Book of Common Prayer

88 The song of the psalm, to the sons of Korah, to victory on Mahalath, for to answer the learning of Heman, (the) Ezrahite. Lord God of mine health; I cried in day and night before thee. (The song of the psalm, for the sons of Korah, to victory on Mahalath, to answer the teaching of Heman, the Ezrahite. Lord God of my salvation; I have cried day and night before thee.)

² My prayer enter before thy sight (Let my prayer come before thee); bow down thine ear to my prayer.

³ For my soul is [full-]filled with evils; and my life nighed to hell. (For my soul is filled full of evils; and my life came near to Sheol, that is, the land of the dead/and my life nighed to the grave.)

⁴ I am guessed with them that go down into the pit; I am made as a man without help,

⁵ and free among dead men. As men wounded sleeping in sepulchres, of which men none (thou) is mindful (of) after; and they be put away from thine hand. (and free among the dead. Like the slain who sleep in tombs, or graves, of whom there is no one thou remembereth any more; yea, they all be cut off from thy help, or thy care.)

⁶ They have put me in the lower pit; in dark places, and in the shadow of death.

⁷ Thy strong vengeance is confirmed on me (Thy fury hath raged against me); and thou hast brought in all thy waves on me.

⁸ Thou hast made far from me my known; they have set me (an) abomination to themselves. I am taken (in), and I went not out; (Thou hast taken all my friends far away from me; thou hast made me an abomination to them. I am enclosed, and I cannot go out;)

⁹ mine eyes were sick for poverty [mine eyes (were) (en)feebled for mis-ease]. Lord, I cried to thee; all day I spreaded abroad mine hands to thee. (my eyes have been weakened from suffering. Lord, I cried to thee; and every day I spread abroad my hands to thee.)

¹⁰ Whether thou shalt do marvels to dead men; either leeches shall raise (them up), and they shall acknowledge to thee? (Shalt thou do marvellous deeds for the dead? or shall physicians raise them up, and then they shall praise thee?)

¹¹ Whether any man in sepulchre shall tell thy mercy; and thy truth in perdition? (Shall any man in the tomb, or in the grave, tell of thy love? or in perdition, tell of thy faithfulness?)

¹² Whether thy marvels shall be known in darknesses; and thy rightfulness in the land of forgetting? (Shall thy marvellous deeds be known in the dark places? or thy righteousness in the land of the forgotten?/in the land of oblivion?)

¹³ And, Lord, I cried to thee; and early my prayer shall before come to thee. (But, Lord, I cried to thee; and every morning my prayer hath come before thee.)

¹⁴ Lord, why puttest thou away my prayer; thou turnest away thy face from me? (Lord, why puttest thou me away? why rejectest me? why turnest thou away thy face from me?)

¹⁵ I am poor, and in travails from my youth; soothly I am enhanced, and I am made low, and troubled. (I am poor, and have had troubles from my youth; truly I am abased, and greatly troubled.)

¹⁶ Thy wraths passed on me; and thy dreads troubled me. (Thy rages have swept over me/Thy anger hath come upon me; and thy terrors have made me afraid.)

¹⁷ They (en)compassed me as water all day; they (en)compassed me (al)together. (They surrounded me like water all day long; they have completely surrounded me.)

¹⁸ Thou madest far from me a friend and neighbour; and my known from wretchedness. (Thou hast taken my friends and my neighbours far away from me; and now wretchedness is my only companion.)

91 He that dwelleth in the help of the highest God; shall dwell in the protection of God of heaven. (He who dwelleth in the shelter of the Most High God, shall live under the protection of the God of heaven.)

² He shall say to the Lord, Thou art mine up-taker, and my refuge; my God, I shall hope in him. (He shall say to the Lord, Thou art my defender, and my refuge; my God, I trust in thee.)

³ For he delivered me from the snare of hunters; and from a sharp word. (For he shall save me from the hunter’s snare; and from a sharp word.)

