Psalms 68
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 68 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.
29 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (5) follow the text.
Psalms 68
1(69) For the end, a Psalm of David, for * alternate strains.Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀλλοιωθησομένων, τῶ Δαυίδ.
2Save me, O God; for the waters have come in to my soul.Σώσον με ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι εἰσήλθοσαν ὕδατα ἕως ψυχῆς μου.
3I am stuck fast in deep mire, and there is no standing: I am come in to the depths of the sea, and a storm has overwhelmed me.Ἐνεπάγην εἰς ἰλὺν βυθοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπόστασις· ἦλθον εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ καταιγὶς κατεπόντισέ με.
4I am weary of crying, my throat has become hoarse; my eyes have failed by my waiting on my God.Ἐκοπίασα κράζων, ἐβραγχίασεν ὁ λάρυγξ μου, ἐξέλιπον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐλπίζειν με ἐπὶ τὸν Θεόν μου.
5They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: my enemies that persecute me unrighteously are strengthened: then I † restored that which I took not away.Ἐπληθύνθησαν ὑπὲρ τὰς τρίχας τῆς κεφαλῆς μου οἱ μισοῦντές με δωρεάν· ἐκραταιώθησαν οἱ ἐχθροί μου οἱ ἐκδιώκοντές με ἀδίκως· ἃ οὐχ ἥρπασα, τότε ἀπετίννυον.
6O God, you know my foolishness; and my transgressions are not hidden from you.Ὁ Θεὸς σὺ ἔγνως τὴν ἀφροσύνην μου, καὶ αἱ πλημμελειαί μου ἀπὸ σοῦ οὐκ ἐκρύβησαν.
7Let not them that wait on you, O Lord of hosts, be ashamed on my account: let not them that seek you, be ashamed on my account, O God of Israel.Μὴ αἰσχυνθείησαν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ οἱ ὑπομένοντές σε Κύριε τῶν δυνάμεων, μὴ ἐντραπείησαν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ οἱ ζητοῦντές σε ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.
8For I have suffered reproach for your sake; shame has covered my face.Ὅτι ἕνεκά σου ὑπήνεγκα ὀνειδισμὸν, ἐκάλυψεν ἐντροπὴ τὸ πρόσωπόν μου.
9I became strange to my brethren, and a stranger to my mother's children.Ἀπηλλοτριωμένος ἐγενήθην τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου, καὶ ξένος τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς μητρός μου·
10✡ For the zeal of your house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached you are fallen upon me.ὅτι ὁ ζῆλος τοῦ οἴκου σου κατάφαγέ με, καὶ οἱ ὀνειδισμοὶ τῶν ὀνειδιζόντων σε ἐπέπεσον ἐπʼ ἐμέ.
11And I bowed down my soul with fasting, and that was made my reproach.Καὶ συνέκαμψα ἐν νηστείᾳ τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ ἐγενήθη εἰς ὀνειδισμοὺς ἐμοί.
12And I put on sackcloth for my covering; and I became a proverb to them.Καὶ ἐθέμην τὸ ἔνδυμά μου σάκκον, καὶ ἐγενόμην αὐτοῖς εἰς παραβολήν.
13They that sit in the gate talked against me, and they that drank wine sang against me.Κατʼ ἐμοῦ ἠδολέσχουν οἱ καθήμενοι ἐν πύλῃ, καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ ἔψαλλον οἱ πίνοντες τὸν οἶνον.
14But I will cry to you, O Lord, in my prayer; O God, it is a propitious time: in the multitude of your mercy hear me, in the truth of your salvation.Ἐγὼ δὲ τῇ προσευχῇ μου πρὸς σὲ Κύριε, καιρὸς εὐδοκίας ὁ Θεός· ἐν τῷ πλήθει τοῦ ἐλέους σου ἐπάκουσόν μου, ἐν ἀληθείᾳ τῆς σωτηρίας σου.
15Save me from the mire, that I stick not in it: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and from the deep waters.Σῶσόν με ἀπὸ πηλοῦ, ἵνα μὴ ἐνπαγῶ· ῥυσθείην ἐκ τῶν μισούντων με, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ βάθους τῶν ὑδάτων.
16Let not the waterflood drown me, nor let the deep swallow me up; neither let the well shut its mouth upon me.Μή με καταποντισάτω καταιγὶς ὕδατος, μηδὲ καταπιέτω με βυθὸς, μηδὲ συνσχέτω ἐπʼ ἐμὲ φρέαρ τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ.
