Book of Common Prayer

⁴⁹ [Zain]. Lord, have thou mind on thy word to thy servant (Lord, remember thy word to thy servant); in which word thou hast given hope to me.

⁵⁰ This comforted me in my lowness; for thy word quickened me. (This comforted me in my time of trouble; for thy word hath given me life.)

⁵¹ Proud men did wickedly (to me) by all things; but I bowed not away from thy law. (The proud and the boastful have scorned me in all things; but I have not turned away from thy Law.)

⁵² Lord, I was mindful of thy dooms from the world; and I was comforted. (Lord, I remember thy judgements of long ago; and I am comforted.)

⁵³ Failing held me; for sinners forsaking thy law. (Anger taketh hold of me; when I think of the sinners who desert thy Law.)

⁵⁴ Thy justifyings were delightable to me to be sung; in the place of my pilgrimage. (Thy statutes were delightful for me to sing about; here on my pilgrimage.)

⁵⁵ Lord, I had mind of thy name by night; and I kept thy law. (Lord, I remember thy name in the night; and I obey thy Law.)

⁵⁶ This thing was made to me; for I sought thy justifyings. (And this is true of me; that I have kept thy precepts/that I have obeyed thy commands.)

⁵⁷ [Cheth]. Lord, my part; I said to keep thy law. (Lord, thou art my portion; I have said that I would obey thy Law.)

⁵⁸ I besought thy face in all mine heart; have thou mercy on me by thy speech. (I sought thee out with all my heart; have thou mercy on me according to thy word.)

⁵⁹ I bethought (on) my ways; and I turned my feet into thy witnessings. (I thought about my ways; and I have turned my feet to follow thy teachings.)

⁶⁰ I am ready, and I am not troubled; to keep thy commandments. (I am ready, and I have not delayed, to obey thy commandments.)

⁶¹ The cords of sinners have embraced me; and I have not forgotten thy law. (The cords of the sinners have entangled me; but I have not forgotten thy Law.)

⁶² At midnight, I rose to acknowledge to thee; on the dooms of thy justifyings. (At midnight, I rise to give thee thanks/I rise to give thee praise; for all thy righteous judgements.)

⁶³ I am partner of all that dread thee; and keep thy behests. (I am a partner of all who fear thee/I am a friend of all who revere thee; of all who obey thy precepts.)

⁶⁴ Lord, the earth is full of thy mercy; teach thou me thy justifyings. (Lord, the earth is full of thy love; teach thou me thy statutes.)

⁶⁵ [Teth]. Lord, thou hast done goodness with thy servant; by thy word. (Lord, thou hast been kind to thy servant; yea, according to thy word.)

⁶⁶ Teach thou me goodness, and lore, either chastising, and knowing; for I believed to thy behests. (Teach thou me goodness, and knowledge, or discipline; for I trust in thy commandments.)

⁶⁷ Before that I was made meek, I trespassed; therefore I kept thy speech. (Before that I was punished, I trespassed; but thereafter, I have obeyed thy word.)

⁶⁸ Thou art good; and in thy goodness teach thou me thy justifyings. (Thou art good, and thou doest good; teach thou me thy statutes.)

⁶⁹ The wickedness of them that be proud, is multiplied on me; but in all mine heart I shall seek thy behests. (The wicked lies of them, who be proud, be multiplied against me; but I shall follow thy precepts with all my heart.)

⁷⁰ The heart of them is crudded, either made hard, as milk; but I bethought (on) thy law. (Their hearts be like curdled milk; but I delight in thy Law.)

⁷¹ It is good to me, that thou hast made me meek; that I learn thy justifyings. (It was good for me, that thou hast punished me; so that I would learn thy statutes.)

⁷² The law (out) of thy mouth is better to me; than thousands of gold and silver. (The Law from thy mouth meaneth more to me/is more valuable to me, than a fortune in gold and silver.)

49 To victory, a psalm to the sons of Korah. All ye folks, hear these things; all ye that dwell in the world, perceive with ears. (To victory, a song for the sons of Korah. All ye nations, hear these things; all ye who live in the world, listen!)

² All the sons of earth, and the sons of men; together the rich man, and the poor into one. (All the sons and daughters of the earth, the sons and daughters of men; yea, the rich and the poor, together as one.)

³ My mouth shall speak wisdom; and the thinking of mine heart shall speak prudence.

