Psalms 90
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 90 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 (2) follow the text.
Psalms 90
1(91) Praise of a Song, by David. He that dwells in the help of the Highest, shall sojourn under the shelter of the God of heaven.Αἶνος ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυίδ. Ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ ὑψίστου, ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται.
2He shall say to the Lord, You are my helper and my refuge: my God; I will hope in him.Ἐρεῖ τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου, ὁ Θεός μου, ἐλπιῶ ἐπʼ αὐτόν.
3For he shall deliver you from the snare of the hunters, from every troublesome matter.Ὅτι αὐτὸς ῥύσεταί σε ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν, ἀπὸ λόγου ταραχώδους.
4He shall overshadow you with his shoulders, and you shall trust under his wings: his truth shall cover you with a shield.Ἐν τοῖς μεταφρένοις αὐτοῦ ἐπισκιάσει σοι, καὶ ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτοῦ ἐλπιεῖς· ὅπλῳ κυκλώσει σε ἡ ἀλήθεια αὐτοῦ.
5You shall not be afraid of terror by night; nor of the arrow flying by day;Οὐ φοβηθήσῃ ἀπὸ φόβου νυκτερινοῦ, ἀπὸ βέλους πετομένου ἡμέρας,
6nor of the evil * thing that walks in darkness; nor of calamity, and the evil spirit at noon-day.ἀπὸ πράγματος διαπορευομένου ἐν σκότει, ἀπὸ συμπτώματος καὶ δαιμονίου μεσημβρινοῦ.
7A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.Πεσεῖται ἐκ τοῦ κλίτους σου χιλιὰς, καὶ μυριὰς ἐκ δεξιῶν σου, πρὸς σὲ δὲ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ.
8Only with your eyes shall you observe and see the reward of sinners.Πλὴν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου κατανοήσεις, καὶ ἀνταπόδοσιν ἁμαρτωλῶν ὄψει.
9For you, O Lord, are my hope: you, my soul, have made the Most High your refuge.Ὅτι σὺ Κύριε ἡ ἐλπίς μου, τὸν ὕψιστον ἔθου καταφυγήν σου.
10No evils shall come upon you, and no scourge shall draw near to your dwelling.Οὐ προσελεύσεται πρὸς σὲ κακὰ, καὶ μάστιξ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ τῷ σκηνώματί σου.
11For he shall give his angels charge concerning you, to keep you in all your ways.Ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ, τοῦ διαφυλάξαι σε ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς σου.
12✡ They shall bear you up on their hands, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.Ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε, μή ποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου.
13You shall tread on the asp and basilisk: and you shall trample on the lion and dragon.Ἐπʼ ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ, καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα.
14For he has hoped in me, and I will deliver him: I will protect him, because he has known my name.Ὅτι ἐπʼ ἐμὲ ἤλπισε, καὶ ῥύσομαι αὐτόν· σκεπάσω αὐτὸν, ὅτι ἔγνω τὸ ὄνομά μου.
15He shall call upon me, and I will listen to him: I am with him in affliction; and I will deliver him, and glorify him.Ἐπικαλέσεται πρὸς μὲ, καὶ εἰσακούσομαι αὐτοῦ, μετʼ αὐτοῦ εἰμι ἐν θλίψει, καὶ ἐξελοῦμαι αὐτὸν, καὶ δοξάσω αὐτόν.
16I will satisfy him with length of days, and show him my salvation.Μακρότητι ἡμερῶν ἐμπλήσω αὐτὸν, καὶ δείξω αὐτῷ τὸ σωτήριόν μου.
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. 6*See ver 3.
