Book of Common Prayer

137 On the floods of Babylon, there we sat, and wept; while we bethought on Zion. (By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, and wept; when we thought about Zion.)

² In sallows in the midst thereof; we hanged up our organs. (On the willows nearby; we hung up our harps.)

³ For they that led us prisoners; asked us there the words of songs. And they that led away us said; Sing ye to us an hymn of the songs of Zion. (For they who led us away as prisoners; told us to sing there. Yea, they who led us away said, Sing ye for us a hymn of the songs of Zion.)

⁴ How shall we sing a song of the Lord; in an alien land? (But how can we sing a song to the Lord, in a foreign, or a strange, land?)

⁵ If I forget thee, Jerusalem; my right hand be given to forgetting. (Yea, if I forget thee, Jerusalem; may my right hand forget how to play my harp/may my right hand wither away.)

⁶ My tongue cleave to my cheeks; if I bethink not on thee. If I purposed not of thee, Jerusalem; in the beginning of my gladness. (And may my tongue cleave to my cheeks; if I do not remember thee, Jerusalem. Yea, if I do not think of thee, as my greatest joy.)

⁷ Lord, have thou mind on the sons of Edom; for the day of Jerusalem. Which say, Extinguish ye, extinguish ye; till to the foundament therein. (Lord, remember what the Edomites did; on that day that Jerusalem fell. They said, Destroy ye it! destroy ye it! unto its foundations!)

⁸ Thou wretched daughter of Babylon; he is blessed, that yieldeth to thee thy yielding, which thou yieldest to us. (O wretched daughter of Babylon; happy is he, who doeth to thee, what thou hast done to us/happy be those, who repay thee, for all that thou hast done to us.)

⁹ He is blessed, that shall hold; and hurtle down his little children at the stone. (Happy is he/Happy be they, who shall take hold of thy little children; and hurtle them against a stone.)

144 A psalm of David. Blessed be my Lord God, that teacheth mine hands to war; and my fingers to battle. (A song of David. Blessed be the Lord my God, who traineth my hands for war; and my fingers for battle.)

² My mercy, and my refuge; my taker up, and my deliverer. My defender, and I hoped in him; and thou makest subject my people under me. (My mercy, and my refuge; my defender, and my deliverer. Yea, my defender, and in whom I trust; and thou makest the peoples to be subject under me.)

³ Lord, what is a man, for thou hast made (thyself) known to him; either the son of man, for thou areckonest him of some value? (Lord, what is man, that thou hast taken notice of him?/that thou carest for him? or the son of a man, that thou reckonest, or esteemest, him of some value?)

⁴ A man is made like vanity; his days pass as shadow. (A person is but like vanity, yea, but a puff of air; his days pass like a shadow.)

⁵ Lord, bow down thine heavens, and come thou down; touch thou [the] hills, and they shall make smoke.

⁶ Light thou shining, and thou shalt scatter them (Send thou forth thy lightning, and thou shalt scatter thy enemies); send thou out thine arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.

⁷ Send out thine hand from on high, ravish me out, and deliver thou me from many waters; and from the hand of alien sons. (Send out thy hand from on high, and take me out of here, that is, rescue me; save thou me from the deep waters, and from the power of foreigners, or of strangers.)

⁸ The mouth of whom spake vanity (Their mouths spoke lies); and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness.

⁹ God, I shall sing to thee a new song; I shall say psalm to thee in psaltery of ten strings (yea, I shall sing a song to thee to the strains of a ten-stringed lute).

¹⁰ Which givest health to kings, which again-boughtest David, thy servant; from the wicked sword ravish thou out me. (Who givest salvation, or deliverance, to kings, and redeemest thy servant David; rescue thou me from the wicked sword.)

¹¹ And deliver thou me from the hand of alien sons; the mouth of which spake vanity, and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness. (And save thou me from the power of foreigners, or of strangers; whose mouths spoke lies, and whose right hands be the right hands of wickedness, that is, they always break their oaths, or their pledges.)

¹² Whose sons be as new plantings in their youth. The daughters of them be arrayed; adorned about as the likeness of a temple. (May our sons be like plants fully grown in their youth; may our daughters be arrayed, or adorned, like a palace.)

