The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 13

The Book of Psalms · the Psalter

Psalm 13

Psalm 14 in the KJV and most English Bibles

Tap Fathers under a verse to read what the saints said about it.

1

For the end, a Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They have corrupted themselves, and become abominable in their devices; There is none that does goodness, there is not even so much as one.

Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυίδ. Εἶπεν ἄφρων ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἔστι Θεός· διέφθειραν καὶ ἐβδελύχθησαν ἐν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, οὐκ ἔστι ποιῶν χρηστότητα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός.

2

The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, To see if there were any that understood, or sought after God.

Κύριος ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διέκυψεν ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τοῦ ἰδεῖν εἰ ἔστι συνιὼν ἢ ἐκζητῶν τὸν Θεόν.

3

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become good for nothing, There is none that does good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; With their tongues they have used deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἅμα ἠχρειώθησαν, οὐκ ἔστι ποιῶν χρηστότητα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός· τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν, ταῖς γλώσσαις αὐτῶν ἐδολιοῦσαν, ἰὸς ἀσπίδων ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη αὐτῶν· ὧν τὸ στόμα ἀρᾶς καὶ πικρίας γέμει, ὀξεῖς οἱ πόδες αὐτῶν ἐκχέαι αἷμα· σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ ἔγνωσαν· οὐκ ἔστι φόβος Θεοῦ ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν.

4

Will not all the workers of iniquity know, Who eat up my people as they would eat bread? They have not called upon the Lord.

Οὐχὶ γνώσονται πάντες οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν, οἱ κατέσθοντες τὸν λαόν μου βρώσει ἄρτου; τὸν Κύριον οὐκ ἐπεκαλέσαντο.

5

There were they alarmed with fear, where there was no fear; For God is in the righteous generation.

Ἐκεῖ ἐδειλίασαν φόβῳ, οὗ οὐκ ἦν φόβος, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἐν γενεᾷ δικαίᾳ.

6

Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, Because the Lord is his hope.

Βουλὴν πτωχοῦ κατῃσχύνατε, ὅτι Κύριος ἐλπὶς αὐτοῦ ἐστι.

About these notes

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.

  • Blessed Augustine, Expositions on the Book of Psalms, tr. A. Cleveland Coxe from the Oxford translation, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888).
  • Scripture: the Septuagint, in the translation of Sir Lancelot Brenton (1851), with spelling updated by Adam Boyd (2020); the Greek is Brenton's Septuagint text.

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.