The Psalter is divided into twenty sections called kathismata, read in order through the week at Vespers and Matins. Kathisma 3 contains Psalms 17–23 (Septuagint numbering).
Psalm 17 (18)
For the end, a Psalm of David the servant of the Lord; the words which he spoke to the Lord, even the words of this Song, in the day in which the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: and he said:
2I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
3The Lord is my firm support, and my refuge, and my deliverer; my God is my helper, I will hope in him; he is my defender, and the horn of my salvation, and my helper.
4I will call upon the Lord with praises, and I shall be saved from mine enemies.
5The pangs of death compassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness troubled me exceedingly.
6The pangs of hell came round about me: the snares of death prevented me.
7And when I was afflicted I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of his holy temple, and my cry shall enter before him, even into his ears.
8Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and were shaken, because God was angry with them.
9There went up a smoke in his wrath, and fire burst into a flame at his presence: coals were kindled at it.
10And he bowed the heaven, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet.
11And he mounted on cherubs and flew: he flew on the wings of winds.
12And he made darkness his secret place: round about him was his tabernacle, even dark water in the clouds of the air.
13At the brightness before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire.
14The Lord also thundered from heaven, and the Highest uttered his voice.
15And he sent forth his weapons, and scattered them; and multiplied lightnings, and routed them.
16And the springs of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blasting of the breath of thy wrath.
17He sent from on high and took me, he drew me to himself out of many waters.
18He will deliver me from my mighty enemies, and from them that hate me; for they are stronger than I.
19They prevented me in the day of mine affliction: but the Lord was my stay against them.
20And he brought me out into a wide place: he will deliver me, because he has pleasure in me.
21And the Lord will recompense me according to my righteousness; even according to the purity of my hands will he recompense me.
22For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23For all his judgments were before me, and his ordinances departed not from me.
24And I shall be blameless with him, and shall keep myself from mine iniquity.
25And the Lord shall recompense me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
26With the holy thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent.
27And with the excellent man thou wilt be excellent; and with the perverse thou wilt shew frowardness.
28For thou wilt save the lowly people, and wilt humble the eyes of the proud.
29For thou, O Lord, wilt light my lamp: my God, thou wilt lighten my darkness.
30For by thee shall I be delivered from a troop; and by my God I will pass over a wall.
31As for my God, his way is perfect: the oracles of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is a protector of all them that hope in him.
32For who is God but the Lord? and who is a God except our God?
33It is God that girds me with strength, and has made my way blameless:
34who strengthens my feet as hart’s feet, and sets me upon high places.
35He instructs my hands for war; and thou hast made my arms as a brazen bow.
36And thou hast made me secure in my salvation: and thy right hand has helped me, and thy correction has upheld me to the end; yea, thy correction itself shall instruct me.
37Thou hast made room for my goings under me, and my footsteps did not fail.
38I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them; and I will not turn back until they are consumed.
39I will dash them to pieces and they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet.
40For thou hast girded me with strength for war: thou hast beaten down under me all that rose up against me.
41And thou hast made mine enemies turn their backs before me; and thou hast destroyed them that hated me.
42They cried, but there was no deliverer: even to the Lord, but he hearkened not to them.
43I will grind them as the mud of the streets: and I will beat them small as dust before the wind.
44Deliver me from the gainsayings of the people: thou shalt make me head of the Gentiles: a people whom I knew not served me,
45at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me: the strange children lied to me.
46The strange children waxed old, and fell away from their paths through lameness.
47The Lord lives; and blessed be my God; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
48It is God that avenges me, and has subdued the nations under me;
49my deliverer from angry enemies: thou shalt set me on high above them that rise up against me: thou shalt deliver me from the unrighteous man.
50Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing to thy name.
51God magnifies the deliverances of his king; and deals mercifully with David his anointed, and his seed, for ever.
Psalm 18 (19)
For the end, a Psalm of David.
2The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.
3Day to day utters speech, and night to night proclaims knowledge.
4There are no speeches or words, in which their voices are not heard.
5Their voice is gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.
6In the sun he has set his tabernacle; and he comes forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber: he will exult as a giant to run his course.
7His going forth is from the extremity of heaven, and his circuit to the other end of heaven: and no one shall be hidden from his heat.
8The law of the Lord is perfect, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord is faithful, instructing babes.
9The ordinances of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes.
10The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever and ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, and justified altogether.
11To be desired more than gold, and much precious stone: sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb.
12For thy servant keeps to them: in the keeping of them there is great reward.
13Who will understand his transgressions? purge thou me from my secret sins.
14And spare thy servant the attack of strangers: if they do not gain the dominion over me, then shall I be blameless, and I shall be clear from great sin.
15So shall the sayings of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be pleasing continually before thee, O Lord my helper, and my redeemer.
Psalm 19 (20)
For the end, a Psalm of David.
2The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee.
3Send thee help from the sanctuary, and aid thee out of Sion.
