Book of Common Prayer
55 To victory in organs, the learning of David. God, hear thou my prayer, and despise thou not my beseeching; (To victory, on instruments, the teaching of David. God, hear thou my prayer, and despise thou not my plea;)
2 give thou attention to me, and hear thou me. I am sorrowful in mine exercising (I am grieved by my distress);
3 and I am disturbed of the face of the enemy, and of the tribulation of the sinner. For they bowed wickednesses into me; and in ire they were dis-easeful to me. (and I am made afraid by my enemies, and by the trouble which the sinners have brought upon me. For they bowed down wickednesses upon me; and with great anger they were very hateful to me.)
4 Mine heart was troubled in me; and the dread of death felled on me. (My heart was troubled within me; and the fear of death fell upon me.)
5 Dread and trembling came on me (Fear and trembling came upon me); and darknesses covered me.
6 And I said, Who shall give to me feathers, as of a culver; and I shall fly, and shall take rest? (And I said, Who shall give me wings like a dove? and then I can fly away, and get some rest.)
7 Lo! I went far away, and fled; and I dwelled in wilderness. (Lo! I would flee far away; and I would live in the wilderness.)
8 I abode him, that made me safe from the littleness, either dread, of spirit; and from tempest. (I would hasten, and make myself safe from the wind, and from the tempest.)
9 Lord, cast thou down, [and] part thou the tongues of them; for I saw wickedness and against-saying in the city.
10 By day and night wickedness shall (en)compass it on the walls thereof; and travail and unrightfulness be in the midst of them. (Day and night they surround the city, all along its walls; and trouble and unrighteousness be in its midst.)
11 And usury and guile failed not; from the streets thereof. (And greed, and deceit, always be found in its streets.)
12 For if mine enemy had cursed me; soothly I had suffered. And if he, that hated me, had spoken great things on me; in hap I had hid me from him. (For if my enemy had cursed me; truly I would have suffered it. And if he, who hated me, had spoken great things against me; I would have hid myself from him.)
13 But thou art a man of one will (with me); my leader, and my known. (But thou art a man of one mind with me; my leader, and my dear friend.)
14 Which tookest together sweet meats with me; we went with consent in(to) the house of God. (Who shared his good counsel with me; and we went together to the House of God.)
15 Death come on them; and go they down quick into hell (May death come upon them; and may they go down alive into Sheol, or the land of the dead). For waywardnesses be in the dwelling places of them; (and) in the midst of them.
16 But I cried to thee, Lord; and the Lord saved me. (But I shall cry to thee, Lord; and the Lord will save me.)
17 In the eventide, and [the] morrowtide, and in midday (and at midday), I shall tell, and show (him); and he shall hear my voice.
18 He shall again-buy my soul in peace from them, that nigh to me; for among many they were with me. (And he shall deliver my soul unto peace again, from those who come against me; for there were many against me.)
19 God shall hear; and he that is before the worlds shall make them low. For changing is not to them, and they dreaded not God; (God shall hear; and he who was before the worlds, shall humble them. For changing is not to them, and they do not fear God;)
20 he holdeth forth his hand in yielding. They defouled his testament, (indeed, they put forth their hands, against those who be at peace with them. They have broken their promise, or their covenant,)
21 the cheers thereof were parted from ire; and his heart nighed. The words thereof were softer than oil; and they be darts. (their words were smoother than butter; but battle was in their hearts. Their words were softer than oil; but they were as sharp as darts.)
22 Cast thy care, or thought, [(or) busyness,] on the Lord, and he shall fully nourish thee; and he shall not give [into] without end fluttering to a just man. (Cast thy burdens upon the Lord, and he shall nourish and protect thee; yea, he shall not allow the righteous to be moved, or shaken.)
23 But thou, God, shalt lead them forth; into the pit of death. Men-quellers and beguilers shall not have half their days; but, Lord, I shall hope in thee. (But murderers and deceivers shall not have half their days; for thou, God, shalt lead them forth, into the pit of death. But, O Lord, I shall put my trust in thee.)
138 [The psalm of David.] Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee in all mine heart; for thou heardest the words of my mouth. My God, I shall sing to thee in the sight of angels; (The song of David. Lord, I shall praise thee with all my heart. My God, I shall sing praises to thee before the angels, or before the gods.)
2 I shall worship to(ward) thine holy temple, and I shall acknowledge to thy name. On thy mercy and thy truth; for thou hast magnified thine holy name above all thing. (I shall worship towards thy holy Temple, and I shall praise thy name; because of thy love, and thy faithfulness; for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all things.)
