Psalms 71
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 71 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.
17 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (1) follow the text.
Psalms 71
1(72) For Solomon. O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king's son;Εἰς Σαλωμών. Ὁ Θεὸς τὸ κρίμα σου τῷ βασιλεῖ δὸς, καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ βασιλέως·
2that he may judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with judgment.κρίνειν τὸν λαόν σου ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ τοὺς πτωχούς σου ἐν κρίσει.
3Let the mountains and the hills raise peace to your people:Ἀναλαβέτω τὰ ὄρη εἰρήνην τῷ λαῷ σου, καὶ οἱ βουνοί·
4he shall judge the poor of the people in righteousness, and save the children of the needy; and shall bring low the false accuser.ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ κρινεῖ τοὺς πτωχοὺς τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ σώσει τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν πενήτων· καὶ ταπεινώσει συκοφάντην,
5And he shall continue as long as the sun, and before the moon for ever.καὶ συμπαραμενεῖ τῷ ἡλίῳ, καὶ πρὸ τῆς σελήνης γενεὰς γενεῶν.
6He shall come down as rain upon a fleece; and as drops falling upon the earth.Καταβήσεται ὡς ὑετὸς ἐπὶ πόκον, καὶ ὡσεὶ σταγόνες στάζουσαι ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν.
7In his days shall righteousness spring up; and abundance of peace till the moon be removed.Ἀνατελεῖ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ πλῆθος εἰρήνης ἕως οὗ ἀνταναιρεθῇ ἡ σελήνη.
8And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.Καὶ κατακυριεύσει ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἕως θαλάσσης, καὶ ἀπὸ ποταμοῦ ἕως περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης.
9The Ethiopians shall fall down before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.Ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ προπεσοῦνται Αἰθίοπες, καὶ οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ χοῦν λείξουσι.
10The kings of Tharsis, and the isles, shall bring presents: the kings of the Arabians and Saba shall offer gifts.Βασιλεῖς Θαρσὶς καὶ αἱ νῆσοι δῶρα προσοίσουσι, βασιλεῖς Ἀράβων καὶ Σαβὰ δῶρα προσάξουσι.
11And all kings shall worship him; all the Gentiles shall serve him.Καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη δουλεύσουσιν αὐτῷ.
12For he has delivered the poor from the oppressor; and the needy who had no helper.Ὅτι ἐῤῥύσατο πτωχὸν ἐκ δυνάστου, καὶ πένητα ᾧ οὐχ ὑπῆρχε βοηθός.
13He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall deliver the souls of the needy.Φείσεται πτωχοῦ καὶ πένητος, καὶ ψυχὰς πένητων σώσει.
14He shall redeem their souls from usury and injustice: and their name shall be precious before him.Ἐκ τόκου καὶ ἐξ ἀδικίας λυτρώσεται τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔντιμον τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῶν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ.
15And he shall live, and there shall be given him of the gold of Arabia: and men shall pray for him continually; and all the day shall they praise him.Καὶ ζήσεται, καὶ δοθήσεται αὐτῷ ἐκ τοῦ χρυσίου τῆς Ἀραβίας, καὶ προσεύξονται περὶ αὐτοῦ διαπαντός· ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν εὐλογήσουσιν αὐτόν.
16There shall be an establishment on the earth on the tops of the mountains: the fruit thereof shall be exalted above Libanus, and they of the city shall flourish as grass of the earth.Ἔσται στήριγμα ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐπʼ ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων· ὑπεραρθήσεται ὑπὲρ τὸν Λίβανον ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξανθήσουσιν ἐκ πόλεως ὡσεὶ χόρτος τῆς γῆς.
17Let his name be blessed for ever: his name shall endure * longer than the sun: and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.Ἔστω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ εὐλογημένον εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, πρὸ τοῦ ἡλίου διαμενεῖ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, καὶ εὐλογηθήσονται ἐν αὐτῷ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς· πάντα τὰ ἔθνη μακαριοῦσιν αὐτόν.
18Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who alone does wonders.Εὐλογητὸς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ ποιῶν θαυμάσια μόνος,
19And blessed is his glorious name for ever, even for ever and ever: and all the earth shall be filled with his glory. So be it, so be it.καὶ εὐλογητὸν τὸ ὄνομα τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος· καὶ πληρωθήσεται τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ. γένοιτο, γένοιτο.
20The hymns of David the son of Jessae are ended.Ἐξέλιπον οἱ ὕμνοι Δαυὶδ τοῦ υἱοῦ Ἰεσσαί.
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. 17*Gr. before.
