The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 95
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 96 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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When the house was built after the Captivity, a Song by David. Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Ὅτε ὁ οἶκος ᾠκοδόμηται μετὰ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν, ᾠδὴ τῷ Δαυίδ. Ἄσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἆσμα καινὸν, ᾄσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ.
"O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth" (ver. 1). If all the earth singeth a new song, it is thus building while it singeth: the very act of singing is building: but only, if it singeth not the old song. The lust of the flesh singeth the old song: the love of God singeth the new. ...Hear…
Sing to the Lord, bless his name: Proclaim his salvation from day to day.
Ἄσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ, εὐλογήσατε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, εὐαγγελίζεσθε ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας τὸ σωτήριον αὐτοῦ.
"Sing unto the Lord, bless His Name: be telling good tidings of His salvation from day to day" (ver. 2). How doth the building increase? "Be telling," he saith, "good tidings of His salvation from day to day." Let it be preached from day to day; from day to day, he saith, let it be built; let My house, saith God,…
Publish his glory among the Gentiles, His wonderful works among all people.
Ἀναγγείλατε ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς λαοῖς τὰ θαυμάσια αὐτοῦ.
For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: He is terrible above all gods.
Ὅτι μέγας Κύριος καὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα, φοβερός ἐστιν ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς θεούς.
"For the Lord is great, and cannot worthily be praised". What Lord, except Jesus Christ, "is great, and cannot worthily be praised"? You know surely that He appeared as a Man: ye know surely that He was conceived in a woman's womb, you know that He was born from the womb, that He was suckled, that He was carried in…
For all the gods of the heathen are devils: But the Lord made the heavens.
Ὅτι πάντες οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δαιμόνια, ὁ δὲ Κύριος τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἐποίησεν.
Thanksgiving and beauty are before him: Holiness and majesty are in his sanctuary.
Ἐξομολόγησις καὶ ὡραιότης ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, ἁγιωσύνη καὶ μεγαλοπρέπεια ἐν τῷ ἁγιάσματι αὐτοῦ.
"Confession and beauty are before Him". Do you love beauty? Wishest thou to be beautiful? Confess! He said not, beauty and confession, but confession and beauty. You were foul; confess, that you may be fair: you were a sinner; confess, that you may be righteous. You could deform yourself: you can not make yourself…
Bring to the Lord, ye families of the Gentiles, Bring to the Lord glory and honor.
Ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ αἱ πατριαὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν, ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν,
What then? If "confession and beauty are before Him: holiness and greatness in His sanctification" (ver. 7). This we declare, when we are building the house; behold, it is already declared unto the heathen; what ought the heathen to do, to whom those who have cleared away the wood have declared the Lord's honour? He…
Bring to the Lord the glory becoming his name: Take offerings, and go into his courts.
ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ δόξαν ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ, ἄρατε θυσίας καὶ εἰσπορεύεσθε εἰς τὰς αὐλὰς αὐτοῦ·
"Ascribe unto the Lord glory unto His Name" (ver. 8). Not unto the name of man, not unto your own name, but unto His ascribe worship. ...Confession is a present unto God. O heathen, if ye will enter into His courts, enter not empty. "Bring presents." What presents shall we bring with us? The sacrifice of God is a…
Worship the Lord in his holy court: Let all the earth tremble before him.
Προσκυνήσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν αὐλῇ ἁγίᾳ αὐτοῦ, σαλευθήτω ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ.
"O worship the Lord in His holy court": in the Catholic Church; this is His holy court. Let no man say, "Lo, here is Christ, or there. For there shall arise false prophets." [Matthew 24:23-24] Say this unto them, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Ye are calling me to…
Say among the heathen, The Lord reigns: For he has established the world so that it shall not be moved: He shall judge the people in righteousness.
Εἴπατε ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσε· καὶ γὰρ κατώρθωσε τὴν σἰκουμένην, ἥτις οὐ σαλευθήσεται, κρινεῖ λαοῦς ἐν εὐθύτητι.
"Tell it out among the nations, that the Lord reigns from the wood: and that it is He who has made the round world so fast that it cannot be moved". What testimonies of the building of the house of God! The clouds of heaven thunder out throughout the world that God's house is being built; and the frogs cry from the…
Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth exult; Let the sea be moved, and the fullness of it.
Εὐφραινέσθωσαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ καὶ ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ γῆ, σαλευθήτω ἡ θάλασσα καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς.
"Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad". Let the heavens, which declare the glory of God, rejoice; let the heavens rejoice, which the Lord made; let the earth be glad, which the heavens rain upon. For the heavens are the preachers, the earth the listeners. "Let the sea be stirred up, and the fullness…
"The plains shall be joyful, and all things that are in them". All the meek, all the gentle, all the righteous, are the "plains" of God. "Then shall all the trees of the woods rejoice." The trees of the woods are the heathen. Why do they rejoice? Because they were cut off from the wild olive, and engraffed into the…
"Before the face of the Lord. For He cometh, for He cometh to judge the world" (ver. 13). He came at first, and will come again. He first came in His Church in clouds. What are the clouds which bore Him? The Apostles who preached, respecting whom ye have heard, when the Epistle was being read: "We are ambassadors," he…
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.