Book of Common Prayer

40 For victory, the psalm of David. I abiding abode the Lord; and he gave attention to me. And he heard my prayers; (To victory, the song of David. Patiently waiting, I waited for the Lord; and he gave attention to me. And he heard my prayers;)

² and he led out me from the pit of wretchedness, and from the filth of dregs. And he ordained my feet on a stone; and he (ad)dressed my goings. (and he led me out of the pit of wretchedness, and out of the filth of dregs. And he ordained my feet upon a stone; and he directed my goings.)

³ And he sent into my mouth a new song; a song to our God. Many men shall see, and dread; and shall hope in the Lord. (And he put a new song in my mouth; a song to our God. And many shall see this, and shall have fear/and shall be in awe; and then they shall put their trust in the Lord.)

⁴ Blessed is the man, of whom the name of the Lord is his hope; and he beheld not into vanities, and into false vengeances. (Happy is the person, for whom the Lord’s name is his hope; and he looketh not to idols, or to false gods.)

⁵ My Lord God, thou hast made thy marvels many; and in thy thoughts none is, that is like thee (toward us). I told and I spake; and they be multiplied above number. (My Lord God, thou hast done many marvellous deeds; and there is no one like thee, for all thy thoughts be for our benefit. I have told about them; yea, I have spoken about them, and they be multiplied far above number.)

⁶ Thou wouldest not sacrifice and offering; but thou madest perfectly ears to me. Thou askedest not burnt sacrifice, and other sacrifice for sin; (Thou desiredest not sacrifices and offerings; but thou hast given me ears to hear thee. Thou askedest not for burnt sacrifices, and other sacrifices for sin;)

⁷ then I said, Lo! I come. In the head of the book it is written of me, (and so I said, Lo! I am here. From the beginning, the Book of thy Law was written for me,)

⁸ that I should do thy will; my God, I would/I desired also to do (it); and thy law in the midst of mine heart. (so that I would do thy will; my God, I desire to do it; and thy Law is there in the midst of my heart.)

⁹ I told thy rightfulness in a great church; lo! I shall not refrain my lips, Lord, thou knewest. (I told of thy righteousness in the great congregation; lo! I shall not refrain my lips, Lord, thou knowest that.)

¹⁰ I hid not thy rightfulness in mine heart; I said thy truth and thine health. I hid not thy mercy, and thy truth, from a much council. (I kept not thy righteousness, or thy goodness, hidden in my heart; I spoke about thy faithfulness, and thy salvation, or thy deliverance. I hid not thy love, and thy faithfulness, from the great congregation.)

¹¹ But thou, Lord, make not far thy merciful doings from me; thy mercy and truth ever[more] take me up. (But thou, Lord, make not thy merciful doings to be far away from me; let thy love, and thy faithfulness, keep me safe forevermore.)

¹² For why evils, of which is no number, (en)compassed me; my wickednesses have taken me, and I might not, that I should (even) see. Those be multiplied above the hairs of mine head; and mine heart forsook me. (For evils, of which there is no number, surrounded me; my wickednesses have taken hold of me, and I can no longer see. Yea, they be multiplied far above the hairs of my head; and my heart hath deserted me.)

¹³ Lord, please it to thee, that thou deliver me; Lord, behold thou to help me. (Lord, may it please thee to save me; Lord, look thou to help me.)^[a]

¹⁴ Be they shamed, and ashamed together; that seek my life, to take away it. Be they turned aback, and be they shamed/and be they ashamed; that will evils to me. (Be they shamed, and ashamed; all who seek to take my life. Be they turned back, and be shamed/and be ashamed; all who desire evil for me.)

¹⁵ Bear they their confusion anon; that say to me, Well! well! in scorn. (Bear they their own shame at once/Be they ashamed at once; who scornfully say to me, Well! well!)

¹⁶ All men that seek thee, be fully joyful, and be glad in thee; and say they, that love thine health, The Lord be magnified ever[more]. (But let all those who seek thee, be very joyful, and be glad in thee; and let those who love thy salvation, or thy deliverance, say forevermore, The Lord be magnified.)