¹³ The cellars of them be full; bringing out from this vessel into that/from one vessel into another. The sheep of them be with lambs, plenteous in their goings out; (May our cellars be full; and we be able to bring forth from this vessel into that one/and we be able to bring forth from one vessel into another. May our sheep be with lambs; yea, plentiful and innumerable.)

¹⁴ their kine be fat. There is no falling of their wall, neither passing over (of it); neither cry is in the streets of them. (May all our kine be fat; and be there no parting in the walls of their wombs, nor any passing over of them. And may there be no cries of distress in all our streets.)

¹⁵ They said, The people is blessed, that hath these things; blessed is the people, whose Lord is the God of it. (And so we say, Happy be the people, who have things like we do; happy be the people, whose God is the Lord.)

104 My soul, bless thou the Lord; my Lord God, thou art magnified greatly. Thou hast clothed acknowledging and fairness; (My soul, bless thou the Lord; my Lord God, thou art greatly magnified. Thou art clothed with majesty and glory;)

² and thou art clothed with light, as with a cloth. And thou stretchest forth heaven as a skin; (and thou art clothed with light, like with a cloak. And thou stretchest forth, or spreadest out, the heavens like a tent;)

³ and thou coverest with waters the higher parts thereof. Which settest a cloud thy ascending; which goest on the feathers of winds. (and thou layest the beams of thy chambers upon the waters. Thou who makest a cloud thy chariot; and who goest upon the wings of the wind.)

⁴ Which makest spirits thine angels; and thy ministers (a) burning fire. (Who makest the winds to be thy messengers; and flames of fire, or flashes of lightning, to be thy servants.)

⁵ Which hast founded the earth on his stableness; it shall not be bowed into the world of world. (Who hast set the earth on its foundations; yea, it shall never be moved, or shaken.)

⁶ The depth of waters as a cloth is the clothing thereof; waters shall stand on hills. (The depth of waters, like a cloak, is its clothing; and the waters rose above, or covered, the mountains.)

⁷ Those shall flee from thy blaming; men shall be afeared of the voice of thy thunder. (The waters fled from thy rebuke; they were afraid of the sound of thy thunder.)

⁸ Hills go up, and fields go down; into the place which thou hast founded to those. (They went up over the mountains, and down into the valleys; to the place which thou hast prepared for them.)

⁹ Thou hast set a term, which they shall not pass (over); neither those shall be turned (again), for to cover the earth (nor shall they ever return to cover the earth).

¹⁰ And thou sendest out wells into great valleys (And thou sendest forth springs in the great valleys); (and the) waters shall pass betwixt the midst of (the) hills.

¹¹ All the beasts of the field shall drink; wild asses shall abide in their thirst, that is, to be filled in their thirst. (All the beasts of the field shall drink from these waters; the wild donkeys shall quench their thirst there.)

¹² [The] Birds of the air shall dwell on those; from the midst of the stones they shall give voices. (The birds of the air shall live on trees nearby; from the midst of the leaves they shall give out their voices.)

¹³ And thou moistest [the] hills of their higher things; the earth shall be [ful]filled of the fruit of thy works. (And thou waterest the hills from thy high places; and the earth shall be filled full with the fruit of thy works.)

¹⁴ And thou bringest forth hay to beasts; and herb to the service of men. That thou bring forth bread (out) of the earth; (And thou bringest forth hay, or grass, for the beasts; and plants for service to people. So that thou bring forth food from the earth;)

¹⁵ and that wine make glad the heart of men. That he make glad the face with oil; and that bread make steadfast the heart of man. (and wine to make the hearts of people glad. And oil to make their faces shine; and bread to make their hearts strong.)

¹⁶ The trees of the field shall be [full-]filled (The trees of the field be filled full with sap), and the cedars of the Lebanon, which he planted;

¹⁷ sparrows shall make nest there. The house of the gyrfalcon is the leader of those; (the sparrows make their nests there; and the homes of the gyrfalcons be on the tops of them.)

¹⁸ high hills be refuge to harts; the stone is refuge to urchins. (The high hills, or the mountains, be a refuge for the harts; and the stones be a refuge for the conies, or the rock badgers.)

¹⁹ He made the moon into times; the sun knew his going down. (Thou hast made the moon for telling times, or months; and the sun, it knoweth its time to go down, and when to set.)

