1 A Psalm of David, when he fled from the presence of his son Abessalom.
2 O Lord, why are they that afflict me multiplied? many rise up against me. 3 Many say concerning my soul, There is no deliverance for him in his God. 1Pause.
4 But thou, O Lord, art my helper: my glory, and the one that lifts up my head. 5 I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy mountain. Pause. 6 I lay down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord will help me. 7 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, who beset me round about. 8 Arise, Lord; deliver me, my God: for thou hast smitten all who were without cause mine enemies; thou hast broken the teeth of sinners. 9 Deliverance is the Lord's, and thy blessing is upon thy people.
- 1 v. 3 The word Διάψαλμα (Selah) has been rendered Pause, as most intelligible to the English reader.
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.