While much of the Latin translation of the Bible common in the Middle Ages, typically called the Vulgate, was translated by Jerome from the Hebrew, other parts were only light revisions of earlier Latin translations, collectively referred to as the Old Latin Bible, which were often made from the Septuagint (abbreviated LXX), an early translation from Hebrew into Greek. The ‘Gallican Psalter’ was the most common text of the Psalms in the Middle Ages, and was one of these revisions; it can sometimes differ significantly from the Hebrew, and is numbered differently. (While Jerome made a new Latin translation of the Psalms into Hebrew, it was only used for scholarly purposes in the Middle Ages.) See the New English Translation of the Septuagint for a direct translation from the Greek to English.

Compare the text with the illustrated Utrecht Psalter and the surviving copies of this manuscript, the Harley Psalter and Eadwine Psalter (which includes the Gallican alongside the Hebrew and Roman texts).

Source: Robert Weber et al., eds., Biblia Sacra iuxta vulgatam versionem, 5th ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2007). Translated from the Latin by Andrew Dunning; CC BY.

Psalm 1, Beatus uir qui non abiit

(Utrecht Psalter, fols. 1v–2r; Harley Psalter, fols. 1v–2r; Eadwine Psalter, fols. 5v–6r)

1Blessed is the man who has not passed in the counsel of the ungodly,
and has not stood in the way of sinners:
and has not sat in the seat of disease.

2But his desire is in the law of the Lord:
and on his law will he meditate day and night.

3And he will be like a tree
that was planted by the course of the waters,
which will give its fruit at its proper time,
and its leaf will not droop;
and everything whatever he does will prosper.

4Not so the ungodly: not so;
but they are like dust, which the wind casts from the face of the earth.

5Therefore the ungodly will not rise in the judgement;
nor the sinners in the counsel of the righteous.

6For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
and the way of the ungodly will perish.

Psalm 4, Cum inuocarem

(Utrecht Psalter, fols. 2v–3r; Harley Psalter, fols. 2v–3r; Eadwine Psalter, fols. 9r–9v)

1Until the end. Among the songs. A psalm of David.

2When I was calling, the God of my righteousness heard me.
You exalted me in my trouble;
have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

3You sons of men, how long will you be heavy-hearted?
Why do you love vanity, and seek after falsehood?

Diapsalm

4And know that the Lord has made marvellous his holy one.
The Lord will hear me when I cry out to him.

5Be angry, and do not sin;
for what you speak in your hearts,
feel remorse on your beds.

Diapsalm

6Sacrifice a sacrifice of righteousness, and hope in the Lord.
Many say, ‘Who will show us good things?’

7The light of your face has been sealed on us, O Lord;
you have given gladness in my heart.

8From the fruit of their grain and wine and oil they multiplied.

9In peace, in the very same, I will sleep and rest:
10for you only, Lord, have settled me in hope.

Psalm 50 (51), Miserere mei, Deus

(Utrecht Psalter, fols. 29r–29v; Eadwine Psalter, fols. 88v–90v)

1Until the end. A psalm of David, 2when Nathan the prophet came to him, when David went into Bathsheba.

3Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great compassion:
and according to the multitude of your mercies destroy my wickedness.

4Wash me throughly from my wickedness:
and cleanse me from my sin.

5For I myself acknowledge my faults:
and my sin is always against me.

6Against you only have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight,
that you may be justified in your sayings,
and prevail when you are judged.

7For behold, I was conceived in wickednesses:
and in sin my mother conceived me.

8For behold, you have loved truth;
you have shown me the uncertain and secret aspects of your wisdom.

9You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed;
you will wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

10In my hearing you will give joy and gladness;
humbled bones will rejoice.

11Turn your face from my sins,
and destroy all my wickednesses.

12Create a clean heart in me, O God,
and renew a right spirit in my innermost parts.

13Do not cast me away from your face:
and do not take your holy spirit from me.

14Give me the gladness of your salvation again:
and strengthen me with a princely spirit.

15I will teach your ways to the wicked:
and the ungodly will be converted to you.

16Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, the God of my health:
and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness.

17O Lord, you will open my lips,
and my mouth will bring forth your praise.

18For if you desired a sacrifice, in that case I would have given it;
you will not delight in whole burnt offerings.

19Sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit;
God will not despise a crushed and humbled heart.

20Kindly establish Sion, O Lord, in your good will;
and let the walls of Jerusalem be built.

21Then will you accept the sacrifice of righteousness,
the oblations and whole burnt offerings;
then will they place young animals on your altar.

Psalm 109 (110), Dixit Dominus

(Utrecht Psalter, fols. 64v–65r; Harley Psalter, fols. 56v–57r; Eadwine Psalter, fols. 199v–200r)

1A hymn of David.

The Lord said unto my Lord: ‘Sit on my right,
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’

2The Lord will send the rod of your power out of Sion:
rule in the midst of your enemies.

3With you is the rule on the day of your strength,
among the splendours of the holy ones;
from the womb, before the morning star, I brought you forth.

4The Lord swore, and will not change his mind:
‘You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.’

5The Lord at your right has broken kings in the day of his wrath.

6He will judge among the nations; he will satisfy the dead bodies:
he will shatter heads on the land of many.

7He will drink from the rushing stream in the way:
therefore he will lift up his head.