²⁰ Thou hast set darknesses, and night is made; all beasts of the wood shall go therein.

²¹ Lions’ whelps roaring for to ravish (prey); and to seek of God meat to themselves. (The lions’ whelps roar while they hunt the prey; seeking food for themselves from God.)

²² The sun is risen, and those be gathered together; and those shall be set (down) in their couches. (Then the sun riseth, and they be gathered together; and they return to their dens.)

²³ A man shall go out to his work; and to his working, till to the eventide. (A man goeth out to his work; and doeth his labour, until the evening.)

²⁴ Lord, thy works be magnified full much, thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with thy possession(s). (Lord, thou hast made a great many things, thou hast made all things by thy wisdom; the earth is filled with thy creatures.)

²⁵ This sea is great and large to hands; there be creeping beasts, of which is no number. Little beasts with [the] great; (The sea is great, and too large to hold in our hands; and in it be creeping things of which there is no number. Yea, little beasts with the great.)

²⁶ ships shall pass there. This dragon which thou hast formed, for to scorn him. (Ships pass there; and that dragon, or Leviathan, which thou hast formed, playeth there.)

²⁷ All things abide of thee; that thou give to them meat in time. (All things wait for thee; to give them their food at the proper time.)

²⁸ When thou shalt give to them, they shall gather; when thou shalt open thine hand, all things shall be filled with goodness. (What thou givest to them, they gather up; when thou openest up thy hand, they be filled with good things.)

²⁹ But when thou shalt turn away thy face, they shall be troubled; thou shalt take away the spirit of them, and they shall fail; and they shall turn again into their dust. (But when thou turnest away thy face, they be troubled; and when thou takest away their breath, they fail; and then they return to the dust from whence they came.)

³⁰ Send out thy spirit, and they shall be formed of the new/and they shall be reformed of new; and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. (Give thou them breath, and they shall be formed anew; yea, thou shalt renew the face of all the earth.)

³¹ The glory of the Lord be into the world; the Lord shall be glad in his works. (May the glory of the Lord be forever; may the Lord be satisfied with, or happy over, his works.)

³² Which beholdeth the earth, and maketh it to tremble; which toucheth hills, and those smoke. (Who looketh upon the earth, and maketh it to tremble; who toucheth the hills, and they smoke.)

³³ I shall sing to the Lord in my life; I shall say psalm to my God, as long as I am. (I shall sing to the Lord all my life; yea, I shall sing psalms, or songs of praise, to my God, as long as I am.)

³⁴ My speech be merry to him/My speech be mirth to him; forsooth I shall delight in the Lord. (May my words please him; for my delight is in the Lord.)

³⁵ Sinners fail from the earth, and wicked men fail, so that they be not; my soul, bless thou the Lord. (May the sinners perish from the earth, and the wicked fail, so that they be not; but my soul, bless thou the Lord.)

¹¹ Day shall come, that thy walls be builded; in that day law shall be made afar. (The day shall come, when thy walls shall be rebuilt; on that day, thy borders shall be enlarged.)

¹² In that day, and Assur shall come till to thee, and till to strong cities, and from strong cities till to [the] flood; and to sea from sea, and to hill from hill. (On that day, they shall come to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, yea, from the fortified cities unto the Euphrates River; and from every sea, and from every hill, or from every mountain.)

¹³ And [the] earth shall be into desolation for her dwellers, and for fruit of the thoughts of them. (And the earth shall be made into desolation, or into a wasteland, because of what her inhabitants did; yea, this shall be the fruit of their deeds.)

¹⁴ Feed thou thy people in thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, that dwell alone in [the] wild wood; in the middle of Carmel they shall be fed of Bashan and of Gilead, (as) by eld days, (Feed thou thy people with thy rod, yea, the flock of thy inheritance, who live alone in the wild wood, and in the midst of the fertile land; they shall be fed in Bashan and in Gilead, like in the old days.)

