Book of Common Prayer
45 To the overcomer for the lilies, the most loved song of learning of the sons of Korah. Mine heart hath told out a good word; I say my works to the king. My tongue is the pen of a writer; writing swiftly. (To the overcomer, for the lilies, the most loved song, for the sons of Korah, for their teaching. My heart hath told out a good word; I tell of my works to the king. My tongue is like the pen of a writer, yea, writing swiftly.)
2 Christ, thou art fairer in shape than the sons of men; grace is spread abroad in thy lips; therefore God blessed thee [into] without end. (Thou anointed king, thou art more comely in appearance than any other man; grace is spread abroad by thy lips/thy lips speak most eloquently; yea, God hath blessed thee forever.)
3 Be thou gird with thy sword; on thy hip most mightily. Behold thou in thy shapeliness and thy fairness; (Be thou gird with thy sword on thy hip, most mighty man. In thy glory, and in thy majesty,)
4 come thou forth with prosperity, and reign thou. For truth, and mildness, and rightfulness; and thy right hand shall lead forth thee wonderfully. (come thou forth with prosperity; and reign thou in truth, and humility, and righteousness. And thy right hand, or thy strength, shall lead thee forth to great victories.)
5 Thy sharp arrows shall fall into the hearts of the enemies of the king; peoples shall be under thee. (Thy arrows shall be sharp in the hearts of the enemies of the king; and nations shall fall down under thee.)
6 God, thy seat is into the world of world; the rod of thy realm is a rod of right ruling, or of equity. (Like God, thy throne shall last forever; and the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of justice, yea, of equity and fairness.)
7 Thou lovedest rightfulness, and hatedest wickedness; therefore thou, God, thy God (and so God, thy God), anointed thee with the oil of gladness, more than thy fellows.
8 Myrrh, and gum, and cassia, of thy clothes, (out) of the ivory houses/(out) of the house of ivory; of which the daughters of kings delighted thee. (Myrrh, and gum, and cassia be the perfumes of thy clothes; and the sound of music coming forth from the ivory palace delighteth thee.)
9 A queen stood nigh on thy right side, in clothing overgilded; compassed with diversity. (The daughters of kings be there among thy honourable women; the queen standeth nigh on thy right side, in clothing overgilded with the gold of Ophir.)
10 Daughter, hear thou, and see, and bow down thine ear; and forget thy (own) people, and the house of thy father.
11 And the king shall covet thy fairness; for he is thy Lord God, and they shall worship him. (And when the king shall desire thy beauty; for he is thy lord, thou shalt give him honour, that is, thou shalt obey him.)
12 And the daughters of Tyre in gifts; all the rich men of the people shall beseech thy cheer. (And the daughters of Tyre shall be there with gifts; all the rich men of the nations shall seek thy favour.)
13 All the glory of that daughter of the king is within, (she is adorned) in golden hems; (The daughter of the king is inside the palace, and how glorious she is, adorned in golden hems;)
14 she is clothed about with diversities. Virgins shall be brought to the king after her; her neighbouresses shall be brought to thee. (she is clothed with much diversity. Her virgins shall be brought to the king after her; yea, her friends shall be brought to thee.)
15 They shall be brought in gladness, and full out joying; they shall be brought into the temple of the king. (They shall be brought in gladness, and rejoicing; they shall be brought into the king’s palace.)
16 Sons be born to thee, for thy fathers; thou shalt ordain them princes on all earth. (Sons shall be born to thee, in place of thy forefathers; thou shalt ordain them to be the rulers over all the earth.)
17 Lord, they shall be mindful of thy name; in each generation, and into generation. Therefore peoples shall acknowledge to thee [into] without end; and into the world of world. (Lord, they shall remember thy name; in all generations. And so the nations shall praise thee; forever and ever.)
47 To victory, a psalm to the sons of Korah. All ye folks, make joy with hands; sing ye heartily to God in the voice of full out joying. (To victory, a song for the sons of Korah. All ye nations, make joy with your hands/clap with your hands; sing ye heartily to God with a joyful voice.)
