Psalms 73
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 73 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.
21 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (4) follow the text.
Psalms 73
1(74) A Psalm of * instruction for Asaph. Therefore have you rejected us, O God, for ever? therefore is your wrath kindled against the sheep of your pasture?Συνέσεως τῷ Ἀσάφ. Ἱνατί ἀπόσω ὁ Θεὸς εἰς τέλος; ὠργίσθη ὁ θυμός σου ἐπὶ πρόβατα νομῆς σου;
2Remember your congregation which you have purchased from the beginning; you did ransom the rod of your inheritance; this mount Sion wherein you have lived.Μνήσθητι τῆς συναγωγῆς σου ἧς ἐκτήσω ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς· ἐλυτρώσω ῥάβδον κληρονομίας σου· ὄρος Σιὼν τοῦτο ὃ κατεσκήνωσας ἐν αὐτῷ.
3Lift up your hands against their pride continually; because of all that the enemy has done wickedly in your holy places.Ἔπαρον τὰς χεῖράς σου ἐπὶ τὰς ὑπερηφανίας αὐτῶν εἰς τέλος· ὅσα ἐπονηρεύσατο ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις σου.
4And they that hate you have boasted in the midst of your feast; they have set up their standards for signs,Καὶ ἐνεκαυχήσαντο οἱ μισοῦντές σε ἐν μέσῳ τῆς ἑορτῆς σου·
5ignorantly as it were in the entrance above;ἔθεντο τὰ σημεῖα αὐτῶν σημεῖα, καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν, ὡς εἰς τὴν εἴσοδον ὑπεράνω· ὡς ἐν δρυμῷ ξύλων ἀξίναις ἐξέκοψαν
6they cut down its doors at once with axes as in a wood of trees; they have broken it down with hatchet and stone cutter.τὰς θύρας αὐτῆς ἐπιτοαυτὸ, ἐν πελέκει καὶ λαξευτηρίῳ κατέῤῥαξαν αὐτήν.
7They have burnt your sanctuary with fire to the ground; they have profaned the † habitation of your name.Ἐνεπύρισαν ἐν πυρὶ τὸ ἁγιαστήριόν σου εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἐβεβήλωσαν τὸ σκήνωμα τοῦ ὀνόματός σου.
8They have said in their heart, even all their kindred together, Come, let us abolish the feasts of the Lord from the earth.Εἶπαν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν, ἡ συγγένεια αὐτῶν ἐπιτοαυτὸ, δεῦτε, καταπαύσωμεν τὰς ἑορτὰς Κυρίου ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς.
9We have not seen our signs; there is no longer a prophet; and God will not know us any more.Τὰ σημεῖα ἡμῶν οὐκ εἴδομεν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι προφήτης, καὶ ἡμᾶς οὐ γνώσεται ἔτι.
10How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach? shall the enemy provoke your name forever?Ἕως πότε ὁ Θεὸς, ὀνειδιεῖ ὁ ἐχθρὸς, παροξυνεῖ ὁ ὑπεναντίος τὸ ὄνομά σου εἰς τέλος;
11Therefore turn you away your hand, and your right hand from the midst of your bosom for ever?Ἱνατί ἀποστρέφεις τὴν χεῖρά σου, καὶ τὴν δεξιάν σου ἐκ μέσου τοῦ κόλπου σου εἰς τέλος;
12But God is our King ‡ of old; he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν πρὸ αἰῶνος, εἰργάσατο σωτηρίαν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς.
13You did establish the sea, in your might, you did break to pieces the heads of the § dragons in the water.Σὺ ἐκραταίωσας ἐν τῇ δυνάμει σου τὴν θάλασσαν, σὺ συνέτριψας τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν δρακόντων ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος. Σὺ συνέτριψας τὰς κεφαλὰς τοῦ δράκοντος,
14You did break to pieces the heads of the dragon; you did give him for meat to the Ethiopian nations.ἔδωκας αὐτὸν βρῶμα λαοῖς τοῖς Αἰθίοψι.
15You did cleave fountains and torrents; you dried up ** mighty rivers.Σὺ διέῤῥηξας πηγὰς καὶ χειμάῤῥους, σὺ ἐξήρανας ποταμοὺς ἠθάμ.
16The day is yours, and the night is yours; you have prepared the sun and the moon.Σή ἐστιν ἡ ἡμέρα, καὶ σή ἐστιν ἡ νὺξ, σὺ κατηρτίσω ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην.
17You have made all the borders of the earth; you have made summer and spring.Σὺ ἐποίησας πάντα τὰ ὅρια τῆς γῆς, θέρος καὶ ἔαρ σὺ ἐποίησας.
18Remember this your creation: an enemy has reproached the Lord, and a foolish people has provoked your name.Μνήσθητι ταύτης τῆς κτίσεώς σου· ἐχθρὸς ὠνείδισε τὸν Κύριον, καὶ λαὸς ἄφρων παρώξυνε τὸ ὄνομά σου.