4Remember all thy sacrifice, and enrich thy whole-burnt-offering. Pause.
5Grant thee according to thy heart, and fulfil all thy desire.
6We will exult in thy salvation, and in the name of our God shall we be magnified: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions.
7Now I know that the Lord has saved his Christ: he shall hear him from his holy heaven: the salvation of his right hand is mighty.
8Some glory in chariots, and some in horses: but we will glory in the name of the Lord our God.
9They are overthrown and fallen: but we are risen, and have been set upright.
10O Lord, save the king: and hear us in whatever day we call upon thee.
Psalm 20 (21)
For the end, a Psalm of David.
2O Lord, the king shall rejoice in thy strength; and in thy salvation he shall greatly exult.
3Thou hast granted him the desire of his soul, and hast not withheld from him the request of his lips. Pause.
4For thou hast prevented him with blessings of goodness: thou hast set upon his head a crown of precious stone.
5He asked life of thee, and thou gavest him length of days for ever and ever.
6His glory is great in thy salvation: thou wilt crown him with glory and majesty.
7For thou wilt give him a blessing for ever and ever: thou wilt gladden him with joy with thy countenance.
8For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Highest he shall not be moved.
9Let thy hand be found by all thine enemies: let thy right hand find all that hate thee.
10Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven at the time of thy presence: the Lord shall trouble them in his anger, and fire shall devour them.
11Thou shalt destroy their fruit from the earth, and their seed from among the sons of men.
12For they intended evils against thee; they imagined a device which they shall by no means be able to perform.
13For thou shalt make them turn their back in thy latter end, thou wilt prepare their face.
14Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy strength: we will sing and praise thy mighty acts.
Psalm 21 (22)
For the end, concerning the morning aid, a Psalm of David.
2O God, my God, attend to me: why hast thou forsaken me? the account of my transgressions is far from my salvation.
3O my God, I will cry to thee by day, but thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be accounted for folly to me.
4But thou, the praise of Israel, dwellest in a sanctuary.
5Our fathers hoped in thee; they hoped, and thou didst deliver them.
6They cried to thee, and were saved: they hoped in thee, and were not ashamed.
7But I am a worm, and not a man; a reproach of men, and scorn of the people.
8All that saw me mocked me: they spoke with their lips, they shook the head, saying,
9He hoped in the Lord: let him deliver him, let him save him, because he takes pleasure in him.
10For thou art he that drew me out of the womb; my hope from my mother’s breasts.
11I was cast on thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
12Stand not aloof from me; for affliction is near; for there is no helper.
13Many bullocks have compassed me: fat bulls have beset me round.
14They have opened their mouth against me, as a ravening and roaring lion.
15I am poured out like water, and all my bones are loosened: my heart in the midst of my belly is become like melting wax.
16My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue is glued to my throat; and thou hast brought me down to the dust of death.
17For many dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked doers has beset me round: they pierced my hands and my feet.
18They counted all my bones; and they observed and looked upon me.
19They parted my garments among themselves, and cast lots upon my raiment.
20But thou, O Lord, remove not my help afar off: be ready for mine aid.
21Deliver my soul from the sword; my only-begotten one from the power of the dog.
22Save me from the lion’s mouth; and regard my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns.
23I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I sing praise to thee.
24Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye seed of Jacob, glorify him: let all the seed of Israel fear him.
25For he has not despised nor been angry at the supplication of the poor; nor turned away his face from me; but when I cried to him, he heard me.
26My praise is of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
27The poor shall eat and be satisfied; and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their heart shall live for ever.
28All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.
29For the kingdom is the Lord’s; and he is the governor of the nations.
30All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and worshipped: all that go down to the earth shall fall down before him: my soul also lives to him.
31And my seed shall serve him: the generation that is coming shall be reported to the Lord.
32And they shall report his righteousness to the people that shall be born, whom the Lord has made.
Psalm 22 (23)
A Psalm of David.
1The Lord tends me as a shepherd, and I shall want nothing.
2In a place of green grass, there he has made me dwell: he has nourished me by the water of rest.
3He has restored my soul: he has guided me into the paths of righteousness, for his name’s sake.
4Yea, even if I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of evils: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, these have comforted me.
5Thou hast prepared a table before me in presence of them that afflict me: thou hast thoroughly anointed my head with oil; and thy cup cheers me like the best wine.
6Thy mercy also shall follow me all the days of my life: and my dwelling shall be in the house of the Lord for a very long time.
Psalm 23 (24)
A Psalm for David on the first day of the week.
1The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; the world, and all that dwell in it.
2He has founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the rivers.
3Who shall go up to the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place?
4He that is innocent in his hands and pure in his heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.
5He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour.
6This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Pause.
7Lift up your gates, ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall come in.
8Who is this king of glory? the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
9Lift up your gates, ye princes; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall come in.
10Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is this king of glory.
Text: The Septuagint Psalter, translated by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton (1851). Public domain.