¹⁷ Forsooth I am a beggar and poor; the Lord is busy of me (But I am a poor and needy man, yea, a beggar; Lord, help thou me). Thou art mine helper and my defender; my God, tarry thou not.

54 To victory in organs, either in psalms, the learning of David, when Ziphims came, and said to Saul, Whether David is not hid at us? God, in thy name, make thou me safe; and in thy virtue, deem thou me. (To victory, on instruments, or in songs, the teaching of David, when the Ziphims came, and said to Saul, David is hid with us! God, by the power of thy name, save thou me; and in thy strength, judge thou me.)

² God, hear thou my prayer; with ears perceive thou the words of my mouth. (God, hear thou my prayer; listen thou to the words of my mouth.)

³ For aliens have risen against me, and strong men sought my life; and they setted not God before their sight. (For foreigners, or strangers, have risen against me, and strong men sought to take my life; and they never have a thought about God.)

⁴ For, lo! God helpeth me; and the Lord is the up-taker of my soul (and the Lord is my defender).

⁵ Turn thou away evils to mine enemies; and lose thou them in thy truth. (O Lord, turn thou back their own evil upon my enemies; and destroy thou them by thy truth.)

⁶ Willfully I shall sacrifice to thee; and, Lord, I shall acknowledge to thy name, for it is good. (I shall willingly sacrifice to thee, Lord; and I shall praise thy name, for it is good.)

⁷ For thou deliveredest me from all tribulation; and mine eye despised on mine enemies. (For thou hast rescued me from every trouble; and I have seen come to pass what I desire for my enemies/and my eyes have seen the defeat of my enemies.)

51 To victory, the psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him, when he entered to Bathsheba. God, have thou mercy on me; by thy great mercy. And by the muchliness of thy merciful doings; do thou away my wickedness. (To victory, the song of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had slept with Bathsheba. God, have thou mercy on me; because of thy great love. And in the multitude of thy merciful doings; do thou away my wickedness.)

² Moreover wash thou me from my wickedness; and cleanse thou me from my sin.

³ For I acknowledge my wickedness; and my sin is ever[more] against me. (For I confess my sinfulness; yea, my sin is before me forevermore.)

⁴ I have sinned to thee alone, and I have done evil before thee; that thou be justified in thy words, and overcome when thou art deemed. (I have sinned against thee alone, and I have done evil before thee; so that thou art justified with thy words, and proved right when thou judgest me.)

⁵ For lo! I was conceived in wickednesses; and my mother conceived me in sins. (For lo! I was conceived in sinfulness; yea, my mother conceived me in sin.)

⁶ For lo! thou lovedest truth; thou hast showed to me the uncertain things, and privy things of thy wisdom. (For lo! thou lovedest the truth; and thou hast shown me the uncertain things, and the secret things, of thy wisdom.)

⁷ Lord, sprinkle thou me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; wash thou me, and I shall be made white more than snow (wash thou me, and I shall be made more white than snow).

⁸ Give thou joy, and gladness to mine hearing; and bones made meek shall full out make joy. (Let me hear the sounds of joy, and of gladness; and then the bones, which thou hast broken and bruised, shall make great joy, or rejoice.)

⁹ Turn away thy face from my sins; and do away all my wickednesses.

¹⁰ God, make thou a clean heart in me; and make thou new a rightful spirit in my entrails. (God, make my heart clean in me; and put thou a new and right spirit deep within me.)

¹¹ Cast thou me not away from thy face; and take thou not away from me thine holy spirit. (Do not throw thou me away from before thee; and take thou not away thy holy spirit from me/and take thou not away thy Holy Spirit from me.)

¹² Give thou to me the gladness of thine health; and confirm thou me with the principal spirit. (Give thou to me the gladness of thy salvation, or of thy deliverance; and give thou to me a spirit willing to obey thee.)