19Deliver not to the wild beasts a soul that gives praise to you: forget not for ever the souls of your poor.Μὴ παραδῷς τοῖς θηρίοις ψυχὴν ἐξομολογουμένην σοι, τῶν ψυχῶν τῶν πενήτων σου μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ εἰς τέλος.
20Look upon your covenant: for the dark places of the earth are filled with the habitations of iniquity.Ἐπίβλεψον εἰς τὴν διαθήκην σου, ὅτι ἐπληρωθήσαν οἱ ἐσκοτωμένοι τῆς γῆς οἴκων ἀνομιῶν.
21let not the afflicted and shamed one be rejected: the poor and needy shall praise your name.Μὴ ἀποστραφήτω τεταπεινωμένος καὶ κατῃσχυμμένος, πτωχὸς καὶ πένης αἰνέσουσι τὸ ὄνομά σου.
22Arise, O God, plead your cause: remember your reproaches that come from the foolish one all the day.Ἀνάστα ὁ Θεὸς, δίκασον τὴν δίκην σου, μνήσθητι τῶν ὀνειδισμῶν σου τῶν ὑπὸ ἄφρονος ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν.
23Forget not the voice of your suppliants: let the pride of them that hate you continually ascend before you.Μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ τῆς φωνῆς τῶν ἱκετῶν σου, ἡ ὑπερηφανία τῶν μισούντων σε ἀναβαίη διαπαντὸς πρὸς σέ.
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†Gr. tabernacle.
- v. 12‡Gr. before the age.
- v. 13§Or, serpents.
- v. 15**Heb. rivers of Etham.
The Fathers on Psalms 73
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 73:1Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “Wherefore hast Thou repelled us, O God, unto the end?” (ver. 1). “Hast repelled unto the end,” in the person of the congregation which is properly called Synagogue. “Wherefore hast Thou repelled us, O God, unto the end?” He censureth not, but inquireth “wherefore,” for what purpose, because of what hast Thou done this? What hast Thou done? “Thou hast repelled us unto the end.” What is, “unto the end”?…
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On Psalms 73:2Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “Remember Thou Thy congregation, which Thou hast possessed from the beginning” (ver. 2). Can this by any means be the voice of the Gentiles? Hath He possessed the Gentiles from the beginning? Nay, but He hath possessed the seed of Abraham, the people of Israel even according to the flesh, born of the Patriarchs our fathers: of whom we have become the sons, not by coming out of their flesh, but by imitating…
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On Psalms 73:3Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “Lift up Thine hand upon their pride at the end” (ver. 3). As Thou didst repel us at the end, so “lift up Thine hand upon the pride of them at the end.” The pride of whom? Of those by whom Jerusalem was overthrown. But by whom was it, but by the kings of the Gentiles? Well was the hand of Him lifted up upon the pride of them at the end: for they too have now known Christ. “For the end of the Law is Christ for…
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On Psalms 73:4Saint Augustine of Hippo6. “And all they have boasted, that hate Thee” (ver. 4). Observe the servants of demons, the servants of idols: such as at that time the Gentiles were, when they overthrew the temple and city of God, “and they boasted.” “In the midst of Thy festival.” Remember what I said, that Jerusalem was overthrown at the time when the very festival was being celebrated: at which festival they crucified the Lord. Gathered…
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On Psalms 73:6–7Saint Augustine of Hippo7. Now let us hasten over the verses following after the destruction of Jerusalem, for the reason that they are both evident, and it doth not please me to tarry over the punishment even of enemies. “As if in a forest of trees with axes, they have cut down the doors thereof at once; with mattock and hammer they have thrown Her down” (ver. 6). That is, conspiring together, with firm determination, “with mattock and…
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On Psalms 73:8–9Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “They have said in their heart (the kindred of them is in one)”—Have said what? “Come ye, let us suppress the solemnities of the Lord from the land” (ver. 8). “Of the Lord,” hath been inserted in the person of this man, that is, in the person of Asaph. For they raging would not have called Him the Lord whose temple they were overthrowing. “Come ye, let us suppress all the solemnities of the Lord from the…
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On Psalms 73:10Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “How long, O God, shall the enemy revile?” (ver. 10). Cry out as if forsaken, as if deserted: cry out like a sick man, who hast chosen rather to smite the physician than to be made whole: not as yet doth He know thee. See what He hath done, who doth not know thee as yet. For they to whom there hath been no preaching of Him, shall see; and they that have not heard shall understand: and thou yet criest out, “No…
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On Psalms 73:11Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “Wherefore dost Thou turn away Thine hand, and Thy right hand from the midst of Thy bosom unto the end?” (ver. 11). Again, another sign which was given to Moses. For in like manner as above from the rod was a sign, so also from the right hand now. For when that thing had been done concerning the rod, God gave a second sign: “thrust,” He saith, “thine hand into thy bosom, and he thrust it: draw it forth, and…
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On Psalms 73:12Saint Augustine of Hippo11. Asaph hath understood, because on the Title of the Psalm there is, “understanding of Asaph.” And what saith he? “But God, our King before the worlds, hath wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth” (ver. 12). On the one hand we cry, “No longer is there prophet, and us He will not know as yet:” but on the other hand, “our God, our King, who is before the worlds” (for He is Himself in the beginning of the…