⁴ With his shoulders he shall make shadow to thee; and thou shalt have hope under his feathers. His truth shall (en)compass thee with a shield; (With his feathers he shall make a shadow for thee; and thou shalt have hope under his wings. His faithfulness shall surround thee like a shield.)

⁵ thou shalt not dread of the night’s dread. Of an arrow flying in the day, (Thou shalt not fear the terror in the night; nor an arrow flying in the day.)

⁶ of a goblin going in darknesses; of assailing, and of a midday fiend. (Nor the pestilence going in darkness; nor the assailing of the plague at midday.)

⁷ A thousand shall fall down from thy side, and ten thousand from thy right side; forsooth it shall not nigh to thee. (A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right side; but it shall not come even close to thee.)

⁸ Nevertheless thou shalt behold with thine eyes; and thou shalt see the yielding of sinners. (Nevertheless thou shalt see with thine eyes; yea, thou shalt see the punishment of the sinners.)

⁹ For thou, Lord, art mine hope; thou hast set thine help (to be the) alder-Highest. (For thou hast made the Lord to be thy hope; yea, the Most High to be thy help.)

¹⁰ Evil shall not come to thee; and a scourge shall not (come) nigh to thy tabernacle.

¹¹ For God hath commanded to his angels of thee; that they keep thee in all thy ways. (For God hath commanded his angels to be all around thee; so that they keep thee safe on all thy ways.)

¹² They shall bear thee in the hands; lest peradventure thou hurt thy foot at a stone. (They shall lift thee up with their hands; lest thou hurt thy foot on a stone.)

¹³ Thou shalt go upon a snake, and a cockatrice; and thou shalt defoul a lion, and a dragon (and thou shalt trample upon a lion, and a dragon).

¹⁴ (For God saith,) For he hoped in me, I shall deliver him (For God saith, Because he loved me, I shall save him); I shall defend him, for he knew my name.

¹⁵ He cried to me, and I shall hear him; I am with him in tribulation; I shall deliver him, and I shall glorify him. (When he crieth to me, I shall answer him; I shall be with him in all his troubles; I shall rescue him, and I shall honour him.)

¹⁶ I shall [ful]fill him with the length of days; and I shall show mine health to him. (I shall fulfill him with length of days, that is, with a long life; and I shall give my salvation, or my deliverance, to him/and I shall save him.)

92 The psalm of song, in the day of sabbath. It is good to acknowledge to the Lord; and to sing to thy name, thou Highest. (The psalm of the song, on the sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to the Lord; and to sing unto thy name, O Most High.)

² To show early thy mercy; and thy truth by night. (To declare thy love in the morning; and thy faithfulness every night.)

³ In a psaltery of ten cords; with song in harp. (On a lute with ten strings; and with a song on the harp.)

⁴ For thou, Lord, hast delighted me in (the works of) thy making; and I shall make full out joy in the works of thine hands. (For thou, Lord, hast delighted me with thy deeds, or thy acts; and I shall rejoice over the works of thy hands.)

⁵ Lord, thy works be magnified greatly; thy thoughts be made full deep. (Lord, thy works be truly great; thy thoughts be so very deep!)

⁶ An unwise man shall not know; and a fool shall not understand these things. (But this is what the ignorant do not know; and what the foolish do not understand.)

⁷ When sinners come forth, as hay; and all they appear, that work wickedness. That they perish into the world of world; (That even though the sinners come forth like hay, or like grass, and that those who do evil prosper; they shall all utterly perish forever.)

⁸ forsooth thou, Lord, art the Highest, [into] without end. (But thou, Lord, art the Most High, forever.)

⁹ For lo! Lord, thine enemies, for lo! thine enemies shall perish; and all they shall be scattered that work wickedness (and all who do evil shall be destroyed).

¹⁰ And mine horn shall be raised as an unicorn; and mine eld (age shall be) in plenteous mercy. (But my head shall be raised up, like the horn of a wild ox; and I shall be richly anointed with oil.)

¹¹ And mine eye despised mine enemies; and when wicked men rise against me, mine ear shall hear (their downfall). (And my eyes shall see my heart’s desire for my enemies/And my eyes shall see the defeat of my enemies; and my ears shall hear the downfall of the wicked people who rise up against me.)