⁴ I shall bow down mine ear into a parable; I shall open my reason set forth in a psaltery. (I shall listen closely to a parable; then I shall set forth my understanding on a lute.)

⁵ Why shall I dread in the evil day? the wickedness of mine heel shall (en)compass me. (Why should I have fear, or be afraid, on the day of evil, when the wickedness of my enemies shall surround me?)

⁶ Which trust in their own virtue (They who trust in their wealth); and have glory in the multitude of their riches.

⁷ A brother again-buyeth not, shall a man again-buy? and he shall not give to God his pleasing. (No one shall ever be able to redeem himself; he shall never be able to pay God the price that he asketh for him.)

⁸ And he shall not (be able to) give the price of ransom for his soul; and he shall travail into without end, (Yea, he shall never be able to pay the price of ransom for his own soul; even if he could work forever,)

⁹ and he shall live yet into the end. He shall not see perishing, (so that he would live forever, and not see perishing, or corruption.)

¹⁰ when he shall see wise men dying; the unwise man and the fool shall perish together. And they shall leave their riches to aliens; (For he seeth that the wise die; and that the foolish and the ignorant perish together with them. But they all leave their riches to others, even strangers;)

¹¹ and the sepulchres of them be the houses of them without end. The tabernacles of them be in generation and in generation; they called their names in their lands. (and their tombs, or their graves, shall be their houses forever. Yea, their dwelling places for all generations; even though their lands were once called by their own names.)

¹² A man/Man, when he was in honour, understood not; he is comparisoned to unwise beasts, and is made like to those. (For anyone, even when he hath been given great honour, liveth not forever; he is comparable to the unthinking beasts, and soon is made like them.)

¹³ This way of them is cause of stumbling to them; and afterward they shall please (al)together in their mouth. (Their way is a trap for themselves; and for all who seek to please them.)

¹⁴ As sheep they be put in hell; death shall gnaw them. And just men shall be lords of them in the morrowtide; and the help of them shall wax eld in hell, for the glory of them/from the glory of them. (Like sheep they go down to Sheol, or the land of the dead; and death shall gnaw on them. The righteous shall be their lords; and their bodies shall grow old, or rotten, in Sheol, so different from their days of glory.)

¹⁵ Nevertheless God shall again-buy my soul from the power of hell; when he shall take me. (But God shall redeem my soul; and he shall take me away from the power of Sheol, or the power of death.)

¹⁶ Dread thou not (Fear thou not), when a man is made rich; and when the glory of his house is multiplied.

¹⁷ For when he shall die, he shall not take all things with him (he shall not take anything with him); and his glory shall not go down with him.

¹⁸ For his soul shall be blessed in his life; he shall acknowledge to thee, when thou hast done well to him. (Even though his soul shall be blessed in this life; and people shall praise him, when he hath done well for himself.)

¹⁹ He shall enter till into the generations of his fathers; and till into without end he shall not see light. (He shall go to the generations of his forefathers; and none of them shall ever see the light again.)

²⁰ A man/Man, when he was in honour, understood not; he is comparisoned to unwise beasts, and is made like to those. (Anyone, even when he hath been given great honour, liveth not forever; he is comparable to the unthinking beasts, and soon is made like them.)

53 To the overcomer by the quire, the learning of David. The unwise man said in his heart, God is not. They be corrupt, and made abominable in their wickednesses; none is that doeth good. (To the overcomer, or the victor, the teaching of David. The fool said in his heart, There is no God. Such men be corrupt, and they be made abominable in their wickednesses; there is no one who doeth good, no not one.)^[a]

² God beheld from heaven on the sons of men; that he see, if there is any understanding, either seeking God. (God 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, they be made unprofitable (al)together; none is that doeth good, there is not 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.)

⁴ Whether all men, that work wickedness, shall not know; which devour my people, as the meat of bread? They called not God; (Surely all those, who do evil, already know this; yea, they who devour my people, like people eat bread. They do not call on the Lord;)

⁵ there they trembled for dread, where no dread was. For God hath scattered the bones of them, that please men; they be shamed, for God hath forsaken them. (but they trembled there in fear, like never before. For God hath scattered the bones of those who please people; they be put to shame, for God hath deserted, or hath despised, them.)

⁶ Who shall give from Zion health to Israel? when the Lord hath turned the captivity of his people, Jacob shall full out make 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 make full out joy, or rejoice; yea, Israel shall be glad.)