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On Psalms 73:13Saint Augustine of Hippo12. Now therefore, O Asaph, amend thyself according to thy understanding, tell us what sort of Salvation God hath wrought in the midst of the earth. When that earthly Salvation of yours was overthrown, what did He do, what did He promise? “Thou didst confirm in Thy virtue the sea” (ver. 13). As though the nation of the Jews were as it were dry land severed from the waves, the Gentiles in their bitterness were the…
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On Psalms 73:14Saint Augustine of Hippo13. What more after the heads of dragons? For those dragons have their chief, and he is himself the first great dragon. And concerning him what hath He done that hath wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth? Hear: “Thou hast broken the head of the dragon” (ver. 14). Of what dragon? We understand by dragons all the demons that war under the devil: what single dragon then, whose head was broken, but the devil…
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On Psalms 73:15Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “Thou hast cleft the fountains and torrents” (ver. 15): in order that they might flow with the stream of wisdom, might flow with the riches of the faith, might water the saltness of the Gentiles, in order that they might convert all unbelievers into the sweetness of the faith by their watering.…In some men the Word of God becometh a well of water springing up unto life eternal; but others hearing the Word,…
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On Psalms 73:15Saint Augustine of Hippo15. “Thou hast dried up the rivers of Etham” (ver. 15).…What is Etham? For the word is Hebrew. What is Etham interpreted? Strong, stout. Who is this strong and stout one, whose rivers God drieth up? Who but that very dragon? For “no one entereth into the house of a strong man that he may spoil his vessels, unless first he shall have bound fast the strong man.” This is that strong man on his own virtue relying,…
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On Psalms 73:16Saint Augustine of Hippo16. “Thine own is the day and Thine own is the night” (ver. 16). Who is ignorant of this, seeing that He hath Himself made all these things; for by the Word were made all things? To that very One Himself who hath wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth, to Him is said, “Thine own is the night.” Something here we ought to perceive which belongeth to that very Salvation which He hath wrought in the midst of the…
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On Psalms 73:17Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “Thou hast made all the ends of the earth” (ver. 17).…Behold in what manner He hath made the ends of the earth, that hath wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth. “Thou hast made all the ends of the earth. Summer and spring Thou hast made them.” Men fervent in the Spirit are the summer. Thou, I say, hast made men fervent in the Spirit: Thou hast made also the novices in the Faith, they are the “spring.”…
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On Psalms 73:17Saint Augustine of Hippo18. “Mindful be Thou of this Thy creature” (ver. 18). Of what creature of Thine? “The enemy hath reviled the Lord.” O Asaph, grieve over thine old blindness in understanding: “the enemy hath reviled the Lord.” It was said to Christ in His own nation, “a sinner is this Man: we know not whence He is:” we know Moses, to him spake God; this Man is a Samaritan. “And the unwise people hath provoked Thy name.” The…
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On Psalms 73:19Saint Augustine of Hippo19. But what sayest thou, O Asaph, now in understanding? “Deliver not to the beasts a soul confessing to Thee” (ver. 19).…To what beasts, save to those the heads whereof were broken in pieces upon the water? For the same devil is called, beast, lion, and dragon. Do not, he saith, give to the Devil and his Angels a soul confessing to Thee. Let the serpent devour, if still I mind things earthly, if for things…
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On Psalms 73:20Saint Augustine of Hippo20. “Have regard unto Thy Testament” (ver. 20). Fulfil that which Thou hast promised: the tables we have, for the inheritance we are looking. “Have regard unto Thy Testament,” not that old one: not for the sake of the land of Canaan I ask, not for the sake of the temporal subduing of enemies, not for the sake of carnal fruitfulness of sons, not for the sake of earthly riches, not for the sake of temporal welfare:…
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On Psalms 73:21Saint Augustine of Hippo21. “Let not the humble man be turned away confounded” (ver. 21). For them pride hath confounded. “The needy and helpless man shall praise Thy name.” Ye see, brethren, how sweet ought to be poverty: ye see that poor and helpless men belong to God, but “poor in spirit, for of them is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Who are the poor in spirit? The humble, men trembling at the words of God, confessing their sins, neither on…
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On Psalms 73:22Saint Augustine of Hippo22. “Arise, O Lord, judge Thou my cause” (ver. 22).…Because I am not able to show my God, as if I were following an empty thing, they revile me. And not only Heathen, or Jew, or heretic; but sometimes even a Catholic brother doth make a grimace when the promises of God are being preached, when a future resurrection is being foretold. And still even he, though already washed with the water of eternal Salvation,…
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On Psalms 73:23Open Psalms 73 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 Hippo23. “Forget not the voice of them that implore Thee” (ver. 23). While they groan for and expect now that which Thou hast promised from the New Testament, and walk by that same Faith, “do Thou not forget the voice of them imploring Thee.” But those still say, “Where is Thy God? Let the pride of them that hate Thee come up always to Thee.” Do not forget even their pride. Nor doth He forget: no doubt He doth either…
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