3 In whatever day I shall inwardly call thee, hear thou me; thou shalt multiply virtue in my soul. (On whatever day I called to thee, thou answeredest me; and thou hast multiplied the strength in my soul/and thou hast made me strong.)
4 Lord, all the kings of earth acknowledge to thee; for they heard all the words of thy mouth. (Lord, all the kings of the earth shall praise thee; for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.)
5 And sing they in the ways of the Lord (And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord); for the glory of the Lord is great.
6 For the Lord is high, and beholdeth meek things; and knoweth afar high things. (For though the Lord is high above, he looketh upon the meek/he careth for the humble; and he knoweth the proud from afar.)
7 If I shall go in the midst of tribulation, thou shalt quicken me; and thou stretchedest forth thine hand on the ire of mine enemies, and thy right hand made me safe. (Yea, though I go in the midst of trouble, or of tribulation, thou keepest me safe/thou keepest me alive; and thou stretchest forth thy hand against the rage of my enemies, and thy right hand savest me.)
8 The Lord shall yield for me, Lord, thy mercy is [into] without end; despise thou not the works of thine hands. (The Lord shall bring to pass his promises to me. O Lord, thy love is forever; so complete thy work.)
139 To victory, the psalm of David. Lord, thou hast proved me, and hast known me; (To victory, the song of David. Lord, thou hast assayed, or tested, me, and thou knowest me;)
2 thou hast known my sitting, and my rising again. Thou hast understood my thoughts from [a]far; (thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up. Thou hast understood my thoughts from afar;)
3 thou hast inquired (of) my path and my cord. And thou hast before-seen all my ways; (thou hast examined my path, and my resting places. And thou hast foreseen all my ways.)
4 for no word is in my tongue. Lo! Lord, thou hast known all things, (Yea, there is no word on my tongue, lo! Lord; but that thou not knowest it first.)
5 the new things and eld; thou hast formed me, and hast set thine hand on me. (Thou art behind me, and before me; and thou hast set thy hand upon me.)
6 Thy knowing is made wonderful of me; it is comforted, and I shall not be able to it. (Thy abundant knowledge is so wonderful to me; yea, it is so very great, and I shall never be able to comprehend it all.)
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit; and whither shall I flee from thy face? (Where shall I go from thy spirit; and where shall I flee from thy presence?)
8 If I shall ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I shall go down into hell, thou art present. (If I shall go up into heaven, thou art there; if I shall go down into Sheol, or into the land of the dead, thou art there also.)
9 If I shall take my feathers full early; and shall dwell in the last parts of the sea. (If I shall take flight early in the morning; or if I shall live on the farthest edge, or the coast, of the sea.)
10 And soothly thither thine hand shall lead me forth; and thy right hand shall hold me. (Even there thy hand shall lead me forth; and thy right hand shall keep me safe.)
11 And I said, In hap darknesses shall defoul me; and the night is my lightening in my delights. (And I said, Perhaps the darkness shall cover me; or the light all around me shall become my night.)
12 For why darknesses shall not be made dark from thee, and the night shall be lightened as the day; as the darknesses thereof, so and the light thereof. (But the darkness shall not be dark for thee, and the night shall be like the daylight; yea, to you, the darkness is no different than the light.)
13 For thou haddest in possession my reins; thou tookest me up from the womb of my mother. (For thou haddest my reins in thy possession/For thou formedest my inner parts; yea, thou madest me in my mother’s womb.)
14 I shall acknowledge to thee, for thou art magnified dreadfully; thy works be wonderful, and my soul shall know (that) full much. (I shall praise thee, for thou art greatly to be feared/for thou hath filled me with awe; thy works be wonderful, and I truly know that.)
15 My bone, which thou madest in private, is not hid from thee; and my substance (formed) in the lower parts of earth. (My bones, which thou madest in secret, be not a mystery to thee; yea, when my substance was formed in the lower parts of the earth.)
16 Thine eyes saw mine unperfect thing, and all men shall be written in thy book; days shall be formed, and no man is in those. (Thine eyes saw my imperfect substance, and all was written in thy Book; but when those days were formed, no man was there.)
17 Forsooth, God, thy friends be made honourable full much to me; the princehood of them is comforted full much. (But, God, how deep be thy thoughts to me; and how many of them there be!)
18 I shall number them, and they shall be multiplied above the gravel; I rose up, and yet I am with thee. (If I tried to count them all up, their number would be more than all the grains of sand. And then I awake; and still I am with thee.)
19 For thou, God, shalt slay sinners; ye men-quellers, bow away from me. (O God, I wish that thou wouldest kill the sinners; ye murderers, go far away from me!)
20 For they say in thought; Take they their cities in vanity. (For out loud they say against thee, We shall take thy name in vain.)
