The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 65
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 66 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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For the end, a Song of a Psalm of resurrection. Shout unto God, all the earth.
Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ᾠδὴ ψαλμοῦ ἀναστάσεως. Ἀλαλάξατε τῷ Θεῷ, πᾶσα ἡ γῆ,
...Thence he beginneth, "Be joyful in God." Who? "Every land" (ver. 1). Not therefore Judaea alone. See, brethren, after what sort is set forth the universality of the Church in the whole world spread abroad: and mourn ye not only the Jews, who envied the Gentiles that grace, but still more for heretics wail ye. For…
O sing praises to his name; Give glory to his praise.
ψάλατε δὴ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ, δότε δόξαν αἰνέσει αὐτοῦ.
"But play ye to His name" (ver. 2). What hath he said? By you "playing" let His name be blessed. But what it is to "play"? To play is also to take up an instrument which is called a psaltery, and by the striking and action of the hands to accompany voices. If therefore ye jubilate so that God may hear; play also…
Say unto God, How awful are thy works! Through the greatness of thy power thine enemies shall lie to thee.
Εἴπατε τῷ Θεῷ ὡς φοβερὰ τὰ ἔργα σου; ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῆς δυνάμεώς σου ψεύσονταί σε οἱ ἐχθροί σου.
"Say ye to God, How to be feared are Your works!". Wherefore to be feared and not to be loved? Hear another voice of a Psalm: "Serve the Lord in fear, and exult unto Him with trembling." What means this? Hear the voice of the Apostle: "With fear," he says, "and trembling, work out your own salvation."…
Let all the earth worship thee, and sing to thee; Let them sing to thy name. Pause.
Πᾶσα ἡ γῆ προσκυνησάτωσάν σοι, καὶ ψαλάτωσάν σοι, ψαλάτωσαν τῷ ὀνόματί σου· διάψαλμα.
Come and behold the works of God; He is terrible in his counsels beyond the children of men.
Δεῦτε καὶ ἴδετε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ, φοβερὸς ἐν βουλαῖς ὑπὲρ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
O ye Gentiles, O most distant nations, leave lying Jews, come confessing. "Come ye, and see the works of the Lord: terrible in counsels above the sons of men" (ver. 5). Son of Man indeed He too hath been called, and verily Son of Man He became: very Son of God in the form of God; very Son of Man in form of a servant:…
Who turns the sea into dry land; They shall go through the river on foot; There shall we rejoice in him,
Ὁ μεταστρέφων τὴν θάλασσαν εἰς ξηρὰν, ἐν ποταμῷ διελεύσονται ποδί· ἐκεῖ εὐφρανθησόμεθα ἐπʼ αὐτῷ,
Wherefore what has He done by the terror of His counsel? He has turned the sea into dry land. For this follows, "That has turned the sea into dry land". A sea was the world, bitter with saltness, troubled with tempest, raging with waves of persecutions, sea it was: truly into dry land the sea has been turned, now…
Who by his power is Lord over the age, His eyes look upon the nations; Let not them that provoke him be exalted in themselves. Pause.
τῷ δεσπόζοντι ἐν τῇ δυναστείᾳ αὐτοῦ τοῦ αἰῶνος· οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιβλέπουσιν, οἱ παραπικραίνοντες μὴ ὑψούσθωσαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· διάψαλμα.
Bless our God, ye Gentiles, And make the voice of his praise to be heard;
Εὐλογεῖτε ἔθνη τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀκουτίσατε τὴν φωνὴν τῆς αἰνέσεως αὐτοῦ,
"Bless our God, you nations". Behold, there have been driven back they that are bitter, reckoning has been made with them: some have been converted, some have continued proud. Let not them terrify you that grudge the Gentiles Gospel Grace: now has come the Seed of Abraham, in whom are blessed all nations. [Genesis…
Who quickens my soul in life, And does not suffer my feet to be moved.
