνέσει αὐτοῦ.
3Say to God, How awful are your works! through the greatness of your power your enemies shall lie to you.Εἴπατε τῷ Θεῷ ὡς φοβερὰ τὰ ἔργα σου; ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῆς δυνάμεώς σου ψεύσονταί σε οἱ ἐχθροί σου.
4Let all the earth worship you, and sing to you; let them sing to your name. Pause.Πᾶσα ἡ γῆ προσκυνησάτωσάν σοι, καὶ ψαλάτωσάν σοι, ψαλάτωσαν τῷ ὀνόματί σου· διάψαλμα.
5Come and behold the works of God; he is terrible in his counsels beyond the children of men.Δεῦτε καὶ ἴδετε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ, φοβερὸς ἐν βουλαῖς ὑπὲρ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
6Who turns the sea into dry land; they shall go through the river on foot; there shall we rejoice in him,Ὁ μεταστρέφων τὴν θάλασσαν εἰς ξηρὰν, ἐν ποταμῷ διελεύσονται ποδί· ἐκεῖ εὐφρανθησόμεθα ἐπʼ αὐτῷ,
7who by his power * is Lord over the age, his eyes look upon the nations; let not them that provoke him be exalted in themselves. Pause.τῷ δεσπόζοντι ἐν τῇ δυναστείᾳ αὐτοῦ τοῦ αἰῶνος· οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιβλέπουσιν, οἱ παραπικραίνοντες μὴ ὑψούσθωσαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· διάψαλμα.
8Bless our God, you Gentiles, and make the voice of his praise to be heard;Εὐλογεῖτε ἔθνη τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀκουτίσατε τὴν φωνὴν τῆς αἰνέσεως αὐτοῦ,
9who quickens my soul in life, and does not suffer my feet to be moved.τοῦ θεμένου τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ζωὴν, καὶ μὴ δόντος εἰς σάλον τοὺς πόδας μου.
10For you, O God, has proved us; you have tried us with fire as silver is tried.Ὅτι ἐδοκίμασας ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς, ἐπύρωσας ἡμᾶς ὡς πυροῦται τὸ ἀργύριον.
11You brought us into the snare; you laid afflictions on our back.Εἰσήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν παγίδα, ἔθου θλίψεις ἐπὶ τὸν νῶτον ἡμῶν,
12You did mount men upon our heads; we went through the fire and water; but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.ἐπεβίβασας ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἡμῶν· διήλθομεν διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος, καὶ ἐξήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς ἀναψυχήν.
13I will go into your house with whole burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows,Εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου ἐν ὁλοκαυτώμασιν, ἀποδώσω σοι τὰς εὐχάς μου,
14which my lips framed, and my mouth uttered in my affliction.ἃς διέστειλε τὰ χείλη μου, καὶ ἐλάλησε τὸ στόμα μου ἐν τῇ θλίψει μου.
15I will offer to you whole burnt sacrifices full of marrow, with incense and rams; I will sacrifice to you oxen with goats. Pause.Ὁλοκαυτώματα μεμυελωμένα ἀνοίσω σοι μετὰ θυμιάματος καὶ κριῶν, ποιήσω σοι βόας μετὰ χιμάρων· διάψαλμα.
16Come, hear, and I will tell, all you that fear God, how great things he has done for my soul.Δεῦτε ἀκούσατε, καὶ διηγήσομαι, πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν Θεὸν, ὅσα ἐποίησε τῇ ψυχῇ μου.
17I cried to him with my mouth, and exalted him with my tongue.Πρὸς αὐτὸν τῷ στόματί μου ἐκέκραξα, καὶ ὕψωσα ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶσσάν μου.
18If I have regarded iniquity in my heart, let not the Lord listen to me.Ἀδικίαν εἰ ἐθεώρουν ἐν καρδίᾳ μου, μὴ εἰσακουσάτω Κύριος.
19Therefore God has listened to me; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.Διὰ τοῦτο εἰσήκουσέ μου ὁ Θεὸς, προσέσχε τῇ φωνῇ τῆς προσευχῆς μου.
20Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὃς οὐκ ἀπέστησε τὴν προσευχήν μου, καὶ τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ.
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. 7*Or, has dominion for ever.
