1 A writing of David.
Keep me, O Lord; for I have hoped in thee. 2 I said to the Lord, Thou art my Lord; for thou hast no need of my 1goodness. 3 On behalf of the saints that are in his land, he has magnified all his pleasure in them. 4 Their weaknesses have been multiplied; afterward they hasted. I will by no means assemble their bloody meetings, neither will I make mention of their names with my lips. 5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou art he that restores my inheritance to me. 6 The lines have fallen to me in the best places, yea, I have a most excellent heritage.
7 I will bless the Lord who has instructed me; my reins too have chastened me even 2till night. 8 I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue exulted; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 10 because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou wilt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand there are delights for ever.
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.