21 Lord, whether I hated not them that hated thee; and I failed, that is, mourned greatly, on (those who be) thine enemies? (Lord, how I hate those who hate thee; and I am greatly grieved by those who be thy enemies!)
22 By perfect hatred I hated them; they were made enemies to me. (Yea, with perfect hatred I hate them; they be made my enemies too.)
23 God, prove thou me, and know thou mine heart; ask thou me, and know thou my paths. (God, assay, or test, thou me, and know thou my heart; ask thou me, and know thou my thoughts.)
4 And it was done, when Sanballat had heard, that we builded the wall, he was full wroth, and he was stirred greatly, and he scorned the Jews. (And it was done, when Sanballat heard, that we were rebuilding the wall, he was very angry, and was greatly stirred up, and he scorned the Jews.)
2 And he said before his brethren, and the multitude of Samaritans, What do the feeble Jews? Whether heathen men shall suffer them? Whether they shall [ful]fill, and make sacrifice in one day? Whether they may build stones of the heaps of the dust, which be burnt? (And he said before his kinsmen, and the multitude of the Samaritans, What do these feeble Jews think they be doing? Do they think they can rebuild the whole city? Do they believe they can just make a sacrifice, and then finish it all in one day? Can they make stones out of heaps of rubble, which be all burned up?)
3 And also Tobiah (the) Ammonite, his neighbour, said, Build they; if a fox go up, he shall over-leap their stone wall. (And Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, Let them build; for if a fox shall go up there, he shall just leap over their stone wall.)
4 And Nehemiah said (in prayer), Our God, hear thou, for we be made despising (for we be despised); turn thou the shame upon their own head(s), and give thou them into despising in the land of captivity;
5 cover thou not the wickedness of them, and their sins be not done away before thy face; for they scorned the builders.
6 Therefore we builded the wall, and joined together all till to the half part, and the heart of the people was excited to work. (And so we rebuilt the wall, and joined it all together, up to half of its height, and the heart of the people was excited to do this work.)
7 And it was done when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Arabians, and Ammonites, and men of Ashdod had heard, that the breaking of the wall of Jerusalem was stopped, and that the crazings had begun to be closed together, they were full wroth. (And when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabs, and the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod had heard, that the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem was progressing, and that the gaps had begun to be closed, they were very angry.)
8 And they all were gathered together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cast treasons against it.
9 And we prayed the Lord our God, and we setted keepers on the wall day and night against them. (And we prayed to the Lord our God, and we put guards on the wall day and night, to protect against them.)
10 And Judah said, The strength of the bearer is made feeble, and the earth is full much, and we be not able to build the wall. (But the men of Judah said, The strength of the workers hath become feeble, and there is just too much rubble, and so we cannot rebuild the wall.)
11 And our enemies said, Know they not, and know they not, till we come into the middle of them, and slay them, and make the work to cease. (And our enemies said, Let them know nothing, until we suddenly come into their midst, and kill them all, and stop the work.)
12 Forsooth it was done, when [the] Jews came, that dwelled beside them, and said to us by ten times, from all places from which they came to us, (And it was done, that the Jews who lived beside them came, and told us ten times, that our enemies would soon be upon us, from all the places from which they had come to us,)
13 I ordained the people in order, with their swords, and spears, and bows, in a place behind the wall by compass. (and so I ordained the people in order, with their swords, and spears, and bows, in places all around behind the wall.)
14 I beheld, and rose, and said to the principal men, and magistrates, and to the other part of the common people, Do not ye dread of their face; but have ye mind of the great Lord, and fearedful, and fight ye for your brothers, and your sons, and your daughters, for your wives, and house(hold)s. (And I looked about, and rose up, and said to the leaders, and the magistrates, and to all the people, Do not ye fear them; but instead, think upon, or remember, the great and fearful Lord, and fight ye for your brothers, and your sons, and your daughters, and your wives, and your families, or your kinsmen.)
15 And it was done, when our enemies had heard that it was told to us, God destroyed their counsel; and then all we turned again to the walls, each man to his work. (And it was done, that our enemies heard that everything had been told to us, and so God destroyed their plans; and then we all returned to rebuilding the wall, each man to his own work.)
16 And it was done from that day, the half part of the young men made the work, and the half part was ready to battle; and (held) spears, and shields, and bows, and habergeons, and (the) princes after them, in all the house of men of Judah, (And so it was done from that day on, that half the young men did the work, and the other half were ready for battle, and held spears, and shields, and bows, and breastplates; and the leaders supported all the men of the house of Judah,)
17 building in the wall, and bearing burdens, and putting on; with their one hand they made the work, and with the other they held their sword. (who were rebuilding the wall. And for those carrying the loads, with their one hand they did the work, and with the other hand they held their sword.)
