Book of Common Prayer
119 Alleluia. [Aleph]. Blessed be men without wem in the way; that go in the law of the Lord. (Alleluia. Happy be they whose lives be without blemish, or without fault; who walk in the Law of the Lord.)
2 Blessed be they, that seek his witnessings; and seek him in all the heart. (Happy be they who obey his teachings, or his commands; and who seek him, or obey him, with all their heart.)
3 For they that work wickedness; went not in his ways. (For they who work wickedness, went not in his ways.)
4 Thou hast commanded; that thy behests be kept greatly. (Thou hast commanded, that thy precepts, or thy laws, be diligently kept.)
5 I would that my ways were (ad)dressed; to keep thy justifyings. (I desire that my ways be directed; so that I can obey thy statutes.)
6 Then I shall not be shamed; when I shall behold perfectly in(to) all thy behests. (Then I shall not be shamed, if I fix my eyes on thy commandments.)
7 I shall acknowledge to thee in the (ad)dressing of mine heart; in that that I learned the dooms of thy rightfulnesses. (I shall praise thee with my heart properly directed, when I have learned thy righteous judgements./I shall praise thee with a pure heart, when I have learned thy just decrees.)
8 I shall keep thy justifyings; forsake thou not me on each side. (I shall obey thy statutes; do not thou abandon me on any side/never desert thou me.)
9 [Beth]. In what thing amendeth a young waxing man his way? in keeping thy words. (How may a young man correct his way? by obeying thy words, or thy commands.)
10 In all mine heart I sought thee; put thou me not away from thy behests. (With all my heart I have sought thee; let me not stray from thy commandments.)
11 In mine heart I hid thy speeches; that I do not sin against thee. (I hid thy words in my heart; so that I will not sin against thee.)
12 Lord, thou art blessed; teach thou me thy justifyings. (Lord, blessed art thou; teach thou me thy statutes.)
13 In my lips I have pronounced; all the dooms of thy mouth. (With my lips I have declared, all the judgements, or the laws, from thy mouth.)
14 I delighted in the way of thy witnessings; (as much) as in all riches. (I delighted in the way of thy teachings, or thy commands; as much as in great riches.)
15 I shall be exercised, either busily occupied, in thy behests; and I shall behold thy ways. (I shall think about thy precepts; and I shall study thy ways.)
16 I shall bethink in thy justifyings; I shall not forget thy words. (I shall delight myself in thy statutes; I shall not forget thy words, or thy commands.)
17 [Gimel]. Yield to thy servant; quicken thou me, and I shall keep thy words. (Grant this to thy servant; that thou let me live, and that I obey thy commands.)
18 Lighten thou mine eyes; and I shall behold the marvels of thy law. (Open thou my eyes; and I shall see the marvels, or the wonders, that come forth from thy Law.)
19 I am a comeling in earth; hide thou not thy behests from me. (I am a newcomer, or a stranger, here on earth; hide thou not thy commandments from me.)
20 My soul coveted to desire thy justifyings; in all time. (My soul desireth to know thy judgements; at all times.)
21 Thou blamedest the proud; they be cursed, that bow away from thy behests. (Thou hast rebuked the proud; cursed be they who turn away from thy commandments.)
22 Do thou away from me shame and despising; for I sought thy witnessings. (Do thou away from me all shame and despising; for I have kept thy commands/for I have obeyed thy laws/for I have followed thy teachings.)
23 For why princes sat, and spake against me; but thy servant was exercised in thy justifyings. (For the rulers sit, and speak against me; but thy servant studied, and thought about, thy statutes/but thy servant shall study, and shall think about, thy statutes.)
24 For why and thy witnessings is my thinking; and my counsel is thy justifyings. (For thy teachings, or thy commands, be my delight; and they be my counsellors.)
12 To the victory, on the eighth, the song of David. Lord, make thou me safe, for the holy (man) failed; for truths be made little from the sons of men. (To victory, on the eighth, the psalm of David. Lord, save thou me, for there be no more holy people; the faithful be made few, if any, among the sons and daughters of men.)
2 They spake vain things, each man to his neighbour; and they having guileful lips, spake in their heart, and with their heart. (They spoke lies, each man to his neighbour; yea, they having deceitful lips, spoke with a double heart.)
3 The Lord destroy all guileful lips; and the great speaking tongue. (May the Lord destroy all deceitful, or lying, lips; and the tongues that speak so proudly, or so boastfully.)
