1 A Psalm of David, when his son pursued him.
O Lord, attend to my prayer: hearken to my supplication in thy truth; hear me in thy righteousness. 2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has brought my life down to the ground; he has made me to dwell in a dark place, as those that have been long dead. 4 Therefore my spirit was grieved in me; my heart was troubled within me. 5 I remembered the days of old; and I meditated on all thy doings: yea, I meditated on the works of thine hands. 6 I spread forth my hands to thee; my soul thirsts for thee, as a dry land. Pause.
7 Hear me speedily, O Lord; my spirit has failed; turn not away thy face from me, else I shall be like to them that go down to the pit. 8 Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning; for I have hoped in thee; make known to me, O Lord, the way wherein I should walk; for I have lifted up my soul to thee. 9 Deliver me from mine enemies, O Lord; for I have fled to thee for refuge. 10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God; thy good Spirit shall guide me in the 1straight way. 11 Thou shalt quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake; in thy righteousness thou shalt bring my soul out of affliction. 12 And in thy mercy thou wilt destroy mine enemies, and wilt destroy all those that afflict my soul; for I am thy servant.
- 1 v. 10 Alex. as Heb. 'land of uprightness.'
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.