The Fathers on Psalms 65
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 65:1Saint Augustine of Hippo2. …Thence he beginneth, “Be joyful in God.” Who? “Every land” (ver. 1). Not therefore Judæa alone. See, brethren, after what sort is set forth the universality of the Church in the whole world spread abroad: and mourn ye not only the Jews, who envied the Gentiles that grace, but still more for heretics wail ye. For if they are to be mourned, that have not been gathered together, how much more they that being…
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On Psalms 65:2Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “But play ye to His name” (ver. 2). What hath he said? By you “playing” let His name be blessed. But what it is to “play”? To play is also to take up an instrument which is called a psaltery, and by the striking and action of the hands to accompany voices. If therefore ye jubilate so that God may hear; play also something that men may both see and hear: but not to your own name.…For if for the sake of…
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On Psalms 65:3Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “Say ye to God, How to be feared are Thy works!” (ver. 3). Wherefore to be feared and not to be loved? Hear thou another voice of a Psalm: “Serve ye the Lord in fear, and exult unto Him with trembling.” What meaneth this? Hear the voice of the Apostle: “With fear,” he saith, “and trembling, your own salvation work ye out.” Wherefore with fear and trembling? He hath subjoined the reason: “for God it is that…
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On Psalms 65:4–5Saint Augustine of Hippo8. Let Jews remain in their lies: to Thee, because in the multitude of Thy power they lied, let there be done that which followeth, “Let every land worship Thee, and play to Thee, play to Thy name, O Most Highest” (ver. 4). A little before, Most Lowly, now Most Highest: Most Lowly in the hands of lying enemies; Most Highest above the head of praising Angels. O ye Gentiles, O most distant nations, leave lying…
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On Psalms 65:6Saint Augustine of Hippo9. Wherefore what hath He done by the terror of His counsel? He hath turned the sea into dry land. For this followeth, “That hath turned the sea into dry land” (ver. 6). A sea was the world, bitter with saltness, troubled with tempest, raging with waves of persecutions, sea it was: truly into dry land the sea hath been turned, now there thirsteth for sweet water the world that with salt water was filled. Who hath…
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On Psalms 65:7Saint Augustine of Hippo11. In whom? “In Him that reigneth in His virtue for everlasting” (ver. 7). For what virtue have we and is it everlasting? If everlasting were our virtue, we should not have slipped, should not have fallen into sin, we should not have deserved penal mortality. He, of His good pleasure, took up that whereunto our desert threw us down. “That reigneth in His virtue for everlasting.” Of Him partakers let us be made,…
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On Psalms 65:8–9Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “Bless our God, ye nations” (ver. 8). Behold, there have been driven back they that are bitter, reckoning hath been made with them: some have been converted, some have continued proud. Let not them terrify you that grudge the Gentiles Gospel Grace: now hath come the Seed of Abraham, in whom are blessed all nations. Bless ye Him in whom ye are blessed, “Bless our God, ye nations: and hear ye the voice of His…
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On Psalms 65:10, 12Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “For thou hast proved us, O God; Thou hast fired us as silver is fired” (ver. 10). Hast not fired us like hay, but like silver: by applying to us fire, Thou hast not turned us into ashes, but Thou hast washed off uncleanness, “Thou hast fired us, as silver is fired.” And see in what manner God is wroth against them, whose Soul He hath set unto life. “Thou hast led us into a trap:” not that we might be caught…
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On Psalms 65:13Saint Augustine of Hippo16. Observe how not only concerning a cool place, but neither of that very fire to be desired he hath been silent: “I will enter into Thy House in holocausts” (ver. 13). What is a holocaust? A whole sacrifice burned up, but with fire divine. For a sacrifice is called a holocaust, when the whole is burned. One thing are the parts of sacrifices, another thing a holocaust: when the whole is burned and the whole…
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On Psalms 65:14Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “I will render to Thee my vows, which my lips have distinguished” (ver. 14). What is the distinction in vows? This is the distinction, that thyself thou censure, Him thou praise: perceive thyself to be a creature, Him the Creator: thyself darkness, Him the Enlightener, to whom thou shouldest say, “Thou shalt light my lamp, O Lord my God, Thou shalt enlighten my darkness.” For whenever thou shalt have said, O…
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On Psalms 65:15Saint Augustine of Hippo18. “And my mouth hath spoken in my tribulation.” How sweet ofttimes is tribulation, how necessary! In that case what hath the mouth of the same spoken in his tribulation? “Holocausts marrowed I will offer to Thee” (ver. 15). What is “marrowed”? Within may I keep Thy love, it shall not be on the surface, in my marrow it shall be that I love Thee. For there is nothing more inward than our marrow: the bones are…
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On Psalms 65:16–17Saint Augustine of Hippo19. Come ye, hear, and I will tell, all ye that fear God” (ver. 16). Let us come, let us hear, what he is going to tell, “Come ye, hear, and I will tell.” But to whom, “Come ye, and hear”? “All ye that fear God.” If God ye fear not, I will not tell. It is not possible that it be told to any where the fear of God is not. Let the fear of God open the ears, that there may be something to enter in, and a way whereby…
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On Psalms 65:18Saint Augustine of Hippo20. “If I have beheld iniquity in my heart, may not the Lord hearken” (ver. 18). Consider now, brethren, how easily, how daily men blushing for fear of men do censure iniquities; He hath done ill, He hath done basely, a villain the fellow is: this perchance for man’s sake he saith. See whether thou beholdest no iniquity in thy heart, whether perchance that which thou censurest in another, thou art meditating to…
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On Psalms 65:19–20Open Psalms 65 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 Hippo21. “Therefore God hath hearkened to me” (ver. 19). Because I have not beheld iniquity in my heart. “And He hath listened to the voice of my prayer.” “Blessed be my God, that hath not thrust away my supplication and His mercy from me” (ver. 20). Gather the sense from that place, where he saith, “Come ye, hear, and I will tell you, all ye that fear God, how great things He hath done to my soul:” he hath both said…
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