Book of Common Prayer
37 To David. [The psalm of David.] Do not thou follow wicked men; neither love thou men doing wickedness. (The song of David. Do not thou follow the wicked; nor love thou those who do wickedly.)
2 For they shall wax dry swiftly as hay; and they shall fall down soon as the worts of herbs. (For they shall quickly grow dry like the hay, or the grass; and soon they shall fall down like the best herbs, or the plants.)
3 Hope thou in the Lord, and do thou goodness (Trust thou in the Lord, and do good); and inhabit thou the land, and thou shalt be fed with his riches.
4 Delight thou in the Lord; and he shall give to thee the askings of thine heart.
5 Show thy way to the Lord; and hope in him, and he shall do. (Give all thy ways to the Lord, and trust in him; and he shall make it happen.)
6 And he shall lead out thy rightfulness as light, and thy doom as midday; (And he shall lead forth thy righteousness like the light, and thy judgement like the midday sun;)
7 be thou subject to the Lord, and pray thou him. Do not thou follow him, that hath prosperity in his way; (nor) a man doing unrightfulness. (be thou subject to the Lord, and wait thou for him. Do not thou follow a man, simply because he hath prospered along his way; nor a man doing unrighteousness, or wickedness.)
8 Cease thou of ire, and forsake strong vengeance; do not thou follow, that thou do wickedly. (Cease thou from anger, and abandon taking vengeance; do not thou follow after these things, so that thou do wickedly.)
9 For they, that do wickedly, shall be destroyed; but they that suffer the Lord, shall inherit the land. (For they, who do wickedly, shall be destroyed; but they who hope in the Lord, shall inherit the earth.)
10 And yet a little, and a sinner shall not be (For after but just a little time, that sinner shall not be); and thou shalt seek his place, and thou shalt not find it.
11 But mild men shall inherit the land (And the humble, or the meek, shall inherit the earth); and shall delight in the multitude of peace.
12 A sinner shall ambush the rightful man; and he shall gnash with his teeth on him. (A sinner shall attack a righteous man; and he shall gnash on him with his teeth.)
13 But the Lord shall scorn the sinner; for he beholdeth that his day cometh.
14 Sinners have drawn out sword; they bent their bow. To deceive a poor man and needy; to strangle rightful men of heart. (The sinners have drawn out their swords; they have bent their bows. Yea, to destroy the poor and the needy; and to kill those with an upright heart.)
15 Their sword enter into the heart of themselves; and their bow be broken. (But their swords shall enter into their own hearts; and their bows shall be broken.)
16 Better is a little thing to a just man; than many riches of sinners. (Better is the little that the righteous have; than the many riches of the sinners.)
17 For the arms of sinners shall be all-broken; but the Lord confirmeth just men. (For the strength of the sinners shall be all-broken; but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.)
18 The Lord knoweth the days of [the] unwemmed; and their heritage shall be (into) without end. (The Lord knoweth all about those without blemish, or without fault; and their inheritance shall last forever.)
19 They shall not be shamed in the evil time, and they shall be [ful]filled in the days of hunger;
20 for sinners shall perish. Forsooth anon as the enemies of the Lord be honoured, and enhanced; they failing shall fail as smoke. (but the sinners shall perish. And after the Lord’s enemies be honoured, and exalted; they shall disappear, just like smoke.)
21 A sinner shall borrow, and shall not pay (back); but a just man hath mercy, and shall give (but the righteous have love, and shall give to others).
22 For they that bless the Lord shall inherit the land; but they that curse him shall perish. (For those who be blessed by the Lord, shall inherit the earth; but they who be cursed by him, shall perish.)
23 The going(s) of a man shall be (ad)dressed with the Lord; and he shall delight in his way. (The goings of a man be directed by the Lord; and he guardeth him on his way.)
24 When he falleth, he shall not be hurtled down/he shall not be hurled down; for the Lord undersetteth his hand.
25 I was younger, and soothly I waxed eld; and I saw not a just man forsaken, neither his seed seeking bread. (I was young, and then I grew old; and I never saw a righteous person abandoned, nor his children seeking bread.)
26 All day he hath mercy, and lendeth; and his seed shall be in blessing. (All day long he hath love, and lendeth to others; and his children, or his descendants, shall be blessed.)
