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Psalm 40

The happiness of him that shall believe in Christ; notwithstanding the humility and poverty in which he shall come: the malice of his enemies, especially of the traitor Judas.

Does this psalm differ from what you were expecting? Don't be confused. There are two systems for arranging the psalms: the Septuagint and the Masoretic. We use the Septuagint system here. In the Masoretic system, which is used in most modern Bible translations, this psalm is called Psalm 41, and the previous psalm is known as Psalm 40.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 Unto the end, a psalm for David himself.

2 Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day.
3 The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth: and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.
4 The Lord help him on his bed of sorrow: thou hast turned all his couch in his sickness.
5 I said: O Lord, be thou merciful to me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.
6 My enemies have spoken evils against me: when shall he die and his name perish?
7 And if he came in to see me, he spoke vain things: his heart gathered together iniquity to itself. He went out and spoke to the same purpose.
8 All my enemies whispered together against me: they devised evils to me.
9 They determined against me an unjust word: shall he that sleepeth rise again no more?
10 For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, hath greatly supplanted me.
11 But thou, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise my up again: and I will requite them.
12 By this I know, that thou hast had a good will for me: because my enemy shall not rejoice over me.
13 But thou hast upheld me by reason of my innocence: and hast established me in thy sight for ever.
14 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eternity. So be it. So be it.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 In finem. Psalmus ipsi David.

2 Beatus qui intelligit super egenum et pauperem:
in die mala liberabit eum Dominus.
3 Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum,
et beatum faciat eum in terra,
et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum ejus.
4 Dominus opem ferat illi super lectum doloris ejus;
universum stratum ejus versasti in infirmitate ejus.
5 Ego dixi: Domine, miserere mei;
sana animam meam, quia peccavi tibi.
6 Inimici mei dixerunt mala mihi:
Quando morietur, et peribit nomen ejus?
7 Et si ingrediebatur ut videret, vana loquebatur;
cor ejus congregavit iniquitatem sibi.
Egrediebatur foras et loquebatur.
8 In idipsum adversum me susurrabant omnes inimici mei;
adversum me cogitabant mala mihi.
9 Verbum iniquum constituerunt adversum me:
Numquid qui dormit non adjiciet ut resurgat?
10 Etenim homo pacis meæ in quo speravi,
qui edebat panes meos,
magnificavit super me supplantationem.
11 Tu autem, Domine, miserere mei,
et resuscita me; et retribuam eis.
12 In hoc cognovi quoniam voluisti me,
quoniam non gaudebit inimicus meus super me.
13 Me autem propter innocentiam suscepisti;
et confirmasti me in conspectu tuo in æternum.
14 Benedictus Dominus Deus Israël
a sæculo et usque in sæculum. Fiat, fiat.

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition