The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 1
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
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Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, And has not stood in the way of sinners, And has not sat in the seat of evil men.
ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΣ ἀνὴρ, ὃς οὐκ ἐπορεύθη ἐν βουλῇ ἀσεβῶν, καὶ ἐν ὁδῷ ἁμαρτωλῶν· οὐκ ἔστη, καὶ ἐπὶ καθέδρᾳ λοιμῶν οὐκ ἐκάθισεν.
But his pleasure is in the law of the Lord; And in his law will he meditate day and night.
ʼΑλλʼ ἢ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Κυρίου τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ αὐτοῦ μελετήσει ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός.
And he shall be as a tree planted by the brooks of waters, Which shall yield its fruit in its season, And its leaf shall not fall off; And whatsoever he shall do shall be prospered.
Καὶ ἔσται ὡς τὸ ξύλον τὸ πεφυτευμένον παρὰ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὑδάτων, ὃ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ δώσει ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ· καὶ τὸ φύλλον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀποῤῥυήσεται, καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἂν ποιῇ κατευοδωθήσεται.
"And he shall be like a tree planted hard by the running streams of waters"; that is either Very "Wisdom," [Proverbs viii] which vouchsafed to assume man's nature for our salvation; that as man He might be "the tree planted hard by the running streams of waters;" for in this sense can that too be taken which is said…
Not so the ungodly—not so: But rather as the chaff which the wind scatters away from the face of the earth.
Οὐχ οὕτως οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλʼ ἢ ὡς ὁ χνοῦς ὃν ἐκρίπτει ὁ ἄνεμος ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς.
"The ungodly are not so," they are not so, "but are like the dust which the wind casts forth from the face of the earth". "The earth" is here to be taken as that steadfastness in God, with a view to which it is said, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, yea, I have a goodly heritage." With a view to this it…
Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in judgment, Nor sinners in the counsel of the just.
Διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀναστήσονται οἱ ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει, οὐδὲ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐν βουλῇ δικαίων.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous; But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Ὅτι γινώσκει Κύριος ὁδὸν δικαίων, καὶ ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν ἀπολεῖται.
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.