In the offering of Daily Vespers, the usual custom is for the Choir to sing the first two verses after which the reader chants the Psalms to the point at which there are verses appointed for the day (cf the numbered verses below). At this point the reader and choir alternate, the reader reading the Psalm verse, and the Choir singing the apointed sticheron (verse) until the end. At a Vigil or at Great Vespers on Saturday or on the eve of a Great feast, the usual custom is for the Choir to sing the first two verses. The reader then skips down to and reads the Psalm verse before the first appointed sticheron and then alternates with the choir until the end. It is also customary for the choir (or a second choir) to sing the Psalm verses which are usually read between the appointed stichera. Also, in many places all of the appointed Psalms are chanted on Saturdays and eves of great feasts as well as at Daily Vespers. The Translations offered here are from the Psalter of the Seventy as translated by the fathers of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline Massachusetts, and are used with the permission of the Monastery.
Choir: Lord, I have cried unto Thee, hearken unto me; attend
to the voice of my supplication when I cry unto Thee, hearken unto me,
O Lord.
Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my
hands as an evening sacrifice, hearken unto me, O Lord.
[Choir:*Lord, I call upon Thee, hear me, hear me, O Lord. Lord,
I call upon Thee hear me, receive the voice of my prayer, when I call upon
Thee. Hear, me O Lord.
Let my prayer arise in Thy sight as incense, and let the lifting up of
my hands be an evening sacrifice. Hear me O Lord.]
Reader: Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth, and a door of enclosure
round about my lips.
Incline not my heart unto words of evil, to make excuse with excuses in
sins, with men that work iniquity; and I will not join with their chosen.
The righteous man will chasten me with mercy and reprove me; as for the
oil of the sinner, let it not anoint my head.
For yet more is my prayer in the presence of their pleasures; swallowed
up near by the rock have their judges been.
They shall hear my words, for they be sweetened; as a clod of earth is
broken upon the earth, so have their bones been scattered nigh unto hades.
For unto thee, O Lord, O Lord, are mine eyes, in Thee have I hoped; take
not my soul away.
Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling-blocks
of them that work iniquity.
The sinners shall fall into their own net; I am alone until I pass by.
With my voice unto the Lord have I cried, with my voice unto the Lord
have I made supplication.
I will pour out before Him my supplication, mine affliction before Him
will I declare.
When my spirit was fainting within me, then Thou knewest my paths.
In this way wherein I have walked they hid for me a snare.
I looked upon my right hand, and beheld, and there was none that did know
me.
Flight hath failed me, and there is none that watcheth out for my soul.
I have cried unto Thee, O Lord; I said: Thou art my hope, my portion art
Thou in the land of the living.
Attend unto my supplication, for I am brought very low.
Deliver me from them that persecute me, for they are stronger than I.
10 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may confess Thy name.
(Insert stichera starting here when there are 10 appointed verses)
9. The righteous shall wait patiently for me until Thou shall reward
me.
(verse)
8. Out of the depths have I cried to thee, O Lord, O Lord, hear my voice.
(when there are 8 appointed verses)
7. Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
(verse)
6. If Thou shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, O Lord, who shall stand?
For with Thee is forgiveness.
(When there are 6 appointed verses)
5. For Thy name's sake have I patiently waited for Thee, O Lord; my
soul hath waited patiently for Thy word my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
(verse)
4. From the morning watch until night, from the morning watch, let
Israel hope in the Lord.
(When there are 4 appointed verses)
3. For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.
And He shall deliver Israel out of all his iniquities.
(verse)
2. Praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise Him, all ye peoples.
(verse)
1. For He hath made His mercy to prevail over us, and the truth of
the Lord abideth forever.
(verse)
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
(The appropriate doxastichon [Glory verse] is inserted here)
Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
(Theotokion or Dogmatikon appointed for the day)
* A translation of the first two verses appointed to be sung by the choir which is adapted from the KJV/RSV translations is provided here in addition to the translation provided. This is done because it is the text which is used by the majority of English speaking parishes which offer this service on a regular ( i.e. weekly and for major feasts) basis.