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).

3 The prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, for unknowing men. (The prayer of the prophet Habakkuk, for those without knowledge.)

² Lord, I heard thy praising, and I dreaded; Lord, it is thy work, in the middle of years, quicken thou it. In the middle of years, thou shalt make (thyself) known; when thou shalt be wroth, thou shalt have mind of mercy. (Lord, I have heard of thy deeds, and I am filled with reverence for thee; Lord, it is thy work, in the midst of the years, quicken thou it/do thou it again. In the midst of the years, thou shalt make thyself known; even when thou shalt be angry, thou shalt remember to be merciful.)

³ God shall come from the south, and the holy from the mount of Paran. The glory of him covered heavens, and the earth is full of his praising. (God shall come from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory shall cover the heavens, and the earth shall be full of his praising.)

⁴ The shining of him shall be as light; (with) horns in the hands of him. There the strength of him was hid, (His shining shall be like the light; with rays coming from his hands. That is where his strength, or his power, is hidden,)

⁵ death shall go before his face; the devil shall go out before his feet. (death shall go out before him; and the devil shall follow his feet/and the devil shall follow him.)

⁶ He stood, and meted the earth; he beheld, and unbound folks, and hills of the world were all-broken; the little hills of the world were bowed down, of the ways of his everlastingness. (He shall stand, and shall measure the earth; he shall look, and the nations shall tremble, or shall shake; the mountains of the world shall be altogether broken, and the little hills of the world shall be bowed down, unto his everlasting ways.)

⁷ For wickedness I saw the tents of Ethiopia, the skins of the land of Midian shall be troubled. (I saw that the tents of Cushan were under wickedness, and that the tent curtains of the lands of Midian were troubled, or trembled.)

⁸ Lord, whether in floods thou art wroth, either in floods is thy strong vengeance, either in the sea is thine indignation? Which shalt ascend on thine horses; and on thy four-horsed carts is salvation. (Lord, art thou angry with the rivers, or is thy indignation against the sea? Thou shalt go upon thy horses; and salvation, or deliverance, is in thy four-horsed carts/and victory is in thy chariots.)

⁹ Thou raising shalt raise thy bow, (according to the) oaths to lineages which thou hast spoken; thou shalt part the floods of earth. (Thou shalt raise thy bow, in accordance with the oaths to the tribes which thou hast spoken; thou shalt divide the earth with thy rivers.)

¹⁰ Waters saw thee, and hills sorrowed, the gutter of waters passed; deepness gave his voice, highness raised his hands. (The mountains saw thee, and they trembled; the waters from the gutters of the heavens passed by; the depths gave their voices, and raised up their hands into the highness, or on high.)

¹¹ The sun and moon stood in their dwelling place; in the light of thine arrows they shall go, in the shining of thy spear glistening. (The sun and the moon stood in their dwelling places; they shall go in the light of thy arrows, and in the shining of thy glistening spear.)

¹² In gnashing thou shalt defoul earth, and in strong vengeance thou shalt astonish folks. (Thou shalt defile the earth with thy gnashing, and thou shalt greatly astonish the nations with thy vengeance.)

¹³ Thou art gone out into health of thy people, into health with thy christ; thou hast smitten the head of the house of the unpious man, thou hast made naked the foundament till to the neck. (Thou hast gone forth for the salvation of thy people, and for the salvation of thy anointed king; thou hast struck the head of the house of the unrighteous, or of the wicked, and thou hast made naked its foundations unto the neck, or unto the rock.)

¹⁴ Thou cursedest the sceptre, either power, of him, (that is,) the head of his fighters, to men coming as whirlwind for to scatter me; (thou heardest) the joying withoutforth of them, as of him that devoureth a poor man in huddles. (Thou hast cursed his sceptre, or his power, that is, thou hast pierced the leaders of his fighting men, who came like a whirlwind to destroy me; thou hast heard their rejoicing, like those who devour the poor in secret.)

