The Psalms

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The Psalms of David

	Translation	Septuagint / LXX
Prologue– A Welcoming	“Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my very bones are troubled.” PSALM 6:2	Psalm 6 vv. 2 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Part One The Land & the Child	“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother did conceive me.” PSALM 51:5	Psalm 50 (51) vv. 5 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter One Creation: Fruitfulness, and the Serpent	“He sends the springs into the valleys, they flow among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field . . . He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for man, that he may bring forth food from the earth...” PSALM 104:10-11a & 14	Psalm 103 (104) vv. 10-11, & 14 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Two Town: People, and Family	“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother did conceive me.” PSALM 51:5	Psalm 50 (51) vv. 5 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Three Beginnings: Infancy, and Quietude	“O Lord, for you formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvellous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret, and skilfully created.” PSALM 139:13-15	Psalm 138 (139) vv. 13-15 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Four Love: Sickness, and Death	“The little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy! They sing!” PSALM 65:12b-13	Psalm 64 (65) vv. 12b-13 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Five Summer: Vibrancy, and Joy	“You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it . . . You water its ridges abundantly, you settle its furrows; you soften the earth with showers, you bless its growth. You crown the year with your goodness, and our paths are full with your abundance” PSALM 65: 9a & 10-11	Psalm 64 (65) vv. 9a & 10-1 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Part Two The Village Idiot	“I am a reproach among all my adversaries, but especially among my neighbours, and am repulsive to my acquaintances; those who see me outside flee from me.” PSALM 31:11	Psalm 30 (31) vv. 11 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Six Abuse: Sanity, and Dis-ease	“In You, O Lord, I put my trust, let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline your ear to me-and save me!” PSALM 71:1-2	Psalm 70 (71) vv. 1-2 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Seven Winter: Christmas, and Survival	“My soul clings to the dust! Revive–please!–revive me according to your word.” PSALM 119:25	Psalm 118 (119) vv. 25 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Eight Realization: Fear, and Depression	“I am a reproach among all my adversaries, but especially among my neighbours, and am repulsive to my acquaintances; those who see me outside flee from me.” PSALM 31:11	Psalm 30 (31) vv. 11 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Part Three Through Fire & Water	“...if I make my bed in hell, You are there ... even there Your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” PSALM 139:8b&10	Psalm 138 (139) vv. 8b & 10 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Nine Captivity: Sanctity, and Sanctuary	“You make us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to those all around us. You make us a byword among the heathen, they shake their heads at us in scorn. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face, because of the words of those who taunt and revile me, because of the looks from my adversaries and those who hate me.” PSALM 44:13-16	Psalm 43 (44) vv. 13-16 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Ten Deception: Terror, and Dread	“...if I make my bed in hell, You are there ... even there Your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” PSALM 139:8b&10	Psalm 138 (139) vv. 8b & 10 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Eleven Sanity: Emptiness, and Escape	“I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. For my enemies speak against me; and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, saying, ‘God has forsaken him, pursue and take him! For there is none to deliver him!’” PSALM 31:12 & 71:10-11	Psalm 30 (31) vv. 12 & 70 (71) vv. 10-11 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Chapter Twelve Exile: Desperation, and Return	“You brought us into the net. You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads! We went through fire and through water––but you brought us out to a rich place: to fulfilment!” PSALM 66:11-12	Psalm 65 (66) vv. 11-12 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
Epilogue– A Leave-Taking	“When you give them their needs, they gather! You open your hand, they are filled with good. You hide your face, and they are troubled. You take away their breath: they die!–and return to their dust. You send forth your Spirit, they are created. And you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord endure forever, May the Lord rejoice in all His works!” PSALM 104:28-31	Psalm 103 (104) vv. 28-31 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.
End of Book	“Let my prayer be set before you as incense, O Lord, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” PSALM 141:2	Psalm 140 (141) vv. 2 (Septuagint numbering). Click on thumbnail to view.

Download the translation and extracts from the Septuagint as a PDF file The extracts here, and in this file, are from the 1851 edition compiled by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton Psalm Extracts

Longman’s Charity can be considered to be an illustration of the life of The Book of the Psalms, moreover, humanity as portrayed by the psalm writers. The extracts from the psalms that open each chapter were initially based on existing translations, however I wanted to focus much more on the crisis that was felt by the writers of the psalms, a troubling that is universal to humanity. Therefore I decided to make my own translation of these selected passages by going back to the original Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible: The Septuagint, from the late 2nd century BC. The English word is from the Greek, “psalmoi,” which referred to the instrumental music and therefore also the words in the song, or hymn. Originally an oral tradition, the Hebrew scriptures–what we term The Old Testament–were written down from the 5th/6th century BC. Because, in part, of the spread of Judaism amongst Greek speaking peoples around the eastern Mediterranean the Hebrew Bible was translated by Hebrew scholars, with the full authority and approval of the Jewish Religious and Temple authorities, into Koine Greek in the late 2nd century BC (that is, “Common Greek”–as distinct from Classical or Hellenistic Greek). The title and its Roman numeral acronym LXX refers to the legendary seventy Jewish scholars who completed the translation (Latin, septuaginta: seventy).

Koine Greek was the common language in the Eastern half of the Mediterranean, particularly during the intertestamental period (approximately 300 years–the time between the completion of the composition of the Old Testament (prior to its Greek translation) and the composition of the books and letters of the New Testament). In the same way that English is the world language today, Jews living in Israel at the time of Jesus would have spoken Aramaic as their first language, but would also have needed skill in Koine Greek. Peter, fisherman and disciple, could not have survived as a businessman without sufficient skill in Koine Greek (the lingua franca of the eastern Mediterranean) and Latin (so as to deal with the Romans!). At the time of Jesus the scriptures would have been read in Hebrew in the Temple in Jerusalem, however, in most synagogues ordinary Jews would have heard the Septuagint being read – simply because they knew the language of Koine or common Greek.

The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) is the Bible
Jesus knew, read, and heard.

(The Apostle Paul was, in all probability fluent, in Latin and Hebrew,
as well as Koine Greek and Aramaic!)

The Septuagint is the scripture known and heard by Jesus, the disciples,
and those in the early Church.

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