¹³ I shall teach wicked men thy ways; and unfaithful men shall be converted to thee. (I shall teach the wicked thy ways; and the unfaithful shall return to thee.)

¹⁴ God, the God of mine health, deliver thou me from bloods, or sins; and my tongue shall joyfully sing (of) thy rightfulness. (God, the God of my salvation/the God of my deliverance, save thou me from bloodshed, or from death; and my tongue shall joyfully sing of thy righteousness, or of thy justice.)

¹⁵ Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall tell (out) thy praising.

¹⁶ For if thou haddest would sacrifice, I had given it; truly thou shalt not delight in burnt sacrifice. (For if thou haddest desired a sacrifice, that is, an offering, I would have given it to thee; but truly thou delightest not in burnt sacrifice.)

¹⁷ A sacrifice to God is a spirit troubled, that is, (one made) sorry for sin; God, thou shalt not despise a contrite heart, and made meek. (A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit, that is, one made sorry because of sinning; God, thou shalt not despise a contrite and humble heart.)

¹⁸ Lord, do thou benignly in thy good will to Zion; (so) that the walls of Jerusalem (may) be builded.

¹⁹ Then thou shalt take pleasantly the sacrifice of rightfulness, (with) offerings, and burnt sacrifices; then they shall put calves on thine altar. (Then thou shalt be pleased with a righteous sacrifice, yea, with offerings, and burnt sacrifices; and then they shall put calves upon thy altar.)

⁸ And the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, and said,

⁹ The Lord of hosts saith these things, and speaketh, Deem ye true doom, and do ye mercy, and doings of mercy, each man with his brother. (The Lord of hosts speaketh these things, and saith, Judge ye with true justice, and do ye mercy, and doings of mercy, each man with his brother/each person with his neighbour.)

¹⁰ And do not ye falsely challenge a widow, and fatherless, either motherless, and comeling, and poor man; and a man think not in his heart evil to his brother. (And do not ye oppress a widow, or the fatherless, or the motherless, child, or a newcomer, that is, a stranger, or a poor person; and do not let anyone think evil in his heart against his brother, or against his neighbour.)

¹¹ And they would not take heed, and they turned away the shoulder, and went away, and made heavy their ears (and closed their ears), lest they heard.

¹² And they set their heart as an adamant (stone), lest they heard the law, and words which the Lord of hosts sent in his [holy] Spirit, by the hand of the former prophets; and great indignation was made of the Lord of hosts. (And they hardened their hearts like a stone, lest they heard the Law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent by his Holy Spirit, by the earlier prophets, or by the prophets of old; and so the Lord of hosts had great indignation.)

¹³ And it is done, as he spake; and as they heard not, so they shall cry, and I shall not hear [them], saith the Lord of hosts. (And it is done, as he had said it would be; and because they did not listen to me, so now they shall cry, and I shall not hear them/and I shall not listen to them, saith the Lord of hosts.)

¹⁴ And I scattered them by all realms, which they knew not, and the land is desolate from them; for that there was not a man going and turning again, and they have put [the] desirable land into desert. (And I scattered them into all the kingdoms, which they did not know about, and the land was made empty of them; and because there was no one going forth, and returning, they have made, or turned, this most desirable land into a desert, or deserted and desolate.)

8 And the word of the Lord of hosts was made to me, and said,

² The Lord of hosts saith these things, I hated Zion with great fervor, and with great indignation I hated it. (The Lord of hosts saith these things, I hated the enemies of Zion with great fervor, and I hated them with great indignation.)

³ The Lord of hosts saith these things, I am turned again to Zion, and I shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and [the] hill of the Lord of hosts shall be called an hill hallowed. (The Lord of hosts saith these things, I have returned to Zion, and I shall live in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, and the hill, or the mount, of the Lord of hosts shall be called The Holy Hill, or the Sacred Mountain.)

⁴ The Lord of hosts saith these things, Yet eld men and eld women shall dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and the staff of a man shall be in his hand, for the multitude of years. (The Lord of hosts saith these things, Once again old men and old women shall sit in the streets of Jerusalem, and the staff of a man shall be in his hand, for the multitude of his years.)

