Why read Psalm 13?
Read Psalm 13 to reflect on your conduct and renew your faith. Its account of corruption calls for repentance, a return to goodness and hope in God's saving help.
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.
Psalm 13 opens the heart with the call “The fool said in his heart:...”. It is one of the 7-verse psalms in the 2nd Kathisma and is recited both at services and in prayer at home — the Psalter being a foundational book for the Orthodox Christian.
The text of Psalm 13
1. The fool said in his heart: “There is no God!” People became corrupt and abhorrent in their pursuits. There is no one who does good, not a single one.
2. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see whether there is anyone who understands or seeks God.
3. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not a single one.
4. Will all those who practise lawlessness not become wise? Those who eat My people like bread did not call upon the Lord.
5. There they feared with fear where there was no fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6. The poor person hopes in the Lord, and you laughed at his hope, saying: Who will give Israel salvation from Zion?
7. But when the Lord brings back the captives of His people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad.
When Psalm 13 is read
- It belongs to the 2nd Kathisma and is recited in personal prayer, especially for peace and understanding.
- 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.