17Hear me, O Lord; for your mercy is good: according to the multitude of your compassions look upon me.Εἰσάκουσόν μου Κύριε, ὅτι χρηστὸν τὸ ἔλεός σου, κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν σου ἐπίβλεψον ἐπʼ ἐμε.
18And turn not away your face from your ‡ servant; for I am afflicted: hear me speedily.Καὶ μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀπὸ τοῦ παιδός σου· ὅτι θλίβομαι, ταχὺ ἐπάκουσόν μου.
19Draw near to my soul and redeem it: deliver me because of my enemies.Πρόσχες τῇ ψυχῇ μου, καὶ λύτρωσαι αὐτὴν, ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου ῥῦσαί με.
20For you know my reproach, and my shame, and my confusion; all that afflict me are before you.Σὺ γὰρ γινώσκεις τὸν ὀνειδισμόν μου, καὶ τὴν αἰσχύνην μου, καὶ τὴν ἐντροπήν μου· ἐναντίον σου πάντες οἱ θλίβοντές με.
21My soul has waited for reproach and misery; and I waited for one to grieve with me, but there was none; and for one to comfort me, but I found none.Ὀνειδισμὸν προσεδόκησεν ἡ ψυχή μου καὶ ταλαιπωρίαν· καὶ ὑπέμεινα συλλυπούμενον, καὶ οὐχ ὑπῆρξε, καὶ παρακαλοῦντα, καὶ οὐχ εὗρον.
22They gave me also gall for my food, and made me drink vinegar for my thirst.Καὶ ἔδωκαν εἰς τὸ βρῶμά μου χολὴν, καὶ εἰς τὴν δίψαν μου ἐπότισάν με ὄξος.
23✡ Let their table before them be for a snare, and for a recompense, and for a stumbling block.Γενηθήτω ἡ τράπεζα αὐτῶν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν εἰς παγίδα, καὶ εἰς ἀνταπόδοσιν, καὶ εἰς σκάνδαλον.
24Let their eyes be darkened that they should not see; and bow down their back continually.Σκοτισθήτωσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῶν τοῦ μὴ βλέπειν, καὶ τὸν νῶτον αὐτῶν διαπαντὸς σύγκαμψον.
25Pour out your wrath upon them, and let the fury of your anger take hold on them.Ἔκχεον ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς τὴν ὀργήν σου, καὶ ὁ θυμὸς τῆς ὀργῆς σου καταλάβοι αὐτούς.
26✡ Let their habitation be made desolate; and let there be no inhabitant in their tents:Γενηθήτω ἡ ἔπαυλις αὐτῶν ἠρημωμένη, καὶ ἐν τοῖς σκηνώμασιν αὐτῶν μὴ ἔστω ὁ κατοικῶν·
27Because they persecuted him whom you have struck; and they have added to the grief of my wounds.ὅτι ὃν σὺ ἐπάταξας, αὐτοὶ κατεδίωξαν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄλγος τῶν τραυμάτων μου προσέθηκαν.
28Add iniquity to their iniquity; and let them not come into your righteousness.Πρόσθες ἀνομίαν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν αὐτῶν, καὶ μὴ εἰσελθέτωσαν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ σου.
29Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and let them not be written with the righteous.Ἐξαλειφθήτωσαν ἐκ βίβλου ζώντων, καὶ μετὰ δικαίων μὴ γραφήτωσαν.
30I am poor and sorrowful; but the salvation of your countenance has helped me.Πτωχὸς καὶ ἀλγῶν εἰμι ἐγὼ, καὶ ἡ σωτηρία τοῦ προσώπου σου ἀντελάβετό μου.
31I will praise the name of my God with a song, I will magnify him with praise;Αἰνέσω τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ μου μετʼ ᾠδῆς, μεγαλυνῶ αὐτὸν ἐν αἰνέσει·
32and this shall please God more than a young calf having horns and hoofs.καὶ ἀρέσει τῷ Θεῷ ὑπὲρ μόσχον νέον κέρατα ἐκφέροντα καὶ ὁπλάς.
33Let the poor see and rejoice; seek the Lord diligently, and you shall live.Ἰδέτωσαν πτωχοὶ καὶ εὐφρανθήτωσαν· ἐκζητήσατε τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ζήσεσθε.
