The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 119
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 120 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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A Song of Degrees. In mine affliction I cried to the Lord, And he hearkened to me.
Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν. Πρὸς Κύριον ἐν τῷ θλίβεσθαί με ἐκέκραξα, καὶ εἰσήκουσέ μου.
When therefore a man has commenced thus to order his ascent; to speak more plainly, when a Christian has begun to think of spiritual amendment, he begins to suffer the tongues of adversaries. Whoever has not yet suffered from them, has not yet made progress; whoever suffers them not, does not even endeavour to…
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from unjust lips, And from a deceitful tongue.
Κύριε, ῥῦσαι τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπὸ χειλέων ἀδίκων καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης δολίας.
"Deliver my soul, O Lord, from unrighteous lips, and from a deceitful tongue". What is a deceitful tongue? A treacherous tongue, one that has the semblance of counsel, and the bane of real mischief. Such are those who say, And will you do this, that nobody does? Will you be the only Christian?...Some deter by…
What should be given to thee, and what should be added to thee, For thy crafty tongue?
Τί δοθείη σοι, καὶ τί προστεθείη σοι πρὸς γλῶσσαν δολίαν;
And your Lord says unto you, "What shall be given you, or what shall be set before you, against the deceitful tongue?". What shall be given you, that is, as a weapon to oppose to the deceitful tongue, to guard yourself against the deceitful tongue? "Or what shall be set before you?" He asks to try you: for He will…
Sharpened weapons of the mighty, With coals of the desert.
Τὰ βέλη τοῦ δυνατοῦ ἠκονημένα σὺν τοῖς ἄνθραξι τοῖς ἐρημικοῖς.
Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged; I have tabernacled among the tents of Kedar.
Οἴμοι ὅτι ἡ παροικία μου ἐμακρύνθη, κατεσκήνωσα μετὰ τῶν σκηνωμάτων Κηδάρ.
"Alas, that my sojourning has become far off!". It has departed far from You: my pilgrimage has become a far one. I have not yet reached that country, where I shall live with no wicked person; I have not yet reached that company of Angels, where I shall not fear offenses. But why am I not as yet there? Because…
My soul has long been a sojourner;
Πολλὰ παρῴκησεν ἡ ψυχή μου· μετὰ τῶν μισούντων τὴν εἰρήνην.
"My soul hath wandered much". Lest thou shouldest understand bodily wandering, he hath said that the soul wandered. The body wandereth in places, the soul wandereth in its affections. If thou love the earth, thou wanderest from God: if thou lovest God, thou risest unto God. Let us be exercised in the love of God, and…
I was peaceable among them that hated peace; When I spoke to them, they warred against me without a cause.
Ἤμην εἰρηνικός· ὅταν ἐλάλουν αὐτοῖς, ἐπολέμουν με δωρεάν.
"With them that hated peace, I was peaceful". But howsoever ye may hear, most beloved brethren, you will not be able to prove how truly ye sing, unless you have begun to do that which you sing. How much soever I say this, in whatsoever ways I may expound it, in whatsoever words I may turn it, it enters not into the…
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.