Psalms 94
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 94 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.
11 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (4) follow the text.
Psalms 94
1(95) The praise of a Song by David. Come, let us exult * in the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to God our Saviour.Αἶνος ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυίδ. Δεῦτε ἀγαλλιασώμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀλαλάξωμεν τῷ Θεῷ τῷ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν.
2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.Προφθάσωμεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐξομολογήσει, καὶ ἐν ψαλμοῖς ἀλαλάξωμεν αὐτῷ.
3For the Lord is a great God, and a great king over all gods: † for the Lord will not cast off his people.Ὅτι Θεὸς μέγας Κύριος, καὶ βασιλεὺς μέγας ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς θεούς·
4For the ends of the earth are in his hands; and the heights of the mountains are his.ὅτι οὐκ ἀπώσεται Κύριος τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς, καὶ τὰ ὕψη τῶν ὀρέων αὐτοῦ ἐστιν.
5For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.Ὅτι αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἡ θάλασσα καὶ αὐτὸς ἐποίησεν αὐτὴν, καὶ τὴν ξηρὰν χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἔπλασαν.
6Come, let us worship and fall down before him; and weep before the Lord that made us.Δεῦτε προσκυνήσωμεν καὶ προσπέσωμεν αὐτῷ, καὶ κλαύσωμεν ἐναντίον Κυρίου τοῦ ποίησαντος ἡμᾶς.
7For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.Ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡμεῖς λαὸς νομῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πρόβατα χειρὸς αὐτοῦ·
8✡ To-day, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, according to the day of ‡ irritation in the wilderness:σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ, κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πικρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ,
9where your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works.οὗ ἐπείρασάν με οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν· ἐδοκίμασαν, καὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου.
10Forty years was I grieved with this generation, and said, They do always err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.Τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ εἶπα, ἀεὶ πλανῶνται τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὰς ὁδούς μου.
11So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.Ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου, εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν 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. 1*Gr. to.
- v. 3†Heb. and Alex. omit this clause. See Ps. 93:14.
- v. 8✡Heb 3:7-12
- v. 8‡Note, πειρασμοῦ is the reading of several editions.
The Fathers on Psalms 94
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 94:1Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “O come, let us sing unto the Lord” (ver. 1). He calleth us to a great banquet of joy, not one of this world, but in the Lord. For if there were not in this life a wicked joy which is to be distinguished from a righteous joy, it would be enough to say, “Come, let us rejoice;” but he has briefly distinguished it. What is it to rejoice aright? To rejoice in the Lord. Thou shouldest piously joy in the Lord, if…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:2Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “Let us prevent His face by confession” (ver. 2). Confession hath a double meaning in Scripture. There is a confession of him who praiseth, there is that of him who groaneth. The confession of praise pertaineth to the honour of Him who is praised: the confession of groaning to the repentance of him who confesseth. For men confess when they praise God: they confess when they accuse themselves; and the tongue…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:3Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “And make a joyful noise unto Him with Psalms.” We have already said what it is “to make a joyful noise:” the word is repeated, that it may be confirmed by the act: the very repetition is an exhortation. For we have not forgotten, so as to wish to be again admonished what was said above, that we should make a joyful noise: but usually in passages of strong feeling a well-known word is repeated, not to make it…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:4Saint Augustine of Hippo6. What doth the Psalm add? “In His hand are all the corners of the earth” (ver. 4): we recognise the corner stone: the corner stone is Christ. There cannot be a corner, unless it hath united in itself two walls: they come from different sides to one corner, but they are not opposed to each other in the corner. The circumcision cometh from one side: the uncircumcision from the other; in Christ both peoples have…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:5Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “For the sea is His and He made it” (ver. 5). For the sea is this world, but God made also the sea: nor can the waves rage save only so far as to the shore, where He hath marked their bounds. There is therefore no temptation, that hath not received its measure.…“And His hands prepared the dry land.” Be thou the dry land: thirst for the grace of God: that as a sweet shower it may come upon thee, may find in…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:6Saint Augustine of Hippo8. “O come, let us worship, and fall down to Him; and mourn before the Lord our Maker” (ver. 6).…Perhaps thou art burning with the consciousness of a fault; blot out with tears the flame of thy sin: mourn before the Lord: fearlessly mourn before the Lord, who made thee; for He despiseth not the work of His own hands in thee. Think not thou canst be restored by thyself. By thyself thou mayest fall off, thou canst…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:7Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “For He is the Lord our God” (ver. 7). But that we may without fear fall down and kneel before Him, what are we? “We are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.” See how elegantly he hath transposed the order of the words, and as it were not given its own attribute to each word; that we may understand these very same to be the sheep, who are also the people. He said not, the sheep of His pasture,…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:8Saint Augustine of Hippo10. Therefore, “To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (ver. 8). O my people, the people of God! God addresses His people: not only the people of His which He shall not cast off, but also all His people. For He speaketh in the corner stone to each wall: that is, prophecy speaketh in Christ, both to the people of the Jews, and the people of the Gentiles. For some time ye heard His voice through…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:8Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “As in the provocation, and in the day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers proved Me” (ver. 9). Let such be no more your fathers: imitate them not. They were your fathers, but if ye do not imitate them, they shall not be your fathers: yet as ye were born of them, they were your fathers. And if the heathen who came from the ends of the earth, in the words of Jeremias, “The Gentiles shall come…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:10Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “Forty years long was I very near unto this generation, and said, It is a people that do always err in their hearts; for they have not known My ways” (ver. 10). The forty years have the same meaning as the word “always.” For that number forty indicates the fulness of ages, as if the ages were perfected in this number. Hence our Lord fasted forty days, forty days He was tempted in the desert, and forty days He…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →
On Psalms 94:11Open Psalms 94 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 Hippo13. …We began with exulting joy: but this Psalm hath ended with great fear: “Unto whom I sware in My wrath, that they should not enter into My rest” (ver. 11). It is a great thing for God to speak: how much greater for Him to swear? Thou shouldest fear a man when he sweareth, lest he do somewhat on account of his oath against his will: how much more shouldest thou fear God, when He sweareth, seeing He can swear…
Read Expositions on the Psalms →