¹² A just man shall flower as a palm tree; he shall be multiplied as a cedar of Lebanon. (The righteous shall flourish like the palm trees; they shall be multiplied like the cedars of Lebanon.)

¹³ Men planted in the house of the Lord; shall flower in the porches of the house of our God. (Those who be planted in the House of the Lord; shall flourish in the courtyards of the House of our God.)

¹⁴ Yet they shall be multiplied in plenteous eld (age); and they shall be suffering well. (They shall be granted a plentiful old age; and they shall be strong, and vigorous/and they shall be prosperous, and flourishing.)

¹⁵ That they tell, that our Lord God is rightful; and no wickedness is in him. (And they shall declare that the Lord our God is righteous; and there is no wickedness in him.)

3 Forsooth the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious; in those days was none open revelation (for in those days there was no open revelation).

² Therefore it was done in a day, Eli lay in his bed, and his eyes dimmed, and he might not see; (And so it was done one night, when Eli lay on his bed, and his eyes had dimmed, and he could not see;)

³ the lantern of the Lord was not yet quenched. And Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. (and Samuel also slept in the Temple of the Lord, where the Ark of God was. And one morning, before that the lantern of God was quenched,)

⁴ And the Lord called Samuel; and he answered and said, Lo! I./Lo! I am ready. (the Lord called to Samuel; and he answered and said, Lo! I am here.)

⁵ And he ran to Eli, and said to him, Lo! I; for thou calledest me. And Eli said, I called not thee; turn thou again and sleep. And he went and slept. (And he ran to Eli, and said to him, Lo! I am here; for thou hast called me. And Eli said, I did not call thee; return thou, and go to sleep. And so he went and slept again.)

⁶ And the Lord added again to call Samuel; and Samuel rose (up), and went to Eli, and said, Lo! I (am) here; for thou calledest me. And Eli answered, I called not thee, my son; turn thou again and sleep (And Eli answered, I did not call thee, my son; return thou, and go back to sleep).

⁷ Forsooth Samuel knew not yet the Lord, neither the word of the Lord was showed to him. (For Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord was not yet shown to him.)

⁸ And the Lord added, and called yet Samuel the third time; the which rose up and went to Eli, and said, Lo! I; for thou calledest me. Then Eli understood, that the Lord had called the child; (And the Lord added, and called to Samuel yet the third time; and he rose up and went to Eli, and said, Lo! I am here; for thou hast called me. Then Eli understood, that the Lord had called the child;)

⁹ and Eli said to Samuel, Go thou and sleep; and if he calleth thee afterward, thou shalt say, Speak thou, Lord, for thy servant heareth. Then Samuel went and slept in his place.

¹⁰ And the Lord came, and stood, and called as he had called the second time (and called to him as he had called the other times, saying), Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said, Speak thou, Lord, for thy servant heareth.

¹¹ And the Lord said to Samuel, Lo! I (shall) make a word, that is, (I shall do) a thing signified by a word, in Israel, which word whoever shall hear, both his ears shall ring, that is, he shall be astonished for wonder and dread.

¹² In that day I shall raise up against Eli all (the) things that I have spoken upon his house; I shall begin (it), and I shall end (it).

¹³ For I before-said to him, that I should deem his house without end for the wickedness thereof; for he knew, that his sons did unworthily, and he chastised not them. (For I said to him before, that I would judge his family forevermore for its wickedness; and he knoweth, that his sons have done unworthily, and yet he hath not chastised them.)

¹⁴ Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the wickedness of his family, or his house, shall not be cleansed with sacrifices and gifts till into without end.

¹⁵ And then Samuel slept till the morrowtide, and he opened the doors of the house of the Lord; and Samuel dreaded to show the revelation to Eli.

¹⁶ Therefore Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered and said, I am ready (And he answered, I am here).

¹⁷ And Eli asked him, What is the word that the Lord hath spoken to thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me; God do to thee these things, and increase these things, if thou hidest from me a word of all [the] words that be said to thee.