4 Which said, We shall magnify (with) our tongue, our lips be of us-selves; who (else) is our lord? (They who say, We shall gain victory with our tongues, for our lips be our own; who else is lord over us?)
5 For the wretchedness of needy men, and for the wailing of poor men; now I shall rise up, saith the Lord. I shall set (him) in health; I shall do trustily in him. (Because of the wretchedness of the needy, and the wailing of the poor, I shall now rise up, saith the Lord. I shall place them in safety; I shall do trustily for them.)
6 The speeches of the Lord be chaste speeches; (as) silver assayed by fire, proved from the earth, purged sevenfold. (The speeches of the Lord be chaste speeches; like silver assayed in an earthen furnace, purged seven times.)
7 Thou, Lord, shalt keep us; and thou shalt keep us from this generation [into] without end. (Thou, Lord, shalt keep us safe; yea, thou shalt keep us safe from this generation forever.)
8 Wicked men go in compass; by thine highness thou hast multiplied the sons of men. (Even though the wicked be all around; and the vilest people be exalted.)
13 To the victory, [the psalm] of David. Lord, how long forgettest thou me, into the end? how long turnest thou away thy face from me? (To victory, the song of David. Lord, how long forgettest thou me, forever? how long turnest thou away thy face from me?)
2 How long shall I set counsel in my soul; sorrow in my heart by day? How long shall mine enemy be raised up on me? (How long shall I suffer anguish in my soul; and each day have sorrow in my heart? How long shall my enemy be raised up over me?)
3 My Lord God, behold thou, and hear thou me. Lighten thou mine eyes, lest any time I sleep in death; (My Lord God, behold thou, and answer thou me. Give thou light to my eyes, lest any time I sleep in death;)
4 lest any time mine enemy say, I had the mastery against him. They, that trouble me, shall have joy, if I shall be stirred; (lest any time my enemy say, I had the mastery over him. For they, who trouble me, shall have joy, if I shall slip, or shall stumble/if I shall fall;)
5 but I hoped in thy mercy. Mine heart shall fully have joy in thine health; (but I trusted in thy love. My heart shall make full out joy in thy salvation/My heart shall rejoice in thy deliverance;)
6 I shall sing to the Lord, that giveth goods to me, and I shall say psalm to the name of the highest Lord. (I shall sing to the Lord, who giveth good things to me, yea, I shall sing a song to the name of the Most High Lord.)
14 To the victory, [the psalm] of David. The unwise man said in his heart, God is not. They be corrupt, and they be made abominable in their studies; none there is that doeth good, none is till to one. (To victory, the song of David. The fool said in his heart, There is no God. Such men be corrupt, and they be made abominable in their deeds; there is no one who doeth good, no not one.)[a]
2 The Lord beheld from heaven on the sons of men; that he see, if any is understanding, either seeking God. (The Lord looked down from heaven on the sons and daughters of men; to see if there is anyone who hath understanding, or is seeking God.)
3 All bowed away, (al)together they be made unprofitable; none is that doeth good, none is till to one (But they all have turned away, they all be made utterly unredeemable; there is no one who doeth good, no not one). The throat of them is an open sepulchre, they did guilefully with their tongues; the venom of snakes is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet be swift to shed out blood. Sorrow and cursedness is in the ways of them, and they knew not the way of peace; the dread of God is not before their eyes.
4 Whether all men that work wickedness shall not know; that devour my people, as (the) meat of bread? They called not the Lord; (Surely all those, who do evil, already know this; yea, they who devour my people, like men eat bread. They do not call on the Lord;)
5 they trembled there for dread, where was no dread; for the Lord is in a rightful generation. (but they trembled there in fear, like never before. For the Lord is with the upright generation.)
6 Thou hast shamed the counsel of a poor man; for the Lord is his hope. (Ye evil-doers, ye have frustrated the plans of the poor; but the Lord is their hope.)
7 Who shall give from Zion health to Israel? When the Lord hath turned away the captivity of his people; Jacob shall fully be joyful/Jacob shall (make) full out joy, and Israel shall be glad. (Who shall give victory/Who shall give salvation, or deliverance, to Israel out of Zion? When the Lord hath returned the prosperity of his people, then Jacob shall rejoice; yea, Israel shall be glad.)