6 Then king Darius commanded, and they reckoned, or sought, in the biblet of books, which books were kept in Babylon. (Then King Darius commanded, and they searched through the books in the library, or in the archives, which books were kept in Babylon.)

² And one book was found in Ecbatana, which is a castle in the province of Media, and such a sentence of the king was written therein. (But one book was found in the city of Achmetha, in the province of Media, in the castle there, and this statement about the king was written in it;)

³ In the first year of king Cyrus, Cyrus the king deemed, or ordained, that the house of God, which is in Jerusalem, should be builded (again) in the place where they offer(ed) sacrifices, and that they set (a) foundament supporting the height of sixty cubits, and the length of sixty cubits, (In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus ordained that the House of God, which was in Jerusalem, should be rebuilt in the place where they had offered sacrifices, and that they lay a foundation to support a height of sixty cubits, and a length of sixty cubits,)

⁴ and set they three orders of stones unpolished, and so the orders of new wood. And costs thereto should be given of the king’s house. (and build they the walls out of three rows, or three layers, of unpolished stones, and one row, or one layer, of new timber. And let its costs, or its expenses, be paid out of the king’s treasury.)

⁵ But also the golden and silveren vessels of God’s temple, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple of Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon, be they yielded, and borne again into the temple of Jerusalem, and into their place, which vessels also be set in the temple of God. (And also let the gold and the silver vessels from the Temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be given back, and returned to the Temple in Jerusalem, to be put again in their proper place in the Temple of God.)

⁶ Now therefore Tatnai, duke of the country that is beyond the flood, and Shetharboznai, and your counsellors, (the) Apharsachites, which be beyond the flood, depart ye far (away) from them; (And so now Tatnai, the governor of the province that is west of the Euphrates River, and Shetharboznai, and your counsellors, or your officials, the Apharsachites, who also live there in the province west of the Euphrates River, should go far away from these people, that is, they should leave them alone;)

⁷ and suffer ye, that that temple of God be made of the duke of (the) Jews, and of the elder men of them; and that they build (again) that house of God in his place. (and allow ye, that the Temple of God be rebuilt by the leader of the Jews, and their elders; yea, that they rebuild the House of God there in its place.)

⁸ But also it is commanded of me, that that behooveth to be made of those priests of (the) Jews, that the house of God be builded (again); that is, that costs be given busily to those men (out) of the ark, (or the coffer,) of the king, that is, of the tributes, that be given of the country beyond the flood, lest the work be hindered. (And it is also commanded by me, what behooveth to be done for those elders of the Jews, so that the House of God can be rebuilt; that is, that their costs, or their expenses, be given to them out of the king’s treasury, that is, from the taxes paid in the province west of the Euphrates River, so that the work shall not be hindered, or interrupted.)

⁹ That if it be needed, give they both calves, and lambs, and kids into burnt sacrifice to [the] God of heaven; (and also that) wheat, (and) salt, and wine, and oil, by the custom of (the) priests that be in Jerusalem, be given to them by each day, that no complaint be in any thing. (And that whatever the priests who be in Jerusalem need, give it to them, yea, calves, and lambs, and goat kids for the burnt sacrifices to the God of heaven; and also wheat, and salt, and wine, and oil, yea, whatever is needed for each day, so that no complaint be made about anything.)

¹⁰ And (then) offer they offerings to [the] God of heaven; and (also) pray they for the life of the king, and of his sons.

¹¹ Therefore this sentence is set of me, that if any man change this behest, a (piece of) wood be taken of his house, and be it raised up, and be he hanged thereon; soothly his house be forfeited. (And so this decree is given by me, that if anyone change this command, a piece of timber be taken from his house, and it be raised up, and let him be hanged upon it; and then his house be forfeited.)

¹² And God, that maketh his name to dwell there, destroy all the realms and people, that hold forth their hand to impugn and destroy that house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I Darius have deemed the sentence, which I will (to) be fulfilled diligently (I, Darius, have given this decree, which I command to be diligently fulfilled).

¹³ Therefore Tatnai, duke of the country beyond the flood, and Shetharboznai, and his counsellors, did execution, either fulfilled, so diligently, by that that king Darius had commanded. (And so Tatnai, the governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shetharboznai, and his counsellors, or his officials, diligently fulfilled what King Darius had commanded.)