18 For each of the builders was girded with a sword upon his reins; and they builded the wall, and they sounded with clarions beside me. (And each of the builders was girded with a sword around his waist, as they rebuilt the wall. And the man who sounded with the trumpet was beside me.)
19 And I said to the principal men, and (to the) magistrates, and to the other part of the common people, The work is great and broad, and we be separated far in the wall, one from another; (And I said to the leaders, and the magistrates, and the rest of the people, The work is great and broad, or spread out, and we all be separated on the wall, one far from another);
20 therefore in whatever place that ye hear [the] sound of the trump (and so whenever ye hear the sound of the trumpet), run ye together thither to us; for our God shall fight for us.
21 And we ourselves shall make the work, and the half of us hold we spears, from the going up of the morrowtide till that [the] stars go out. (And so we did the work, and half of us held spears, from the rising of the morning sun until the stars came out.)
22 And in that time I said to the people, Each man with his servant dwell he in the midst of Jerusalem, and whiles be to us by night, and (the) day to work. (And at that time I said to the people, Each man stay he with his servant in the middle of Jerusalem, and be on guard for us by night, and do the work by day.)
23 But I, and my brethren, and my keepers, and [my] servants, that were (going) after me, did not (put) off our clothes; each man was made naked only to washing. (And I, and my kinsmen, and my servants, and the men who were protecting me, never took off our clothes; each man was made naked only for washing/each of us kept our right hand on our sword at all times.)
4 And I heard the number of men that were marked, an hundred thousand and four and forty thousand marked [And I heard the number of them signed, or marked, an hundred and four and forty thousand signed], of every lineage of the sons of Israel;
5 of the lineage of Juda, twelve thousand marked [signed]; of the lineage of Reuben, twelve thousand marked [signed]; of the lineage of Gad, twelve thousand marked [signed];
6 of the lineage of Aser, twelve thousand marked [signed]; of the lineage of Nephthalim, twelve thousand marked [signed]; of the lineage of Manasses, twelve thousand marked [signed];
7 of the lineage of Simeon, twelve thousand marked [signed]; of the lineage of Levi, twelve thousand marked [signed]; of the lineage of Issachar, twelve thousand marked [signed];
8 of the lineage of Zabulon, twelve thousand marked [signed]; of the lineage of Joseph, twelve thousand marked [signed]; of the lineage of Benjamin, twelve thousand marked [signed].
9 After these things I saw a great people, whom no man might number, of all folks, and lineages, and peoples, and languages, standing before the throne, in the sight of the lamb; and they were clothed with white stoles, and palms were in the hands of them. [After these things I saw a great company, whom no man might number, of all folks and lineages, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, in the sight of the lamb, covered, or clothed, with white stoles, and palms in the hands of them.]
10 And they cried with a great voice, and said [saying], Health to our God, that sitteth on the throne, and to the lamb.
11 And all the angels stood all about the throne, and of the elder men, and the four beasts [And all angels stood in compass of the throne, and of the seniors, or elders, and four beasts]. And they fell down in the sight of the throne, on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 and said [saying], Amen! blessing, and clearness, and wisdom, and doing of thankings, and honour, and virtue, and strength to our God, into worlds of worlds. Amen.
13 And one of the elder men answered [And one of the seniors answered], and said to me, Who be these, that be clothed with white stoles? and from whence came they [and of whence came they]?
14 And I said to him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These be they, that came from great tribulation, and washed their stoles, and made them white in the blood of the lamb.
15 Therefore they be before the throne of God, and serve to him day and night [and serve him day and night], in his temple. And he that sitteth in the throne, dwelleth on [upon] them.
16 They shall no more hunger, neither thirst, neither [the] sun shall fall on them, nor any heat.
17 For the lamb, that is in the middle of the throne, shall govern them, and shall lead forth them [and shall lead them forth] to the wells of [the] waters of life; and God shall wipe away each tear from the eyes of them.
31 Another parable Jesus put forth to them, and said [saying], The kingdom of heavens is like to a corn of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field.
32 Which [truly] is the least of all seeds, but when it hath waxen, it is the most of all worts, and is made a tree; so that birds of the air come, and dwell in the boughs thereof[a].
33 Another parable Jesus spake to them [He spake another parable to them], The kingdom of heavens is like to sourdough, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it were all soured.
34 Jesus spake all these things in parables to the people [Jesus spake all these things in parables to the companies], and he spake not to them without parables,
35 that it should be fulfilled, that is said by the prophet, saying, I shall open my mouth in parables; I shall tell out hid things from the making of the world.[b]
2001 by Terence P. Noble