34For the Lord hears the poor, and does not set at nothing his fettered ones.Ὅτι εἰσήκουσε τῶν πενήτων ὁ Κύριος, καὶ τοὺς πεπεδημένους αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐξουδένωσεν.
35Let the heavens and the earth raise him, the sea, and all things moving in them.Αἰνεσάτωσαν αὐτὸν οἱ οὐρανοὶ καὶ ἡ γῆ, θάλασσα καὶ πάντα τὰ ἕρποντα ἐν αὐτοῖς.
36For God will save Sion, and the cities of Judea shall be built; and men shall dwell there, and inherit it.Ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς σώσει τὴν Σιὼν, καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσονται αἱ πόλεις τῆς Ἰουδαίας, καὶ κατοικήσουσιν ἐκεῖ, καὶ κληρονομήσουσιν αὐτήν.
37And the seed of his servants shall possess it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein.Καὶ τὸ σπέρμα τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ καθέξουσιν αὐτὴν, καὶ οἱ ἀγαπῶντες τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ κατασκηνώσουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ.
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. 4†Or, paid for, or, made up for.
- v. 9✡John 2:17; Rom 15:3
- v. 17‡Or, son.
- v. 22✡Rom 11:9-10
- v. 25✡Acts 1:20
The Fathers on Psalms 68
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 68:2Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “Save me, O God, for the waters have entered in even unto my soul” (ver. 1). That grain is despised now, that seemeth to give forth humble words. In the garden it is buried, though the world will admire the greatness of the herb, of which herb the seed was despised by the Jews. For in very deed observe ye the seed of the mustard, minute, dull coloured, altogether despicable, in order that therein may be…
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On Psalms 68:3Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “Fixed I am in the clay of the deep, and there is no substance” (ver. 2). What called the clay? Is it those very persons that have persecuted? For out of clay man hath been made. But these men by falling from righteousness have become the clay of the deep, and whosoever shall not have consented to them persecuting and desiring to draw him to iniquity, out of his clay doth make gold. For the clay of the same…
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On Psalms 68:4Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “I have laboured, crying, hoarse have become my jaws” (ver. 3). Where was this? When was this? Let us question the Gospel. For the Passion of our Lord in this Psalm we perceive. And, indeed, that He suffered we know; that there came in waters even unto His Soul, because peoples prevailed even unto His death, we read, we believe; in the tempest that He was sunk down, because tumult prevailed to His killing, we…
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On Psalms 68:5Saint Augustine of Hippo8. Thus “there have been multiplied above the hairs of My head they that hate Me gratis” (ver. 4). How multiplied? So as that they might add to themselves even one out of the twelve. “There have been multiplied above the hairs of My head they that hate Me for nought.” With the hairs of His head He hath compared His enemies. With reason they were shorn when in the place of Calvary He was crucified. Let the members…
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On Psalms 68:6Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “O God, Thou hast known mine improvidence” (ver. 5). Again out of the mouth of the Body. For what improvidence is there in Christ? Is He not Himself the Virtue of God, and the Wisdom of God? Doth He call this His improvidence, whereof the Apostle speaketh, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men”? Mine improvidence, that very thing which in Me they derided that seem to themselves to be wise, Thou hast known…
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On Psalms 68:7Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “Let them not blush in Me, that wait for Thee, O Lord, Lord of virtues” (ver. 6). Again, the voice of the Head, “Let them not blush in Me:” let it not be said to them, Where is He on whom ye were relying? Let it not be said to them, Where is He that was saying to you, Believe ye in God, and in Me believe? “Let them not blush in Me, that wait for Thee,” O Lord, Lord of virtues. Let them not be confounded…
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On Psalms 68:8Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “For because of Thee I have sustained upbraiding, shamelessness hath covered my face” (ver. 7). No great thing is that which is spoken of in “I have sustained:” but that which is spoken of in “for Thy sake I have sustained,” is. For if thou sustainest because thou hast sinned; for thine own sake thou sustainest, not for the sake of God. For to you what glory is there, saith Peter, if sinning ye are punished,…
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On Psalms 68:9Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “An alien I have become to My brethren, and a stranger to the sons of My mother” (ver. 8). To the sons of the Synagogue He became a stranger…Why so? Why did they not acknowledge? Why did they call Him an alien? Why did they dare to say, we know not whence He is? “Because the zeal of Thine House hath eaten Me up:” that is, because I have persecuted in them their own iniquities, because I have not patiently…