27 Bow thou away from evil, and do good; and dwell thou into the world of world. (Turn thou away from evil, and do good; and thou shalt live forever.)
28 For the Lord loveth doom, and shall not forsake his saints; they shall be kept [into] without end. Unjust men shall be punished; and the seed of wicked men shall perish. (For the Lord loveth justice, and shall not forsake his saints; they shall be kept safe forever. The unjust, or the unrighteous, shall be punished; and the descendants of the wicked shall perish.)
29 But just men shall inherit the land; and shall inhabit thereon into the world of world. (But the righteous shall inherit the land; and shall inhabit it forever.)
30 The mouth of a just man shall bethink wisdom; and his tongue shall speak doom. (The righteous person speaketh wisdom; yea, his tongue shall speak of justice, or fairness.)
31 The law of his God is in his heart; and his steps shall not be deceived. (The Law of God is in his heart; and his steps shall not slip/and his feet shall not stumble.)
32 A sinner beholdeth a just man; and seeketh to slay him.
33 But the Lord shall not forsake him in his hands; neither he shall condemn him, when it shall be deemed against him.
34 Abide thou the Lord, and keep thou his way, and he shall enhance thee, that by heritage thou take the land; when sinners shall perish, thou shalt see. (Wait thou for the Lord, and keep thou to his way, and he shall raise thee up, or shall exalt thee, so that thou take the land by inheritance; and when the sinners shall perish, thou shalt see it.)
35 I saw the wicked man enhanced above; and raised up as the cedars of Lebanon. (Once I saw a wicked man exalted; yea, raised up as high as the cedars in Lebanon.)
36 And I passed (And then I passed by later), and lo! he was not (there); I sought him, and his place was not found.
37 Keep thou innocence, and see equity; for those be relics to a peaceable man. (Mark thou the innocent, and look upon the righteous; for they be the progeny of peaceful people.)
38 Forsooth unjust men shall perish; the remnants/the relics of wicked men shall perish (al)together. (But the unjust, or the unrighteous, shall perish; yea, the progeny of the wicked shall altogether perish.)
39 But the health of just men is of the Lord; and he is their defender in the time of tribulation. (But the salvation, or the deliverance, of the righteous is from the Lord; and he is their defender in their time of trouble.)
40 And the Lord shall help them, and shall make them free, and he shall deliver them from sinners; and he shall save them, for they hoped in him (and he shall save them, for they trusted in him).
9 I saw the Lord standing on the altar, and he said, Smite thou the hinge(s), and the over-thresholds, either lintels, be moved (al)together; for avarice is in the head of all, and I shall slay by sword the last of them; there shall no flight be to them, and he that shall flee of them, shall not be saved. (I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said, Strike thou the hinges, and the lintels be shaken; for greed is in all their hearts, and I shall kill all of them with the sword; there shall be no escape for them, and even he who shall flee, shall not be saved.)
2 If they shall go down till to hell, from thence mine hand shall lead out them; and if they shall ascend till to heaven, from thence I shall draw them down. (Yea, if they shall go down to Sheol, or the land of the dead, my hand shall bring them out of there; and if they shall go up to heaven, I shall pull them down from there.)
3 And if they shall be hid in the top of Carmel, from thence I seeking shall do them away (And if they shall be hidden on top of Mount Carmel, I shall seek them out there, and I shall do them away); and if they shall hide themselves from mine eyes in the deepness of the sea, there I shall command a serpent, and it shall bite them, (and devour them).
4 And if they shall go away into captivity before their enemies, there I shall command to sword, and it shall slay them. And I shall put mine eyes on them into evil, and not into good. (And if they be taken away into captivity by their enemies, I shall command to the sword there, and it shall kill them. I shall look upon them for evil, and not for good/I shall look at them to do evil, and not to do good.)
5 And the Lord God of hosts shall do these things, (he) that toucheth earth, and it shall fail, and all men dwelling therein shall mourn; and it shall go up as each strand, and it shall float away as the flood of Egypt. (And the Lord God of hosts shall do these things, yea, he who toucheth the earth, and it faileth, and all the people living there shall mourn; and it shall go up like a stream, and it shall flow away like the River of Egypt.)
6 He that buildeth his going up in heaven, shall do these things, and founded his burden on earth; which calleth waters of the sea, and poureth out them on the face of (the) earth; the Lord is (the) name of him. (He who buildeth his stairway in the heavens, and putteth his dome over the earth, shall do these things; who calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the Lord is his name.)