¹⁴ Soothly the elder men of (the) Jews builded (the Temple), and had prosperity, by the prophecy of Haggai, the prophet, and (the prophecy) of Zechariah, the son of Iddo; and they builded (it), and made (it), for [the] God of Israel commanded (it), and for Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia, (also) commanded (it);

¹⁵ and they performed this house of God till to the third day of the month Adar, which is (in) the sixth year of the realm of king Darius. (and they finished this House of God on the third day of the month of Adar, or March, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.)

¹⁶ And the sons of Israel, the priests and (the) deacons, and the others of the sons of (the) transmigration, that is, of them that came from the transmigration, made the hallowing of God’s house in joy; (And the Israelites, yea, the priests, and the Levites, and the others of the sons of the captivity, dedicated the House of God with great joy;)

¹⁷ and offered, in the hallowing of God’s house, an hundred calves, two hundred wethers, four hundred lambs, (and) twelve bucks of goats for the sin of all Israel, by the number of the lineages of Israel. (and offered, for the dedication of the House of God, a hundred calves, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve goat bucks, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.)

¹⁸ And they ordained (the) priests in their orders, and deacons in their whiles (and the Levites in their divisions), upon the works of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

¹⁹ And the sons of (the) transmigration made pask, in the fourteenth day of the first month. (And the sons of the captivity kept, or observed, the Passover on the fourteen day of the first month.)

²⁰ For the priests and deacons as one man were cleansed, all they were (made) clean to offer pask to all the sons of (the) transmigration, and to their brethren (the) priests, and to themselves. (For all the priests and the Levites cleansed themselves, yea, they were all purified, and then they killed the Passover lamb for all the sons of the captivity, and for their fellow priests, and for themselves.)

²¹ And the sons of Israel ate, that turned again from the transmigration, and each man ate, that had separated himself from all the defouling of heathen men of the land, for to seek the Lord God of Israel. (And then the Israelites, who had returned from the captivity, and also each man who had separated himself from all the defiling of the heathen of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, ate the Passover.)

²² And they made the solemnity of therf loaves seven days in gladness (And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy); for the Lord had made them glad, and had turned the heart of the king of Assur to them, (so) that he would help their hands in the work of the house of the Lord God of Israel.

5 And I saw in the right hand of the sitter on the throne, a book written within and without, and sealed with seven seals.

² And I saw a strong angel, preaching with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to undo the seals of it?

³ And none [And no man] in heaven, neither in earth, neither under earth, might open the book, neither behold it.

⁴ And I wept much, for none [for no man] was found worthy to open the book, neither to see it.

⁵ And one of the elder men said to me [And one of the elders said to me], Weep thou not; lo! a lion of the lineage of Juda, the root of David, hath overcome to open the book, and to undo the seven seals of it.

⁶ And I saw, and lo! in the middle of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the middle of the elder men, a lamb standing as slain, that had seven horns, and seven eyes [and in the middle of the elders, a lamb standing as slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes], which be [the] seven spirits of God, sent into all the earth.

⁷ And he came, and took of the right hand of the sitter in the throne the book.

⁸ And when he had opened the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty elder men fell down before the lamb; and had each of them harps [And when he had opened the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the lamb; having each of them harps], and golden vials full of odours, which be the prayers of saints.

⁹ And they sung a new song, and said [saying], Lord our God, thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals of it; for thou were slain, and again-boughtest us to God in thy blood, of each lineage [of all lineage], and tongue, and people, and nation;

¹⁰ and madest us a kingdom, and priests to our God; and we shall reign on earth.^[a]

¹⁰ And the disciples came nigh, and said to him, Why speakest thou in parables to them?

¹¹ And he answered, and said to them, For to you it is given to know the privates of the kingdom of heavens; but it is not given to them.^[a]

¹² For it shall be given to him that hath, and he shall have plenty; but if a man hath not [truly who that hath not], also that thing that he hath shall be taken away from him.

¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables, for they seeing see not, and they hearing hear not, neither understand;

¹⁴ that the prophecy of Esaias' saying be fulfilled in them [that the prophecy of Easias be filled in them, that saith], With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand; and ye seeing shall see, and ye shall not see;

¹⁵ for the heart of this people is greatly fatted^[b], and they heard heavily with ears, and they have closed their eyes, lest sometime they see with eyes, and with ears hear, and understand in heart, and they be converted, and I heal them.

¹⁶ But your eyes that see be blessed, and your ears that hear.

¹⁷ Forsooth I say [truly] to you, that many prophets and just men coveted to see those things that ye see, and they saw not, and to hear those things that ye hear, and they heard not.