The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 63
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 64 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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Hear my prayer, O God, when I make my petition to thee; Deliver my soul from fear of the enemy.
Εἰσάκουσον ὁ Θεὸς τῆς προσευχῆς μου ἐν τῷ δέεσθαί με πρὸς σὲ, ἀπὸ φόβου ἐχθροῦ ἐξελοῦ τὴν ψυχήν μου.
Say we, therefore, ourselves also: "Hearken, O God, to my prayer, while I am troubled; from fear of the enemy deliver my soul". Enemies have raged against the Martyrs: for what was that voice of Christ's Body praying? For this it was praying, to be delivered from enemies, and that enemies might not have power to slay…
Thou hast sheltered me from the conspiracy of them that do wickedly; From the multitude of them that work iniquity;
Ἐσκέπασάς με ἀπὸ συστροφῆς πονηρευομένων, ἀπὸ πλήθους ἐργαζομένων ἀδικίαν·
"You have protected me from the gathering together of malignants, and from the multitude of men working iniquity". Now upon Himself our Head let us look. Like things many Martyrs have suffered: but nothing does shine out so brightly as the Head of Martyrs; in Him rather let us behold what they have gone through.…
Who have sharpened their tongues as a sword; They have bent their bow maliciously;
Οἵτινες ἠκόνησαν ὡς ῥομφαίαν τὰς γλώσσας αὐτῶν, ἐνέτειναν τόξον πρᾶγμα πικρὸν,
"For they have whet like a sword their tongues". Which says another Psalm also, "Sons of men; their teeth are arms and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword." Let not the Jews say, we have not killed Christ. For to this end they gave Him to Pilate the judge, in order that they themselves might seem as it were…
To shoot in secret at the blameless; They will shoot him suddenly, and will not fear.
τοῦ κατατοξεῦσαι ἐν ἀποκρύφοις ἄμωμον, ἐξάπινα κατατοξεύσουσιν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐ φοβηθήσονται.
"They have bended the bow, a bitter thing, in order that they may shoot in secret One unspotted". The bow he calls lyings in wait. For he that with sword fights hand to hand, openly fights: he that shoots an arrow deceives, in order to strike. For the arrow smites, before it is foreseen to come to wound. But whom…
They have set up for themselves an evil matter, They have given counsel to hide snares; They have said, Who shall see them?
Ἐκραταίωσαν ἑαυτοῖς λόγον πονηρὸν, διηγήσαντο τοῦ κρύψαι παγίδας· εἶπαν, τίς ὄψεται αὐτούς;
"They told, in order that they might hide traps: they said, Who shall see them?". They thought they would escape Him, whom they were killing, that they would escape God. Behold, suppose Christ was a man, like the rest of men, and knew not what was being contrived for Him: does God also know not? O heart of man!…
They have searched out iniquity; They have wearied themselves with searching diligently, A man shall approach and the heart is deep,
Ἐξηρεύνησαν ἀνομίαν, ἐξέλιπον ἐξερευνῶντες ἐξερευνήσει· προσελεύσεται ἄνθρωπος, καὶ καρδία βαθεῖα,
"They have searched out iniquity, they have failed, searching searchings:" that is, deadly and acute designs. Let Him not be betrayed by us, but by His disciple: let Him not be killed by us, but by the judge: let us do all, and let us seem to have done nothing. ...But what befell them? "They failed searching…
And God shall be exalted, Their wounds were caused by the weapon of the foolish children,
καὶ ὑψωθήσεται ὁ Θεός· βέλος νηπίων ἐγενήθησαν αἱ πληγαὶ αὐτῶν,
"Arrows of infants have been made the strokes of them". Where is that savageness? Where is that roar of the lion, of the people roaring and saying, "Crucify, Crucify"? Where are the lyings in wait of men bending the bow? Have not "the strokes of them been made the arrows of infants"? You know in what manner infants…
And their tongues have set him at nought, All that saw them were troubled;
καὶ ἐξουθένησαν αὐτὸν αἱ γλῶσσαι αὐτῶν· ἐταράχθησαν πάντες οἱ θεωροῦντες αὐτοὺς,
"And the tongues of them have been made weak upon them." Let them whet now their tongues like a sword, let them confirm to themselves malignant discourse. Deservedly to themselves they have confirmed it, because "the tongues of them have been made weak upon them." Could this be strong against God? "Iniquity," he…
And every man was alarmed, And they related the works of God, And understood his deeds.
καὶ ἐφοβήθη πᾶς ἄνθρωπος· καὶ ἀνήγγειλαν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὰ ποιήματα αὐτοῦ συνῆκαν.
"And every man feared". They that feared not, were not even men. "Every man feared;" that is, every one using reason to perceive the things which were done. Whence they that feared not, must rather be called cattle, rather beasts savage and cruel. A lion ramping and roaring is that people as yet. But in truth every…
The righteous shall rejoice in the Lord, and hope on him, And all the upright in heart shall be praised.
Εὐφρανθήσεται δίκαιος ἐν τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ἐλπιεῖ ἐπʼ αὐτόν· καὶ ἐπαινεθήσονται πάντες οἱ εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ.
"The just man shall rejoice in the Lord". Now the just man is not sad. For sad were the disciples at the Lord's being crucified; overcome with sadness, sorrowing they departed, they thought they had lost hope. He rose again, even when appearing to them He found them sad. He held the eyes of two men that walked in 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.