7 Whether not as the sons of Ethiopians ye be to me, the sons of Israel? saith the Lord God. Whether I made not Israel for to go up from the land of Egypt, and Palestines from Cappadocia, and Syrians from Kir? (Be ye not like the Ethiopians to me, ye Israelites? saith the Lord God. Did I not make Israel to go up from the land of Egypt, like the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians, or the Aramaeans, from Kir?)
8 Lo! the eyes of the Lord God be on the realm sinning (Lo! the eyes of the Lord God be upon the sinning realm, or upon this sinful kingdom), and I shall all-break it from (off) the face of [the] earth; nevertheless I all-breaking shall not all-break the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.
9 For lo! I shall command, and shall shake together the house of Israel in all folks, as wheat is shaken together in a riddle, and a little stone shall not fall on the earth. (For lo! I shall command, and shall altogether shake the house of Israel among all the nations, like corn, or grain, is altogether shaken in a sieve, and yet a little stone of it shall not fall upon the earth.)
10 All sinners of my people shall die by sword, which say, Evil shall not nigh, and shall not come on us. (All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, yea, they who say, Evil shall not come near us, and it shall not come upon us.)
8 And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write thou, These things saith the first and the last, that was dead, and liveth.
9 I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty, but thou art rich; and thou art blasphemed of them, that say, that they be Jews, and be not, but be the synagogue of Satan.
10 Dread thou nothing of these things, which thou shalt suffer. Lo! the devil shall send some of you into prison, that ye be tempted [that ye be proved]; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful to the death [Be thou faithful unto the death], and I shall give to thee a crown of life.
11 He that hath ears, hear he, what the Spirit saith to the churches. He that overcometh, shall not be hurt of the second death.
12 And to the angel of the church of Pergamos write thou, These things saith he, that hath the sword sharp on either side [that hath the sword sharp on each side].
13 I know where thou dwellest, where the seat of Satan is; and thou holdest my name, and deniedest not my faith. And in those days was Antipas, my faithful witness, that was slain at you, where Satan dwelleth.
14 But I have against thee a few things; for thou hast there men holding the teaching of Balaam, which taught Balac to send cause of stumbling [to send offence] before the sons of Israel, to eat of sacrifices of idols, and to do fornication;
15 so also thou hast men holding the teaching of Nicolaitanes.
16 Also do thou penance; if any thing less [if not], I shall come soon to thee, and I shall fight with them with the sword of my mouth.
17 He that hath ears, hear he, what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh I shall give angel meat hid [To the overcoming, I shall give manna hid, or angel meat]; and I shall give to him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, but he that taketh.
13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, that close the kingdom of heavens before men; and ye enter not, neither suffer other men entering to enter[a].
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, that eat the houses of widows, and pray by long prayer; for this thing ye shall take the more doom.
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, that go about the sea and the land, to make one proselyte [that compass the sea and the land, to make one proselyte, that is, converted to your order]; and when he is made, ye make him a son of hell, double more than ye be [double more than you].
16 Woe to you, blind leaders, that say, Whoever sweareth by the temple of God, it is nothing; but he that sweareth in the gold of the temple, is debtor.[b]
17 Ye fools and blind, for what is greater, the gold, or the temple that halloweth the gold?
18 And whoever sweareth in the altar [And whoever shall swear in the altar], it is nothing; but he that sweareth in the gift that is on the altar, oweth [is debtor].
19 Blind men, for what is more, the gift, or the altar that halloweth the gift?
20 Therefore he that sweareth in the altar, sweareth in it, and in all things that be thereon.
21 And he that sweareth in the temple, sweareth in it, and in him that dwelleth in the temple.
22 And he that sweareth in heaven, sweareth in the throne of God, and in him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, that tithe mint, anise, and cummin, and have left those things that be of more charge of the law, doom, and mercy, and faith. And it behooved to do these things [And these things it behooved, or needed, to do], and not to leave those.
24 Blind leaders, cleansing a gnat, but swallowing a camel.
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, that cleanse the cup and the platter withoutforth [that make clean that thing of the cup and of the platter, that is withoutforth]; but within ye be full of raven and uncleanness.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the cup and the platter withinforth, that that that is withoutforth be made clean.[c]
2001 by Terence P. Noble