⁵ And the streets of the city shall be filled with young children and damsels, playing in the streets thereof. (And the streets of the city shall be filled with young boys and young girls, playing in its streets.)

⁶ The Lord of hosts saith these things, Though it shall be seen (as) hard (to do) before the eyes of the remnants of this people in those days, whether before mine eyes it shall be hard, saith the Lord of hosts? (The Lord of hosts saith these things, Though it shall be seen as impossible by those who be the remnants of this people in those days, shall I see it as impossible to do, saith the Lord of hosts?)

⁷ The Lord of hosts saith these things, Lo! I shall save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the going down of the sun;

⁸ and I shall bring them (back), and they shall dwell in the middle of Jerusalem; and they shall be to me into a people, and I shall be to them into God, and in truth, and in rightwiseness. (and I shall bring them back, and they shall live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I shall be their God, in truth, and in righteousness.)

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]

¹¹ And I saw, and heard the voice of many angels all about the throne, and of the beasts, and of the elder men.^[b] And the number of them was thousands of thousands,

¹² saying with a great voice, The lamb that was slain, is worthy to take virtue, and Godhead [and divinity, or Godhead], and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

¹³ And each creature that is in heaven, and that is on [the] earth, and under earth, and the sea, and which things be in it, I heard all saying, To him that sat in the throne, and to the lamb, blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, into worlds of worlds.

¹⁴ And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elder men [And the four and twenty elders] fell down on their faces, and worshipped him that liveth into worlds of worlds.

¹⁴ For as a man that goeth in pilgrimage [Soothly as a man going far in pilgrimage], called his servants, and betook to them his goods;

¹⁵ and to one he gave five talents, to another twain [and to one he gave five talents, or bezants, forsooth to another two], and to another one, to each after his own virtue; and he went forth at once [and he went forth anon].

¹⁶ And he that had five bezants [Forsooth and he that had taken five talents], went forth, and wrought in them, and won other five.

¹⁷ Also and he that had taken twain, won other twain. [Also and he that had taken two, won other two.]

¹⁸ But he that had taken one, went forth, and delved in the earth, and hid the money of his lord.

¹⁹ But after long time, the lord of those servants came, and reckoned with them.

²⁰ And he that had taken five bezants, came, and brought other five, and said, Lord, thou betookest to me five bezants, lo! I have gotten above five others.^[a]

²¹ His lord said to him, Well be thou, good servant and faithful; for on few things thou hast been true^[b], I shall ordain thee on many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

²² And he that had taken two talents, came, and said, Lord, thou betookest to me two bezants; lo! I have won over other twain.^[c]

²³ His lord said to him, Well be thou, good servant and true; for on few things thou hast been true^[d], I shall ordain thee on many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

²⁴ But he that had taken one bezant [Forsooth and he that had taken one talent], came, and said, Lord, I know that thou art an hard man; thou reapest where thou hast not sown, and thou gatherest together where thou hast not spreaded abroad;

²⁵ and I dreading went, and hid thy bezant in the earth [and I dreading went, and hid thy talent in the earth]; lo! thou hast that that is thine.

²⁶ His lord answered, and said to him, Evil servant and slow, knewest thou that I reap where I sowed not, and gather together where I spreaded not abroad?

²⁷ Therefore it behooved thee to betake my money to (ex)changers [Therefore it behooved thee to have sent my money to changers], that when I came, I should have received that that is mine with usuries.

²⁸ Therefore take away from him the bezant, and give [ye it] to him that hath ten bezants. [And so take ye away from him the talent, and give ye it to him that hath ten talents.]

²⁹ For to every man that hath me shall give, and he shall increase^[e]; but from him that hath not, also that that he seemeth to have, shall be taken away from him.

³⁰ And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into outer-more darknesses; there shall be weeping, and grinding of teeth. [And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into utter-more darknesses; there shall be weeping, and beating together of teeth.]