| Ad Dominum. A prayer in tribulation. A gradual canticle. A gradual canticle. . .The following psalms, in number fifteen, are called gradual psalms, or canticles, from the word gradus, signifying steps, ascensions, or degrees: either because they were appointed to be sung on the fifteen steps, by which the people ascended to the temple: or, that in the singing of them the voice was to be raised by certain steps or ascensions: or, that they were to be sung by the people returning from their captivity and ascending to Jerusalem, which was seated amongst mountains. The holy fathers, in a mystical sense, understand these steps, or ascensions, of the degrees by which Christians spiritually ascend to virtue and perfection; and to the true temple of God in the heavenly Jerusalem. |
| | | English | Latin |
| 119 | 1 | In my trouble I cried to the Lord: and he heard me. | canticum graduum ad Dominum in tribulatione mea clamavi et exaudivit me |
| 119 | 2 | O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue. | Domine libera animam meam a labio mendacii a lingua dolosa |
| 119 | 3 | What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added to thee, to a deceitful tongue? | quid detur tibi aut quid adponatur tibi ad linguam dolosam |
| 119 | 4 | The sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste. | sagittae potentis acutae cum carbonibus iuniperorum |
| 119 | 5 | Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar: | heu mihi quia peregrinatio mea prolongata est habitavi cum tabernaculis Cedar |
| 119 | 6 | My soul hath been long a sojourner. | multum peregrinata est anima mea |
| 119 | 7 | With them that hated peace I was peaceable: when I spoke to them they fought against me without cause. | cum odientibus pacem ego pacifica loquebar et illi bellantia |