¹⁵ by days of thy going out of the land of Egypt. I shall show to him wonderful things; (Make thou for us miracles, or wonders, like in the days of our going out of the land of Egypt;/I shall show thee miracles, or wonders, like in the days of thy going out of the land of Egypt;)

¹⁶ heathen men shall see, and they shall be confounded on all their strength; they shall put hands on their mouth, the ears of them shall be deaf; (the heathen shall see, and they shall be confounded in spite of all their strength; they shall put their hands upon their mouths, and their ears shall be deaf;)

¹⁷ they shall lick dust as a serpent; as creeping things of [the] earth they shall be disturbed, or troubled, (out) of their houses; they shall not desire our Lord God, and they shall dread thee. (they shall lick the dust like serpents, or snakes, yea, like creeping things upon the earth; they shall be distressed, and shall come out of their strongholds; and they shall come to thee, O Lord our God, and they shall fear thee.)

¹⁸ God, who is like thee, that doest away wickedness, and bearest over the sin of the remnants of thine heritage? He shall no more send in his strong vengeance, for he is willing mercy; (God, who is like thee, who doest away wickedness, and passest over the sins of the remnants of thy inheritance? He shall no more send in his strong vengeance, for he delighteth in mercy;)

¹⁹ he shall turn again, and have mercy on us. He shall put down our wickednesses, and shall cast far into deepness of the sea all our sins. (he shall return, and have mercy upon us. He shall put down our wickednesses, and shall throw down all our sins into the depths of the sea.)

²⁰ Thou shalt give truth to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, which thou sworest to our fathers from eld days. (Thou shalt give truth to Jacob, and mercy, or love, to Abraham, as thou sworest to our forefathers in the old days.)

⁷ For the end of all things shall approach [Forsooth the end of all things shall nigh]. Therefore be ye prudent, and wake ye in prayers;

⁸ before all things have ye charity each to other in yourselves always [all-gates] lasting; for charity covereth the multitude of sins.

⁹ Hold ye hospitality together without grudging [without grutching];

¹⁰ each man as he hath received grace, ministering it into each other [ministering each to other], as good dispensers of the manifold grace of God.

¹¹ If any man speaketh, speak he as the words of God; if any man ministereth, as of the virtue which God ministereth; that God be honoured in all things by Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is glory and lordship into worlds of worlds. Amen.

¹² Most dear brethren, do not ye go in pilgrimage in fervor, that is made to you to temptation [Most dear, do not ye go in pilgrimage in fervor, that is made to you into temptation], as if any new thing befall to you;

¹³ but commune ye with the passions of Christ, and have ye joy, that also ye be glad, and have joy in the revelation of his glory. [but ye communing to the passions of Christ, have joy, that and ye gladding withoutforth, have joy in the revelation of his glory.]

¹⁴ If ye be despised for the name of Christ, ye shall be blessed; for that that is of the honour, and of the glory, and of the virtue of God, and the Spirit that is his, shall rest on you [for that that is of the glory and virtue of God, and the Spirit that is his, resteth on you].

¹⁵ But no man of you suffer as a manslayer, either a thief, either curser, either a desirer of other men's goods; [Forsooth no man of you suffer as a manslayer, or a thief, or curser, or desirer of other men's things;]

¹⁶ but if he suffer as a christian man, shame he not, but glorify he God in this name.

¹⁷ For time is, that doom begin at God's house [For time is, that doom begin of God's house]; and if it begin first at us, what end shall be of them, that believe not to the gospel?

¹⁸ And if a just man scarcely shall be saved, where shall the unfaithful man and the sinner appear [where shall the unpious man and sinner appear]?

¹⁹ Therefore and they that suffer by the will of God [And so, and they that suffer after the will of God], betake their souls in good deeds to the faithful maker of nought.

²⁹ And when they went out of Jericho, much people followed him. [And they going out of Jericho, many companies followed him.]

³⁰ And lo! two blind men sat beside the way, and heard that Jesus passed; and they cried, and said, Lord, the son of David, have mercy on us. [And lo! two blind men sitting beside the way, heard that Jesus passed; and they cried, saying, Lord, the son of David, have mercy on us.]

³¹ And the people blamed them, that they should be still; and they cried the more, and said, Lord, the son of David, have mercy on us. [Forsooth the company blamed them, that they should be still; and they cried more, saying, Lord, the son of David, have mercy on us.]

³² And Jesus stood, and called them, and said, What will ye, that I do to you?

³³ They say to him, Lord, that our eyes be opened.

³⁴ And Jesus had mercy on them, and touched their eyes; and at once [and anon] they saw, and followed him.