τοῦ θεμένου τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ζωὴν, καὶ μὴ δόντος εἰς σάλον τοὺς πόδας μου.
For thou, O God, hast proved us; Thou hast tried us with fire as silver is tried.
Ὅτι ἐδοκίμασας ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς, ἐπύρωσας ἡμᾶς ὡς πυροῦται τὸ ἀργύριον.
"For you have proved us, O God; You have fired us as silver is fired". Have not fired us like hay, but like silver: by applying to us fire, You have not turned us into ashes, but You have washed off uncleanness, "You have fired us, as silver is fired." And see in what manner God is angry against them, whose Soul He…
Thou broughtest us into the snare; Thou laidest afflictions on our back.
Εἰσήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν παγίδα, ἔθου θλίψεις ἐπὶ τὸν νῶτον ἡμῶν,
"Thou hast laid tribulations on our back:" "Thou hast set men over our heads" (ver. 11). All these things the Church hath suffered in sundry and divers persecutions: She hath suffered this in Her individual members, even now doth suffer it. For there is not one, that in this life could say that he was exempt from…
Thou didst mount men upon our heads; We went through fire and water; But thou broughtest us out into a place of refreshment.
ἐπεβίβασας ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἡμῶν· διήλθομεν διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος, καὶ ἐξήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς ἀναψυχήν.
I will go into thy house with whole burnt offerings; I will pay thee my vows,
Εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου ἐν ὁλοκαυτώμασιν, ἀποδώσω σοι τὰς εὐχάς μου,
Observe how not only concerning a cool place, but neither of that very fire to be desired he has been silent: "I will enter into Your House in holocausts". What is a holocaust? A whole sacrifice burned up, but with fire divine. For a sacrifice is called a holocaust, when the whole is burned. One thing are the parts of…
Which my lips framed, And my mouth uttered in my affliction.
ἃς διέστειλε τὰ χείλη μου, καὶ ἐλάλησε τὸ στόμα μου ἐν τῇ θλίψει μου.
"I will render to You my vows, which my lips have distinguished". What is the distinction in vows? This is the distinction, that yourself thou censure, Him thou praise: perceive yourself to be a creature, Him the Creator: yourself darkness, Him the Enlightener, to whom you should say, "You shall light my lamp, O Lord…
"And my mouth has spoken in my tribulation." How sweet ofttimes is tribulation, how necessary! In that case what has the mouth of the same spoken in his tribulation? "Holocausts marrowed I will offer to You". What is "marrowed"? Within may I keep Your love, it shall not be on the surface, in my marrow it shall be that…
Come ye, hear, and I will tell, all you that fear God. Let us come, let us hear, what he is going to tell, "Come ye, hear, and I will tell." But to whom, "Come ye, and hear"? "All you that fear God." If God ye fear not, I will not tell. It is not possible that it be told to any where the fear of God is not. Let the…
"How great things He has done to my soul." "To Him with my mouth I have cried". And this very thing, he says, has been done to his soul; that to Him with his mouth he should cry, has been done, he says, to his soul. Behold, brethren, Gentiles we were, even if not in ourselves, in our parents. And what says the…
"If I have beheld iniquity in my heart, may not the Lord hearken". Consider now, brethren, how easily, how daily men blushing for fear of men do censure iniquities; He has done ill, He has done basely, a villain the fellow is: this perchance for man's sake he says. See whether you behold no iniquity in your heart,…
...Consider now, brethren, how easily, how daily men blushing for fear of men do censure iniquities; He hath done ill, He hath done basely, a villain the fellow is: this perchance for man's sake he saith. See whether thou beholdest no iniquity in thy heart, whether perchance that which thou censurest in another, thou…
"Blessed be my God, that has not thrust away my supplication and His mercy from me". Gather the sense from that place, where he says, "Come ye, hear, and I will tell you, all you that fear God, how great things He has done to my soul:" he has both said the words which you have heard, and at the end thus he has…
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.