25 If ye beget sons, and sons of sons, and ye dwell in the land, and ye be deceived, and make to you any likeness, or image (and make for yourselves any likeness, or idol), and do evil before your Lord God, (so) that ye stir him to great wrath,
26 I call (to) witness today heaven and earth, that ye shall perish soon from the land, that ye shall wield, when ye have passed (the) Jordan; ye shall not live long time therein, but the Lord shall do away you, (I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that ye soon shall perish from the land that ye shall take, when ye have crossed over the Jordan River; ye shall not live a long time in it, but the Lord shall do you away,)
27 and he shall scatter you abroad among all heathen men, and ye shall dwell few (in number) among the nations, to which the Lord shall lead you.
28 And there ye shall serve to gods, that be made by men’s hands, to tree and to stone (And there ye shall serve gods, that be made by the hands of men, out of wood and stone), (gods) that neither see, neither hear, neither eat, neither smell.
29 And when thou hast sought there thy Lord God, thou shalt find him (But if thou shalt seek the Lord thy God there, thou shalt find him); if nevertheless thou seekest him with all thy heart, and with all the tribulation of thy soul.
30 After that all things have found thee, that be before-said, soothly in the last time, thou shalt turn again to thy Lord God, and thou shalt hear his voice. (And when all these things have found thee, that be spoken of before, thou shalt finally return to the Lord thy God, and thou shalt listen to his voice, and obey him.)
31 For thy Lord God is a merciful God; he shall not forsake thee, neither he shall do thee away utterly, neither he shall forget the covenant, in which he swore to thy fathers. (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God; he shall not forsake thee, nor shall he utterly do thee away, nor shall he forget the covenant, which he swore to thy fathers.)
21 By unnobleness I say, as if we were frail in this part[a]. In what thing any man dare, in unwisdom I say, and I dare.
22 They be Hebrews, and I; they be Israelites, and I; they be the seed of Abraham, and I;
23 they be the ministers of Christ, and I. As less wise I say, I more; in full many travails, in prisons more plenteously, in wounds above manner [in wounds above manner, or over measure], in deaths oft times.
24 I received of the Jews five times forty strokes one less;
25 thrice I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I was at ship-break, a night and a day I was in the deepness of the sea;
26 in ways oft, in perils of rivers [in perils of floods], in perils of thieves, in perils of kin, in perils of heathen men, in perils in [the] city, in perils in desert, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren,
27 in travail and neediness, in many wakings, in hunger, in thirst [in travail and neediness, either mis-ease, in many wakings, in hunger and thirst], in many fastings, in cold and nakedness.
28 Without those things that be withoutforth, mine each day's travailing is the busyness of all churches. [Without those things that be withoutforth; mine each day's waking, or studying, the busyness of all churches.]
29 Who is frail, and I am not frail? who is caused to stumble, and I am not burnt? [Who is sick, and I am not sick? who is offended, and I am not burnt?]
30 If it behooveth to glory, I shall glory in those things that be of mine infirmity [that be of my infirmity, or frailty].
31 [For] God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is blessed into worlds, knoweth that I lie not [knoweth, that I gab not, or lie not].
32 The provost of Damascus, of the king of the folk of Aretas [The provost, or keeper, of Damascus, of the king of the folk Arteas], kept the city of Damascenes to take me;
33 and by a window in a basket I was let down by the wall, and so I escaped his hands.
24 No man may serve two lords, for either he shall hate the one, and love the other; either he shall sustain the one [or he shall sustain the one], and despise the other. Ye be not able to serve God and riches.
25 Therefore I say to you, that ye be not busy to your life, what ye shall eat; nor to your body, with what ye shall be clothed [or to your body, with what ye shall be clad]. Whether [the] life is not more than meat, and the body more than the cloak [and the body more than cloth]?
26 Behold ye the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither reap, neither gather into barns [nor gather into barns]; and your Father of heaven feedeth them. Whether ye be not more worthy than they [Whether ye be not more worth than they]?
27 But who of you thinking may put to his stature one cubit? [Soothly who of you by thinking may add to his stature one cubit?]
28 And of clothing what be ye busy? Behold the lilies of the field, how they wax. They travail not, neither they spin;
29 and I say to you, that Solomon in all his glory was not covered as one of these.
30 And if God clotheth thus the hay of the field, that to day is, and to morrow is cast into an oven [and to morrow is sent into the furnace], how much more you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not ye be busy, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what thing shall we be covered [or, With what shall we be covered]?
32 For heathen men seek all these things; and your Father knoweth, that ye have need to all these things.
33 Therefore seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his rightwiseness, and all these things shall be cast to you.
34 Therefore do not ye be busy into the morrow, for the morrow shall be busy to itself; for it sufficeth to the day his own malice.
2001 by Terence P. Noble