“For millennia, the Psalms have provided a rich resource for worshippers of God to come to God in times of joy, sadness, thanksgiving and doubt. The Psalms occupy a special place in Anglican liturgy and are featured in our lectionary every day of the year.

Matthew Anstey’s translation allows today’s worshippers to encounter the Psalms in contemporary language. I commend the translations to you for trial use and encourage you to commend them to congregations in your Diocese”.

― The Most Rev’d Geoff Smith, Primate, Anglican Church of Australia

Close-up photograph of "The Psalms: First Book" and text from Psalm 1

The Anstey Psalter

The Anstey Psalter is to be a contemporary liturgical translation of the entire book of Psalms, for public worship and private devotion for Australian Anglicans, combining the latest scholarship with close attention to poetics and musicality.

The Rev’d Assoc Prof Matthew Anstey

Dr Anstey is an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Adelaide, and an internationally recognised Hebrew scholar. In 2017, he began planning to prepare a new liturgical translation of the Psalms and in 2022 the project officially commenced.

Singing the Psalms

From the outset, Matthew’s vision for a new liturgical psalter included his hope to have musical compositions prepared for choirs and congregations to sing. On the project committee, Richard Black brings particular expertise to this endeavour.