The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 25
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 26 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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A Psalm of David. Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in my innocence: And hoping in the Lord I shall not be moved.
Τοῦ Δαυίδ. Κρίνον με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν ἀκακίᾳ μου ἐπορεύθην, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐλπίζων οὐ μὴ σαλευθῶ.
"Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence". Judge me, O Lord, for, after the mercy which You first showed me, I have some desert of my innocence, the way whereof I have kept. "And trusting in the Lord I shall not be moved." And yet not even so trusting in myself, but in the Lord, I shall abide in Him.
Prove me, O Lord, and try me; Purify as with fire my reins and my heart.
Δοκίμασόν με, Κύριε, καὶ πείρασόν με, πύρωσον τοὺς νεφρούς μου καὶ τὴν καρδίαν μου.
"Prove me, O Lord, and try me". Lest, however, any of my secret sins should be hid from me, prove me, O Lord, and try me, making me known, not to You from whom nothing is hid, but to myself, and to men. "Burn my reins and my heart." Apply a remedial purgation, as it were fire, to my pleasures and thoughts.
For thy mercy is before mine eyes: And I am well pleased with thy truth.
Ὅτι τὸ ἔλεός σου κατέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου ἐστὶ, καὶ εὐηρέστησα ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου.
"For Your mercy is before my eyes". For, that I be not consumed by that fire, not my merits, but Your mercy, whereby You have brought me on to such a life, is before my eyes. "And I have been pleasing in Your truth." And since my own falsehood has been displeasing to me, but Your truth pleasing, I have myself been…
I have not sat with the council of vanity, And will in nowise enter in with transgressors.
Οὐκ ἐκάθισα μετὰ συνεδρίου ματαιότητος, καὶ μετὰ παρανομούντων οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθω·
"I have not sat with the council of vanity". I have not chosen to give my heart to them who endeavour to provide, what is impossible, how they may be blessed in the enjoyment of things transitory. "And I will not enter in with them that work wickedly." And since this is the very cause of all wickedness, therefore I…
I have hated the assembly of wicked doers; And will not sit with ungodly men.
Ἐμίσησα ἐκκλησίαν πονηρευομένων, καὶ μετὰ ἀσεβῶν οὐ μὴ καθίσω.
I will wash my hands in innocency, And compass thine altar, O Lord:
Νίψομαι ἐν ἀθώοις τὰς χεῖράς μου, καὶ κυκλώσω τὸ θυσιαστήριόν σου, Κύριε·
To hear the voice of praise, And to declare all thy wonderful works.
Τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι φωνῆς αἰνέσεως, καὶ διηγήσασθαι πάντα τὰ θαυμάσιά σου.
"That I may hear the voice of Your praise." That I may learn how to praise You. "And that I may declare all Your wondrous works". And after I have learned, I may set forth all Your wondrous works.
O Lord, I have loved the beauty of thy house, And the place of the tabernacle of thy glory.
Κύριε, ἠγάπησα εὐπρέπειαν οἴκου σου, καὶ τόπον σκηνώματος δόξης σου.
"O Lord, I have loved the beauty of Your house:" of Your Church. "And the place of the habitation of Your glory": where You dwell, and art glorified.
Destroy not my soul together with the ungodly, Nor my life with bloody men:
Μὴ συναπολέσῃς μετὰ ἀσεβῶν τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ μετὰ ἀνδρῶν αἱμάτων τὴν ζωήν μου,
"Destroy not my soul with the ungodly". Destroy not then, together with them that hate You, my soul, which has loved the beauty of Your house. "And my life with the men of blood." And with them that hate their neighbour. For Your house is beautified with the two commandments.
In whose hands are iniquities, And their right hand is filled with bribes.
ὧν ἐν χερσὶν ἀνομίαι, ἡ δεξιὰ αὐτῶν ἐπλήσθη δώρων.
But I have walked in my innocence: Redeem me, and have mercy upon me.
Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐν ἀκακίᾳ μου ἐπορεύθην, λύτρωσαί με καὶ ἐλέησόν με.
"But I have walked in mine innocence: deliver me, and have mercy on me". Let so great a price of my Lord's Blood avail for my complete deliverance: and in the dangers of this life let not Your mercy leave me.
My foot stands in an even place: In the congregations will I bless thee, O Lord.
Ὁ ποῦς μου ἔστη ἐν εὐθύτητι, ἐν ἐκκλησίαις εὐλογήσω σε Κύριε.
"My foot has stood in uprightness." My Love has not withdrawn from Your righteousness. "In the Churches I will bless You, O Lord". I will not hide Your blessing, O Lord, from those whom You have called; for next to the love of You I join the love of my neighbour.
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.