The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 56

The Book of Psalms · the Psalter

Psalm 56

Psalm 57 in the KJV and most English Bibles

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

1

For the end. Destroy not: by David, for a memorial, when he fled from the presence of Saul to the cave.

Εἰς τὸ τέλος, μὴ διαφθείρῃς, τῷ Δαυὶδ εἰς στηλογραφίαν, ἐν τῷ αὐτὸν ἀποδιδράσκειν ἀπὸ προσώπου Σαοὺλ εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον.

2

Have mercy, upon me, O God, have mercy upon me: For my soul has trusted in thee: And in the shadow of thy wings will I hope, Until the iniquity have passed away.

Ἐλέησον με ὁ Θεὸς, ἐλέησόν με, ὅτι ἐπὶ σοὶ πέποιθεν ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ τῶν πτερύγων σου ἐλπιῶ, ἕως οὗ παρέλθῃ ἡ ἀνομία.

3

I will cry to God most high; The God who has benefited me. Pause.

Κεκράξομαι πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν τὸν ὕψιστον τὸν Θεὸν τὸν εὐεργετήσαντά με· διάψαλμα.

4

He sent from heaven and saved me; He gave to reproach them that trampled on me: God has sent forth his mercy and his truth;

Ἐξαπέστειλεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἔσωσέ με, ἔδωκεν εἰς ὄνειδος τοὺς καταπατοῦντάς με· ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν αὐτοῦ,

5

And he has delivered my soul from the midst of lions’ whelps: I lay down to sleep, though troubled. As for the sons of men, their teeth are arms and missile weapons, And their tongue a sharp sword.

καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐκ μέσου σκύμνων· ἐκοιμήθην τεταραγμένος· υἱοὶ ἀνθρώπων, οἱ ὀδόντες αὐτῶν, ὅπλον καὶ βέλη, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα αὐτῶν, μάχαιρα ὀξεῖα.

6

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; And thy glory above all the earth.

Ὑψώθητι ἐπὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἡ δόξα σου.

7

They have prepared snares for my feet, And have bowed down my soul: They have dug a pit before my face, And fallen into it themselves. Pause.

Παγίδας ἡτοίμασαν τοῖς ποσί μου, καὶ κατέκαμψαν τὴν ψυχήν μου· ὤρυξαν πρὸ προσώπου μου βόθρον, καὶ ἐνέπεσαν εἰς αὐτόν· διάψαλμα.

8

My heart, O God, is ready, My heart is ready: I will sing, yea will sing psalms.

Ἑτοίμη ἡ καρδία μου ὁ Θεὸς, ἑτοίμη ἡ καρδία μου, ᾄσομαι καὶ ψαλῶ.

9

Awake, my glory; Awake, psaltery and harp: I will awake early.

Ἐξεγέρθητι ἡ δόξα μου, ἐξεγέρθητι ψαλτήριον καὶ κιθάρα, ἐξεγερθήσομαι ὄρθρου.

10

O Lord, I will give thanks to thee among the nations: I will sing to thee among the Gentiles.

Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν λαοῖς Κύριε, ψαλῶ σοι ἐν ἔθνεσιν.

11

For thy mercy has been magnified even to the heavens, And thy truth to the clouds.

Ὅτι ἐμεγαλύνθη ἕως τῶν οὐρανῶν τὸ ἔλεός σου, καὶ ἕως τῶν νεφελῶν ἡ ἀλήθειά σου.

12

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; And thy glory above all the earth.

Ὑψώθητι ἐπὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἡ δόξα σου.

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.