Why read Psalm 14?
Psalm 14 offers guidance for living with honesty and treating others fairly. It describes someone who avoids slander and bribery, keeps promises and speaks truthfully from the heart.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
In the 2nd Kathisma of the Psalter, Psalm 14 awaits its reader with 5 verses of prayer arising from a real experience. It begins with «Lord, who will dwell in Your dwelling place...» — and from there onwards, everything is a dialogue between the human being and God.
The text of Psalm 14
1. Lord, who will dwell in Your dwelling place and who will abide on Your holy mountain?
2. The one who walks blamelessly and does what is just, who has truth in his heart,
3. Who has not dealt deceitfully with his tongue, nor done harm to his neighbour, nor spoken reproach against his fellow.
4. Let the deceitful one be despised before Him, while he honours those who fear the Lord; the one who swears to his neighbour and does not renounce it,
5. Who has not lent his silver at usury and has not accepted gifts against the innocent. The one who does these things will never be shaken.
When Psalm 14 is read
- It belongs to the 2nd Kathisma — the psalms are read in full within the cycle of kathismata, at Matins and Vespers.
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
