The Book of Psalms has held a central place in Christian worship since the earliest days of the Church, continuing the practice of prayer inherited from Israel itself. In the Orthodox Church, the entire Psalter — all 150 psalms — is read in course through the cycle of daily services, most fully during Great Lent, when it is read through twice each week.
To make this possible, the Church divides the Psalter into twenty sections called Kathismata (from the Greek for “sittings,” since the congregation was traditionally permitted to sit during their reading). Each Kathisma is further divided into three Staseis (“standings”), at the end of which a short doxology is sung and the congregation stands. This structure — twenty Kathismata, three Staseis each — is not a modern convenience; it is the Church’s own ancient and universal way of organizing the Psalter for prayer, unchanged for well over a thousand years.
The translation used throughout this Psalter is that of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton (1851), an English rendering of the Septuagint — the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament that the Orthodox Church has always used as its Old Testament text, including for the Psalms. Readers coming from a Western Christian background may notice the numbering here sometimes differs by one from what they are used to (for example, the psalm beginning “The Lord is my shepherd” is Psalm 22 here, not 23) — this reflects the Septuagint’s numbering, not an error, and is explained further where the numbering diverges most noticeably.
Select a Kathisma below to begin, or use the “jump to a Kathisma” menu on any page to move through the Psalter in order.
Praying the Psalter at home
Many Orthodox Christians make the Psalter part of their own prayer life, not only something heard in church. The Psalms are unique among Scripture: they are, in a real sense, words God Himself has given us to pray back to Him — praise, sorrow, repentance, and hope drawn from the whole range of human experience. For this reason, the Fathers of the Church have always treated the Psalter as central to a life of prayer, not an occasional addition to it.
A simple way to begin: choose a Kathisma, and set aside time when you can read without hurrying. Some read the Psalms silently; others read them aloud, or even chant them, since hearing the words spoken helps them settle more deeply in the heart. Either way, the aim is attentiveness rather than speed — a single Kathisma read slowly does more for the soul than several read in haste.
Each Kathisma is divided into three Staseis, and it is traditional to pause briefly at the end of each one for the doxology (“Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…”) before continuing — not a formality, but a chance to return your attention to God before moving on.
If you would like to make the Psalter part of a regular prayer rule, the traditional pattern is to read through all twenty Kathismata across the week, completing the entire Psalter every seven days; during Great Lent, some parishes and individuals read through it twice a week. There is no requirement to keep this exact pace at home — many find it more sustainable simply to read one Kathisma at a time, as time allows, picking up where they left off. Speak with your priest if you would like help building the Psalter into your own daily prayer rule; he can help you find an approach that fits your life.
For a fuller treatment of chanting the Psalms in the eight tones and a detailed step-by-step home prayer structure, see How to Pray the Psalter at Home, courtesy of Saint John Orthodox Church.
Psalm text: Brenton's Septuagint translation, 1851, public domain.