- v. 12✡Matt 4:6
The Fathers on Psalms 90
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 90:1–2Saint Augustine of Hippo3. He then who so imitates Christ as to endure all the troubles of this world, with his hopes set upon God, that he falls into no snare, is broken down by no panic fears, he it is “who dwelleth under the defence of the Most High, who shall abide under the protection of God” (ver. 1), in the words with which the Psalm, which you have heard and sung, begins. You will recognise the words, so well known, in which the…
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On Psalms 90:3Saint Augustine of Hippo4. Thus then do thou say also, “In Him will I trust. For He Himself shall deliver me” (ver. 3), not I myself. Observe whether he teaches anything but this, that all our trust be in God, none in man. Whence shall he deliver thee? “From the snare of the hunter, and from a harsh word.” Deliverance from the hunter’s net is indeed a great blessing: but how is deliverance from a harsh word so? Many have fallen into the…
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On Psalms 90:4Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “He shall defend thee between His shoulders, and thou shalt hope under His wings” (ver. 4). He says this, that thy protection may not be to thee from thyself, that thou mayest not imagine that thou canst defend thyself; He will defend thee, to deliver thee from the hunter’s snare, and from an harsh word. The expression, “between His shoulders,” may be understood both in front and behind: for the shoulders are…
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On Psalms 90:4Saint Augustine of Hippo6. “His truth shall surround thee with a shield” (ver. 5). What are “the wings,” the same is “the shield:” since there are neither wings nor shield. If either were literally, how could the one be the same as the other? can wings be a shield or a shield wings? But all these expressions, indeed, are figuratively used through likenesses. If Christ were really a Stone, He could not be a Lion; if a Lion, He could not…
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On Psalms 90:6Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “Nor for the arrow that flieth by day, for the matter that walketh in darkness, nor for the ruin and the devil that is in the noonday” (ver. 6). These two clauses above correspond to the two below; “Thou shalt not fear” for “the terror by night, from the arrow that flieth by day:” both because of “the terror by night,” from “the matter that walketh in darkness:” and because of “the arrow that flieth by day,”…
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On Psalms 90:7Saint Augustine of Hippo9. Many then fell before the demon of the noon-day. Would ye know how many? He goes on, and says, “A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee” (ver. 7). To whom, brethren, but to Christ Jesus, is this said?…For the members, the body, and the head, are not separate from one another: the body and the head are the Church and her Saviour. How then is it…
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On Psalms 90:8Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “Nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly” (ver. 8). What is this? Why “nevertheless”? Because the wicked were allowed to tyrannize over Thy servants, and to persecute them. Will they then have been allowed to persecute Thy servants with impunity? Not with impunity, for although Thou hast permitted them, and Thine own have thence received a brighter crown,…
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On Psalms 90:9–10Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “For Thou, Lord, art my hope” (ver. 9). He has now come to the power Which rescues him from falling by the “downfall and the devil of the noon-day.” “For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thy house of defence very high.” What do the words “very high” mean? For many make their house of defence in God a mere refuge from temporal persecution; but the defence of God is on high, and very secret, whither thou…
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On Psalms 90:11Saint Augustine of Hippo14. What then, my brethren, what is said of our Head? “For Thou, Lord, art my hope,” etc. Of this we have spoken, “for He hath given His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways” (ver. 11). You heard these words but now, when the Gospel was being read; attend therefore. Our Lord, after He was baptized, fasted. Why was He baptized? That we might not scorn to be baptized. For when John said to our…
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On Psalms 90:12Saint Augustine of Hippo16. Let us return to the words of the Psalm. “They shall bear Thee in their hands, lest at any time Thou hurt Thy foot against a stone” (ver. 12). Christ was raised up in the hands of Angels, when He was taken up into heaven: not that, if Angels had not sustained Him, He would have fallen: but because they were attending on their King. Say not, Those who sustained Him are better than He who was sustained. Are…
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On Psalms 90:13Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “Thou shalt go upon the asp and the basilisk; the lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet” (ver. 13). Ye know who the serpent is, and how the Church treadeth upon him, as she is not conquered, because she is on her guard against his cunning. And after what manner he is a lion and a dragon, I believe you know also, beloved. The lion openly rages, the dragon lies secretly in covert: the devil hath…
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On Psalms 90:14Saint Augustine of Hippo18. These are the words of God to the Church. “Because he hath set his love in me, therefore will I deliver him” (ver. 14). Not only therefore the Head, which now sits in heaven, because He hath set His house of defence very high, to which no evil shall happen, neither shall any plague come nigh His dwelling; but we also who are toiling on earth, and are still living in temptations, whose steps are feared for,…
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On Psalms 90:15Saint Augustine of Hippo19. “He shall call upon me, and I will hear him: yea, I am with him in trouble” (ver. 15). Fear not when thou art in trouble, as if the Lord were not with thee. Let faith be with thee, and God is with thee in thy trouble. There are waves on the sea, and thou art tossed in thy bark, because Christ sleepeth. Christ slept in the ship, while the men were perishing. If thy faith sleep in thy heart, Christ is as it…
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On Psalms 90:16Open Psalms 90 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. “With length of days will I satisfy him” (ver. 16). What is length of days? Eternal life. Brethren, imagine not that length of days is spoken of in the same sense as days are said to be long in summer, short in winter. Hath he such days to give us? That length is one that hath no end, eternal life, that is promised us in long days. And truly, since this sufficeth, with reason he saith, “will I satisfy him.”…
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