The Fathers on Psalms 71
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 71:1Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “O God, Thy judgment to the King give Thou, and Thy justice to the King’s Son” (ver. 1). The Lord Himself in the Gospel saith, “The Father judgeth not any one, but all judgment He hath given to the Son:” this is then, “O God, Thy judgment to the King give Thou.” He that is King is also the Son of the King: because God the Father also is certainly King. Thus it hath been written, that the King made a marriage…
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On Psalms 71:2Saint Augustine of Hippo3. Next there followeth, “To judge Thy people in justice, and Thy poor in judgment” (ver. 2). For what purpose the royal Father gave to the royal Son His judgment and His justice is sufficiently shown when he saith, “To judge Thy people in justice;” that is, for the purpose of judging Thy people. Such an idiom is found in Salomon: “The Proverbs of Salomon, son of David, to know wisdom and discipline:” that is,…
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On Psalms 71:3Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “Let the mountains bear peace to the people, and the hills justice” (ver. 3). The mountains are the greater, the hills the less. These are without doubt those which another Psalm hath, “little with great.” For those mountains did exult like rams, and those hills like lambs of the sheep, at the departure of Israel out of Egypt, that is, at the deliverance of the people of God from this world’s servitude. Those…
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On Psalms 71:4Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “He shall judge the poor of the people, and shall save the sons of the poor” (ver. 4). The poor and the sons of the poor seem to me to be the very same, as the same city is Sion and the daughter of Sion. But if it is to be understood with a distinction, the poor we take to be the mountains, but the sons of the poor the hills: for instance, Prophets and Apostles, the poor, but the sons of them, that is, those…
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On Psalms 71:5Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “And He shall endure to the sun,” or, “shall endure with the sun” (ver. 5). For thus some of our writers have thought would be more exactly translated that which in the Greek is συμπαραμενεῖ. But if in Latin it could have been expressed in one word, it must have been expressed by compermanebit: however, because in Latin the word cannot be expressed, in order that the sense at least might be translated, it hath…
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On Psalms 71:6Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “And He shall come down like rain into a fleece, and like drops distilling upon the earth” (ver. 6). He hath called to our minds and admonished us, that what was done by Gedeon the Judge, in Christ hath its end. For he asked a sign of the Lord, that a fleece laid on the floor should alone be rained upon, and the floor should be dry; and again, the fleece alone should be dry, and the floor should be rained…
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On Psalms 71:7Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “There shall arise in His days justice and abundance of peace, until the moon be taken away” (ver. 7). The expression tollatur some have interpreted by “be taken away,” but others by “be exalted,” translating one Greek word, which is there used, ‡νταναιρεθῇ, just as each of them thought good. But they who have said, “be removed,” and they who have said, “be taken away,” do not so very much differ. For by the…
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On Psalms 71:8Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “And He shall be Lord from sea even unto sea, and from the river even unto the ends of the round world” (ver. 8): He to wit concerning whom he had said, “There shall arise in His days justice and abundance of peace, until the moon be exalted.” If the Church here is properly signified under the term moon, in continuation he showed how widely that same Church He was going to spread abroad, when He added, “and…
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On Psalms 71:9Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “In His presence shall fall down the Ethiopians, and His enemies shall lick the earth” (ver. 9). By the Ethiopians, as by a part the whole, He hath signified all nations, selecting that nation to mention especially by name, which is at the ends of the earth. By “in His presence shall fall down” hath been signified, shall adore Him. And because there were to be schisms in divers quarters of the world, which…
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On Psalms 71:10–11Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “The kings of Tharsis and the isles shall offer gifts, the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall lead presents” (ver. 10). This no longer requireth an expounder but a thinker; yea it doth thrust itself upon the sight not only of rejoicing believers, but also of groaning unbelievers—except perchance we must inquire why there hath been said, “shall lead presents.” For there are wont to be led those things…
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On Psalms 71:12Saint Augustine of Hippo14. But while he is explaining the reasons why so great honour is paid Him by kings, and He is served of all nations: “because He hath delivered,” he saith, “the needy man from the mighty, and the poor man, to whom was no helper”(ver. 12). This needy and poor man is the people of men believing in Him. In this people are also kings adoring Him. For they do not disdain to be needy and poor, that is, humbly…
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On Psalms 71:13Saint Augustine of Hippo15. But it might occur to one; if because of sins man was held by the devil, have sins pleased Christ, who saved the needy man from the mighty? Far be it. But “He it is that shall spare the helpless and poor man” (ver. 13): that is, shall remit sins to the man, humble and not trusting in his own merits, or hoping for salvation because of his own virtue, but needing the grace of his Saviour. But when he hath…
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On Psalms 71:14Saint Augustine of Hippo16. “From usuries and iniquity He shall redeem the souls of them” (ver. 14). What are these usuries but sins, which are also called debts? But I think they have been called usuries, because more of ill is found in the punishments than hath been committed in the sins. For, for example’s sake, while a man-slayer killeth only the body of a man, but can no wise hurt the soul; of himself both soul and body is…
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On Psalms 71:15Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “And He shall live, and there shall be given to Him of the gold of Arabia” (ver. 15). There would not have been said, “and He shall live” (for of whom could not this be said, though living for ever so brief a space of time on this earth?) unless that life were being recommended to our notice, wherein He “dieth no more, and death over Him shall have no more dominion.” And thus, “and He shall live,” that was…
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On Psalms 71:16Saint Augustine of Hippo18. “And there shall be a firmament on the earth, on the tops of the mountains” (ver. 16). For, “all the promises of God in Him are Yea,” that is, in Him are confirmed: because in Him hath been fulfilled whatever hath been prophesied for our salvation. For the tops of the mountains it is meet to understand as the authors of the divine Scriptures, that is, those persons through whom they were supplied: wherein He…
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On Psalms 71:17Saint Augustine of Hippo19. “Be,” therefore, “the name of Him blessed for ever: before the sun endureth the name of Him” (ver. 17). By the sun times are signified. Therefore for everlasting endureth the name of Him. For eternity doth precede times, and is not bounded by time. “And there shall be blessed in Him all the tribes of the earth.” For in Him is fulfilled that which hath been promised to Abraham. “For He saith not, In seeds, as…
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On Psalms 71:18–19Open Psalms 71 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 Hippo20. “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath done wonderful things alone” (ver. 18). Contemplating all things above spoken of, a hymn bursteth forth; and the Lord God of Israel is blessed. For that is being fulfilled which hath been spoken to that barren woman, “and He that hath delivered Thee, the God of Israel, shall Himself be called of the whole earth.” “He doeth” Himself “marvellous things alone:” for…
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