¹⁵ Thou madest a way in the sea to thine horses, in clay of many waters. (Thou hast made a way in the sea with thy horses, through the clay of many waters.)

¹⁶ I heard, and my womb is troubled together; my lips trembled together of the voice. Rot entered in[to] my bones, and sprang under me; that I rest again in the day of tribulation, and I shall go up to our people girded together. (I heard, and my belly altogether shook; my lips altogether trembled at the sound. Rot entered into my bones, and sprang up under me. O! that I might rest again after the day of tribulation, when thou shalt go up against those who assail us.)

¹⁷ For the fig tree shall not flower, and burgeoning shall not be in vineyards; the work of [the] olive tree shall lie (down), and fields shall not bring (forth) meat; a sheep shall be cut away from the fold, a drove shall not be in cratches. (Yea, though the fig tree flowereth not, and burgeoning be not be in the vineyards; the work of the olive tree falleth down, and the fields bring not forth a harvest; and the sheep be cut away from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls;)

¹⁸ Forsooth I shall have joy in the Lord, and I shall make joy withoutforth in God my Jesus. (still I shall have joy in the Lord, and I shall rejoice in God my Saviour.)

¹² Not that now I have taken, or now am perfect; but I follow, if in any manner I catch, in which thing also I am caught of Christ Jesus. [Not that now I have taken, or now am perfect; forsooth I follow, if on any manner I shall comprehend, in which thing also I am comprehended of Christ Jesus.]

¹³ Brethren, I deem me not that I have caught; but one thing, I forget those things that be behind, and stretching forth myself to those things that be before, [Brethren, I deem me not to have comprehended; one thing, forsooth, I forgetting soothly those things that be behind, stretching myself forsooth to those things that be the former,]

¹⁴ and pursue to the ordained meed of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [to the ordained thing, pursue to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.]

¹⁵ Therefore whoever we be perfect, feel we this thing. And if ye understand in other manner any thing, this thing God shall show to you.

¹⁶ Nevertheless to what thing we have come, that we understand the same thing, and that we perfectly dwell in the same rule.

¹⁷ Brethren, be ye my followers, and watch ye them that walk so [and wait ye (on) them that walk so], as ye have our form.

¹⁸ For many walk, which I have said oft to you, but now I weeping say, the enemies of Christ's cross, [Forsooth many walk, whom I have said oft to you, forsooth now and I weeping say, them, the enemies of Christ's cross,]

¹⁹ whose end is death, whose god is the womb, and the glory in [the] confusion of them, that savour earthly things [that savour, or understand, earthly things].

²⁰ But our living is in heavens [Forsooth our living is in heaven]; from whence also we abide the Saviour our Lord Jesus Christ,

²¹ which shall reform the body of our meekness, that is made like to the body of his clearness, by the working by which he may also make all things subject to him. [which shall reform the body of our meekness, configured, or made like, to the body of his clearness, after the working by which he may also make all things subject to him.]

17 These things Jesus spake, and when he had cast up his eyes into heaven [and the eyes lifted up to heaven], he said, Father, the hour cometh, clarify thy Son, that thy Son clarify thee.

² As thou hast given to him power on each flesh, that all thing that thou hast given to him, he give to them everlasting life.

³ And this is everlasting life, that they know thee very God alone [that they know thee alone very God], and whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ.

⁴ I have clarified thee on the earth, I have ended the work, that thou hast given to me to do.

⁵ And now, Father, clarify thou me at thyself, with the clearness that I had at thee, before the world was made.

⁶ I have showed thy name to those men, which thou hast given to me of the world [I have showed thy name to the men, whom thou hast given to me of the world]; they were thine, and thou hast given them to me, and they have kept thy word.

⁷ And now they have known, that all things that thou hast given to me, be of thee.

⁸ For the words that thou hast given to me, I gave to them; and they have taken, and have known verily, that I went out from thee; and they believed, that thou sentest me.