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On Psalms 68:11Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “And I have covered in fasting My Soul, and it became to Me for a reviling” (ver. 10). His fasting was, when there fell away all they that had believed in Him; because also it was His hunger, that men should believe in Him: because also it was His thirst, when He said to the woman, I thirst, “give Me to drink:” yea for her faith He was thirsting. And from the Cross when He was saying, “I thirst,” He was…
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On Psalms 68:12Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “And I have set sackcloth my garment” (ver. 11). Already before we have said something of the sackcloth, from whence there is this, “But I, when they were troubling Me, was covering myself with sackcloth, and was humbling My Soul in fasting. I have set sackcloth for My garment:” that is, have set against them My flesh, on which to spend their rage, I have concealed My divinity. “Sackcloth,” because mortal the…
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On Psalms 68:13Saint Augustine of Hippo15. “Against Me were reviling they that were sitting in the gate” (ver. 12). “In the gate” is nothing else but in public. “And against Me they were chanting, they that were drinking wine.” Do ye think, brethren, that this hath befallen Christ alone? Daily to Him in His members it happeneth: whenever perchance it is necessary for the servant of God to forbid excess of wine and luxuries in any village or town,…
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On Psalms 68:14Saint Augustine of Hippo16. “But I with My prayer with Thee, O Lord” (ver. 13). But I was with Thee. But how? With Thee by praying. For when thou art evil spoken of, and knowest not what thou mayest do; when at thee are hurled reproaches, and thou findest not any way of rebuking him by whom they are hurled; nothing remaineth for thee but to pray. But remember even for that very man to pray. “But I with my prayer with Thee, O Lord. It is…
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On Psalms 68:15Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “Save Thou Me from the mire, that I may not stick” (ver. 14). From that whereof above he had spoken, “Fixed I am in the clay of the deep, and there is no substance.” Furthermore, since ye have duly received the exposition of that expression, in this place there is nothing further for you to hear particularly. From hence he saith that he must be delivered, wherein before he said that he was fixed: “Save Thou…
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On Psalms 68:16Saint Augustine of Hippo18. “Let not the tempest of waters drown Me” (ver. 15). But already he had been drowned. “I have come into the depth of the sea,” thou hast said, and “the tempest hath drowned Me,” thou hast said. It hath drowned after the flesh, let it not drown after the Spirit. They to whom was said, If they shall have persecuted you in one city, flee ye into another; had this said to them, that neither in flesh they should…
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On Psalms 68:17Saint Augustine of Hippo19. “Hearken unto me, O Lord, for sweet is Thy mercy” (ver. 16). He hath given this as a reason why He ought to be hearkened unto, because sweet is the mercy of God.…To a man set in trouble the mercy of God must needs be sweet. Concerning this sweetness of the mercy of God see ye what in another place the Scripture saith: “Like rain in drought, so beautiful is the mercy of God in trouble.” That which there he…
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On Psalms 68:18Saint Augustine of Hippo20. “Turn not away Thy face from Thy child” (ver. 17). And this is a commending of humility; “from Thy child,” that is, “from Thy little one:” because now I have been rid of pride through the discipline of tribulation, “turn not away Thy face from Thy child.” This is that beautiful mercy of God, whereof he spake above. For in the following verse he explaineth that whereof he spake: “For I am troubled, speedily…
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On Psalms 68:19Saint Augustine of Hippo21. “Give heed to my soul, and redeem her,” doth need no exposition: let us see therefore what followeth. “Because of mine enemies deliver me” (ver. 18). This petition is evidently wonderful, neither briefly to be touched upon, nor hastily to be skipped over; truly wonderful: “Because of mine enemies deliver me.” What is, “Because of mine enemies deliver me”?…I see no reason for this petition, “Because of mine…
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On Psalms 68:20Saint Augustine of Hippo22. “Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame” (ver. 19). What is reproach? What is confusion? What shame? Reproach is that which the enemy casteth in the teeth. Confusion is that which gnaweth the conscience. Shame is that which causeth even a noble brow to blush, because of the upbraiding with a pretended crime. There is no crime; or even if there is a crime, it doth not belong to him, against…
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On Psalms 68:20Saint Augustine of Hippo23. “In Thy sight are all they that trouble Me” (ver. 20). Why I have reproach, Thou knowest; why confusion, Thou knowest; why shame, Thou knowest: therefore deliver Thou me because of mine enemies, because Thou knowest these things of me, they know not; and thus, because they are themselves in Thy sight, not knowing these things, they will not be able to be either confounded or corrected, unless openly Thou…