¹⁸ And Samuel showed to him all the words, and hid not (anything) from him. And Eli answered, He is the Lord; do he that, that is good in his eyes.

¹⁹ Forsooth Samuel increased (And so Samuel grew up), and the Lord was with him, and none of all his words felled into [the] earth, that is, (were) in vain, for all was (ful)filled.

²⁰ And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew, that faithful Samuel was a prophet of the Lord. (And all Israel knew, from Dan to Beersheba, that truly Samuel was a prophet of the Lord.)

²¹ And the Lord added to appear again in Shiloh, for the Lord was showed to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord;

³⁷ When they heard these things, they were compuncted in heart; and they said to Peter and [to] other apostles, Brethren [Men brethren], what shall we do?

³⁸ And Peter said to them, Do ye penance [Penance, he said, do ye], and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, into remission of your sins; and ye shall take the gift of the Holy Ghost.

³⁹ For the promise is to you, and to your sons, and to all that be far, whichever our Lord God hath called. [Forsooth repromission is to you, and to your sons, and to all that be far, whomever the Lord our God hath called to.]

⁴⁰ Also with other words full many he witnessed to them, and admonished them, and said, Be ye saved from this depraved generation [saying, Be ye saved from this wicked, or shrewd, generation].

⁴¹ Then they that received his word were baptized, and in that day souls were increased, about three thousand;

⁴² and [they] were lasting stably in the teaching of the apostles, and in communing of the breaking of bread [and communing of breaking of bread], and in prayers.

⁴³ And dread was made to each man [Forsooth dread was made to each soul]. And many wonders and signs were done by the apostles in Jerusalem, and great dread was in all.

⁴⁴ And all that believed were together, and had all things common.

⁴⁵ They sold possessions and chattel [They sold possessions and substances, or goods], and parted those things to all men, as it was need to each.

⁴⁶ And each day they dwelled stably with one will in the temple, and brake bread about houses, and took meat with full out joy and simpleness of heart, [Forsooth day by day they lasting together in the temple, and breaking bread about houses, took meat with gladness and simpleness of heart,]

⁴⁷ and praised together God, and had grace to all the folk [praising together God, and having grace to all the people]. And the Lord increased them that were made safe, each day into the same thing.

⁵ And when some men said of the temple, that it was appareled with good stones and gifts [that it was adorned with good stones and gifts], he said,

⁶ These things that ye see, days shall come, in which a stone shall not be left on a stone, which shall not be destroyed.^[a]

⁷ And they asked him, and said [saying], Commander, when shall these things be? and what token shall be, when they shall begin to be done?

⁸ And he said, See ye, that ye be not deceived; for many shall come in my name, saying, For I am, and the time shall approach [and the time shall nigh]; therefore do not ye go after them.

⁹ And when ye shall hear battles and strives within [But when ye shall hear battles and dissensions within], do not ye be afeared; it behooveth first these things to be done, but not yet at once is an end [but not yet anon the end].

¹⁰ Then he said to them, Folk shall rise against folk, and realm against realm;

¹¹ and great movings of the earth shall be by places, and pestilences, and hungers, and dreads from heaven, and great tokens shall be.

¹² But before all these things they shall set their hands on you, and shall pursue you, betaking into synagogues and keepings, drawing you to kings and to justices^[b], for my name;

¹³ but it shall fall to you into witnessing.

¹⁴ Therefore put ye in your hearts, not to think before, how ye shall answer;

¹⁵ for I shall give to you mouth and wisdom, to which all your adversaries shall not be able to against-stand, and gainsay [and against-say].

¹⁶ And ye shall be taken of father, and mother [Soothly ye shall be betrayed of father, and mother], and brethren, and cousins, and friends, and by death they shall torment [some] of you;

¹⁷ and ye shall be in hate to all men for my name. [and ye shall be hated of all men for my name.]

¹⁸ And an hair of your head shall not perish;

¹⁹ in your patience ye shall wield your souls.