1 A Psalm of instruction for David, when he was in the cave,—a Prayer.
2 I cried to the Lord with my voice; with my voice I made supplication to the Lord. 3 I will pour out before him my supplication: I will declare before him mine affliction. 4 When my spirit was fainting within me, then thou knewest my paths; in the very way wherein I was walking, they hid a snare for me. 5 I looked on my right hand, and behold, for there was none that noticed me; refuge failed me; and there was none that cared for my soul. 6 I cried unto thee, O Lord, and said, Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living. 7 Attend to my supplication, for I am brought very low; deliver me from them that persecute me; for they are stronger than I. 8 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to thy name, O Lord; the righteous shall wait for me, until thou recompense me.
About this text. This is Sir Lancelot Brenton’s 1851 translation of the Septuagint — the Greek Old Testament the Orthodox Church reads, rather than the Hebrew text behind most English Bibles. It is in the public domain. Words in italics are ones Brenton supplied that the Greek does not have; he marked them so that a reader could tell the difference, and they are kept that way here. The numbered notes are his own. Its English is Victorian, and does not match the modern English of the New Testament pages on this site.
On the numbering. The Psalms are numbered here as the Septuagint numbers them, which is how Orthodox service books cite them. From Psalm 10 onward that is one behind a Hebrew-numbered Bible: Psalm 50 here is the Psalm 51 of most English Bibles. The Septuagint also carries a hundred and fifty-first Psalm, which those Bibles do not.