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On Psalms 68:22Saint Augustine of Hippo24. “And they gave for My food gall, and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink” (ver. 22). This was done indeed to the letter. And the Gospel declareth this to us. But we must understand, brethren, that the very fact that I found not comforters, that the very fact that I found not one that together should be made sorrowful, this was My gall, this to Me was bitter, this was vinegar: bitter because of grief,…
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On Psalms 68:23–25Saint Augustine of Hippo25. “Let the table of them be made in their own presence for a trap” (ver. 23). Like the trap which for Me they set, in giving Me such a draught, let such a trap be for them. Why then, “in their own presence”? “Let the table of them be made for a trap,” would have been sufficient. They are such as know their iniquity, and in it most obstinately do persevere: in their own presence there is made a trap for them.…
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On Psalms 68:26Saint Augustine of Hippo26. “Let the habitation of them become forsaken” (ver. 26). This is now evident. For in the same manner as He hath mentioned not only a secret deliverance of His, saying, “Give heed to My soul, and redeem her;” but also one open after the body, adding, “because of mine enemies deliver me:” so also to these men He foretelleth how there are to be certain secret misfortunes, whereof a little before He was…
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On Psalms 68:27Saint Augustine of Hippo27. Why so? “For Him whom Thou hast smitten they have themselves persecuted, and upon the pain of my wounds they have added” (ver. 27). How then have they sinned if they have persecuted one by God smitten? What sin is ascribed to their mind? Malice. For the thing was done in Christ which was to be. To suffer indeed He had come, and He punished him through whom He suffered. For Judas the traitor was punished, and…
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On Psalms 68:28Saint Augustine of Hippo28. “Lay Thou iniquity upon their iniquity” (ver. 28). What is this? Who would not be afraid? To God is said, “Lay Thou iniquity upon their iniquity.” Whence shall God lay iniquity? For hath He iniquity to lay? For we know that to be true which hath been spoken through Paul the Apostle, “What then shall we say? Is there anywise iniquity with God? Far be it.” Whence then, “Lay Thou iniquity upon iniquity”? How…
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On Psalms 68:29Saint Augustine of Hippo29. “Let them be blotted out from the book of the living” (ver. 29). For had they been some time written therein? Brethren, we must not so take it, as that God writeth any one in the book of life, and blotteth him out. If a man said, “What I have written I have written,” concerning the title where it had been written, “King of the Jews:” doth God write any one, and blot him out? He foreknoweth, He hath…
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On Psalms 68:30–31Saint Augustine of Hippo30. “Poor and sorrowful I am” (ver. 30). Why this? Is it that we may acknowledge that through bitterness of soul this poor One doth speak evil? For He hath spoken of many things to happen to them. And as if we were saying to Him, “Why such things?”—“Nay, not so much!” He answereth, “poor and sorrowful I am.” They have brought Me to want, unto this sorrow they have set Me down, therefore I say these words. It is…
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On Psalms 68:33Saint Augustine of Hippo31. “And it shall please God:” that I shall praise Him, shall please: “above a new calf, bearing horns and hoofs.” More grateful to Him shall be the sacrifice of praise than the sacrifice of a calf. “The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me.” “Immolate to God the sacrifice of praise.” So then His praise going forth from my mouth shall please God more than a great victim led up to His altar.…Therefore above this…
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On Psalms 68:34–35Saint Augustine of Hippo32. “For the Lord hath hearkened to the poor” (ver. 33). He hath hearkened to the poor, and He would not have hearkened to the poor, unless they were poor. Wilt thou be hearkened to? Poor be thou: let sorrow cry out from thee, and not fastidiousness. “And His fettered ones He hath not despised.” Being offended at His servants, He hath put them in fetters: but them crying from the fetters He hath not despised.…
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On Psalms 68:36–37Open Psalms 68 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 Hippo33. Hear thou another thing also: “for God shall save Sion” (ver. 35). He restoreth His Church, the faithful Gentiles He doth incorporate with His Only-Begotten; He beguileth not them that believe in Him of the reward of His promise. “For God shall save Sion; and there shall be builded the cities of Juda.” These same are the Churches. Let no one say, when shall it come to pass that there be builded the cities of…
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