Bible / Psalms
Psalm 22 [Douay 21]
World English Bible, Catholic edition, in plain modern English. About the translations
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision, the traditional Catholic English Bible. About the translations
Psalm 22 in modern numbering
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
2 My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
8 “He trusts in the LORD. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”
9 But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.
10 I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.
11 Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
14 I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
17 I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.
18 They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.
19 But don’t be far off, LORD. You are my help. Hurry to help me!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
25 My praise of you comes in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
26 The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the LORD who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s. He is the ruler over the nations.
29 All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
31 They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.
1 Unto the end, for the morning protection, a psalm for David.
2 O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins.
3 O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.
4 But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel.
5 In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.
6 They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
7 But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.
8 All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.
9 He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him.
10 For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.
11 I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother’s womb thou art my God,
12 Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me.
13 Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text. The Catechism uses modern verse numbers and psalm numbers (one higher than Douay-Rheims for most psalms), so these are listed by chapter.
- Psalm 22:6 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“All that see Me have derided Me; they have spoken with their lips; they have wagged their head, [saying] He hoped in God, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, since He delighteth in Him.”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter XVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Psalm 22:7 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“All that see Me have derided Me; they have spoken with their lips; they have wagged their head, [saying] He hoped in God, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, since He delighteth in Him.”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter XVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“And I lay down and slept, and rose again, because the Lord sustained Me." And again, when He says, "They spake with their lips, they wagged the head, saying, Let Him deliver Himself.”
Quoted in First Apology, St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 155), Chapter XXXVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“… gall given Him to drink; and that He should be forsaken by His friends and those nearest to Him; and that He should stretch forth His hands the whole day long; and that He should be mocked and maligned by those who looked upon Him;”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Psalm 22:8 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“All that see Me have derided Me; they have spoken with their lips; they have wagged their head, [saying] He hoped in God, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, since He delighteth in Him.”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter XVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Psalm 22:10 in modern BiblesCCC 2270
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2270 “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human…”
- Psalm 22:11 in modern BiblesCCC 2270
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2270 “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human…”
- Psalm 22:14 in modern BiblesCCC 112
Read the Catechism
- CCC 112 “Be especially attentive "to the content and unity of the whole Scripture". Different as the books which compose it may be, Scripture…”
- Psalm 22:15 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“… His hands the whole day long; and that He should be mocked and maligned by those who looked upon Him; and that His garments should be parted, and lots cast upon His raiment; and that He should be brought down to the dust of death”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Psalm 22:16 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“For says he who prophesies regarding Him, "Spare my soul from the sword, fasten my flesh with nails; for the assemblies of the wicked have risen up against me.”
Quoted in The Letter of Barnabas, Unknown author (early 2nd century), Chapter V. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“They now ask of me judgment, and dare to draw near to God." And again in other words, through another prophet, He says, "They pierced My hands and My feet, and for My vesture they cast lots.”
Quoted in First Apology, St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 155), Chapter XXXV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Psalm 22:17 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“The assembly of the wicked surrounded me; they encompassed me as bees do a honeycomb,”
Quoted in The Letter of Barnabas, Unknown author (early 2nd century), Chapter VI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Psalm 22:18 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“And I lay down and slept, and rose again, because the Lord sustained Me.”
Quoted in First Apology, St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 155), Chapter XXXVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“… friends and those nearest to Him; and that He should stretch forth His hands the whole day long; and that He should be mocked and maligned by those who looked upon Him; and that His garments should be parted, and lots cast upon His raiment;”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Psalm 22:23 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“midst of my brethren; and I will praise thee in the midst of the assembly of the saints.”
Quoted in The Letter of Barnabas, Unknown author (early 2nd century), Chapter VI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Psalm 22:27 in modern BiblesCCC 716
Read the Catechism
- CCC 716 “The People of the "poor" - those who, humble and meek, rely solely on their God's mysterious plans, who await the justice,…”
- Psalm 22:31 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“Therefore David says, "My soul also shall live to Him,”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter VII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1