1 For the end, a Psalm of David. 2 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he attended to me, and hearkened to my supplication. 3 And he brought me up out of a pit of misery, and from miry clay: and he set my feet on a rock, and ordered my goings aright. 4 And he put a new song into my mouth, [even] a hymn to our God: many shall see [it], and fear, and shall hope in the Lord. 5 Blessed [is] the man whose hope is the name of the Lord, and [who] has not regarded vanities and false frenzies. 6 O Lord my God, thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, and in thy thoughts there is none who shall be likened to thee: I declared and spoke [of them]: they exceeded number. 7◆ Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not; but a body hast thou prepared me: whole-burnt-offering and [sacrifice] for sin thou didst not require. 8 Then I said, Behold, I come: in the volume of the book it is written concerning me, 9 I desired to do thy will, O my God, and thy law in the midst of mine heart. 10 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo! I will not refrain my lips; O Lord, thou knowest my righteousness. 11 I have not hid thy truth within my heart, and I have declared thy salvation; I have not hid thy mercy and thy truth from the great congregation. 12 But thou, Lord, remove not thy compassion far from me; thy mercy and thy truth have helped me continually. 13 For innumerable evils have encompassed me; my transgressions have taken hold of me, and I could not see; they are multiplied more than the hairs of my head; and my heart has failed me. 14 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, draw nigh to help me. 15 Let those that seek my soul, to destroy it, be ashamed and confounded together; let those that wish me evil be turned backward and put to shame. 16 Let those that say to me, Aha, aha, quickly receive shame for their reward. 17 Let all those that seek thee, O Lord, exult and rejoice in thee; and let them that love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified. 18 But I am poor and needy; the Lord will take care of me; thou art my helper, and my defender, O my God, delay not.
Psalms · Brenton's English Septuagint
Psalm 39 (40) Brenton's English Septuagint
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · Psalm 40 · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
- Square brackets mark words Brenton supplied for English sense.
- Old Testament only (no New Testament). First printed 1844; the 1851 edition added the deuterocanonical books.
Cross references (18)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info. References use English (Hebrew-based) verse numbers; links open the passage in Brenton.
- 1 Psalm 27:13–14; Psalm 37:7; James 5:7–11; Psalm 34:15; Psalm 116:2
- 2 Psalm 27:13–14; Psalm 37:7; James 5:7–11; Psalm 34:15; Psalm 116:2
- 3 Psalm 37:23; Psalm 119:133; Psalm 27:5; Psalm 61:2; Matthew 7:24–25
- 4 Psalm 33:3; Psalm 103:1–5; Psalm 34:1–6; Psalm 52:6; Psalm 144:9
- 5 Jeremiah 17:7–8; Psalm 84:11–12; Psalm 34:8; Psalm 125:5; Psalm 118:8–9
- 6 Jeremiah 29:11; Exodus 15:11; Psalm 139:17–18; Psalm 71:15; Psalm 92:5
- 7 Hebrews 10:5–12; Isaiah 1:11; 1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 51:16; Hosea 6:6
- 8 Hebrews 10:7–9; Luke 24:44; John 5:39; Luke 24:27; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4
- 9 Romans 7:22; John 4:34; Jeremiah 15:16; Psalm 119:16; Psalm 119:24
- 10 Psalm 22:25; Mark 16:15–16; Psalm 71:15–18; Psalm 22:22; Hebrews 2:12
- 11 Romans 1:16–17; Acts 20:20–21; 1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 10:9–10; Luke 2:30–32
- 12 Psalm 23:6; Psalm 43:3; Psalm 57:3; Proverbs 20:28; Psalm 69:16
- 13 Psalm 38:4; Psalm 73:26; Psalm 69:4; Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 116:3
- 14 Psalm 38:22; Psalm 25:17–18; Psalm 70:1–5; Psalm 22:19; Psalm 71:12
- 15 Psalm 35:4; Psalm 35:26; John 18:6; Isaiah 45:24; Psalm 9:3
- 16 Psalm 35:25; Psalm 35:21; Psalm 69:24–25; Luke 19:43–44; Psalm 70:3–4
- 17 Psalm 35:27; Psalm 68:3; Psalm 119:123; Acts 19:17; Isaiah 65:13–14
- 18 Psalm 70:5; Hebrews 13:6; Isaiah 41:17; Psalm 34:6; 1 Peter 5:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
Why does my Bible say something different?
- Psalm 40:6 and Hebrews 10:5: “ears” or “a body”?
In the Hebrew text of Psalm 40 God has “dug” or “opened” the psalmist’s ears. In the Greek Septuagint (Psalm 39:7) God has “prepared a body” for him, and the Epistle to the Hebrews quotes that Greek wording of Christ coming into the world. The Orthodox Church reads the Greek. Scholars still debate how the Greek reading arose.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations). Verse numbers below follow the Hebrew/English numbering: 40.
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Behold, a ready obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." David also says: "Sacrifice and oblation Thou didst not desire, but mine ears hast Thou perfected; burnt-offerings also for sin Thou hast not required." He thus teaches them that God desires obedience, which renders them secure, rather than sacrifices and holocausts, which avail them …
… but on account of that which is to be after death, I shall do well to commence my disputation with the truthful oracle of the holy psalm, "Blessed is the man whose hope is the Lord God, and who respecteth not vanities and lying follies." Nevertheless, in all vanities and lying follies the philosophers are to be listened to with …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… of God: I have trusted in the mercy of God." But let him not seek the empty honors of a famous name upon earth, for "Blessed is the man that maketh the name of the Lord his trust, and respecteth not vanities nor lying follies." After having presented the two cities, the one founded in the material good of this …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… were slain as a shadow of that which was to come; wherefore also we recognize the voice in the 40th Psalm as that of the same Mediator speaking through prophesy, "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; but a body hast Thou perfected for me." Because, instead of all these sacrifices and oblations, His body is offered, and is served …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)