The Translation
We have attempted to use a contemporary but dignified form of the English language throughout this present translation. Wherever possible, existing translations of the Orthodox Church in America have been used. For example, the Prayers in Preparation for Holy Communion are taken from the official Divine Liturgy book (St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 1977) with very few changes. The Psalms, verses, troparia, and prayers not included in that edition have now been translated and included to complete the traditional order.
The Psalms are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible with changes made wherever significant differences with the Orthodox liturgical Psalter (based on the Septuagint) made it necessary. The numbering of the Psalms follows the Septuagint throughout the Prayerbook. We are leaving to Biblical scholars the study of the merits of the various texts of the Holy Scriptures. Our object here is to provide the English-speaking Orthodox Christian with a Prayerbook as closely equivalent as possible to the Prayerbooks that Orthodox Christians of other nationalities have used for generations.