2 For the Lord is high and fearedful; a great king on all earth. (For the Most High Lord is to be feared/For the Most High Lord is to be revered; a great King over all the earth.)
3 He made peoples subject to us; and heathen men under our feet. (He made the peoples subject to us; and put the heathen under our feet.)
4 He chose his heritage to us; the fairness of Jacob, whom he loved. (He chose our inheritance for us; for we who be the beauty of Jacob, whom he loved.)
5 God ascended in hearty song; and the Lord in the voice of a trump. (God ascended with a hearty song; the Lord went up with the sound of trumpets.)
6 Sing ye to our God, sing ye; sing ye to our king, sing ye. (Sing ye to our God, sing ye; sing ye to our King, sing ye.)
7 For God is king of all earth; sing ye [psalm] wisely. (For God is the King of all the earth; sing ye songs with all your skill/sing ye songs, and understand what they mean.)
8 God shall reign on heathen men; God sitteth on his holy seat. (God reigneth over all the heathen; yea, God sitteth on his holy throne.)
9 The princes of peoples be gathered together with God of Abraham; for the strong gods of earth be raised greatly. (The rulers of the nations be gathered together with the people of the God of Abraham; for the strong of the earth belong to God, and he is raised above them all.)
48 The song of psalm, of the sons of Korah. The Lord is great, and worthy to be praised full much; in the city of our God, in the holy hill of him. (The song of the psalm, for the sons of Korah. The Lord is great, and worthy to be greatly praised; in the city of our God, on his holy hill.)
2 It is founded in the full out joying of all earth; the hill of Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great king. (Well-placed, it is the full out joy, or the rejoicing, of all the earth; Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.)
3 God shall be known in the houses thereof; when he shall take it. (And God is known as a refuge, or a stronghold, in its palaces.)
4 For lo! the kings of (the) earth were gathered together (against it); they came into one place.
5 They seeing, so wondered; they were troubled, they were moved (al)together, (But when they saw it, they wondered about it/they were full of wonder, or amazement; and they were troubled, and ran away,)
6 trembling took them. There sorrows, as of a woman travailing of child; (for panic, or trembling, took hold of them there. And sorrows, like when a woman laboureth with child;)
7 in a great spirit thou shalt all-break the ships of Tarshish. (or when a great east wind all-breaketh the ships from Tarshish.)
8 As we heard, so we saw, in the city of the Lord of virtues, in the city of our God; God hath founded that city [into] without end. (All that we had heard about, we saw with our own eyes, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God; and God hath established that city forever.)
9 God, we have received thy mercy; in the midst of thy temple. (God, we think about thy love; in the midst of thy Temple.)
10 After thy name, God, so thy praising is spread abroad into the ends of earth; thy right hand is full of rightwiseness. (The praising of thy name, O God, is spread abroad unto the ends of the earth; thy right hand is full of righteousness.)
11 The hill of Zion be glad, and the daughters of Judah be fully joyful; for thy dooms, Lord. (Let Mount Zion be glad, or rejoice, and let the daughters of Judah make full out joy; because of thy judgements, Lord.)
12 Compass ye Zion, and embrace ye it; tell ye in the towers thereof. (March ye around Zion, ye people; and count ye up its towers.)
13 Set ye your hearts in the virtue of him; and part ye the houses of him, that ye tell out in another generation. (Put ye its strongholds, or its fortresses, in your hearts; and think ye about its palaces, so that ye can tell about it to the next generation.)
14 For this is God, our God, into without end, and into the world of world; he shall govern us into worlds. (For this God is our God, forever and ever; yea, he shall govern us forever.)
16 For the mind of a wise man shall not be, (and) in like manner as neither (that) of a fool, without end, and [the] times to coming shall cover all things (al)together with forgetting; a learned man dieth in like manner as an unlearned man. (For a wise person shall not be remembered, and in like manner neither shall a fool, yea, for ever, and the times to come shall altogether cover all things with forgetting; for a learned person dieth in the same manner as an unlearned person.)
17 And therefore it annoyed me of my life, seeing that all things under [the] sun be evil, and that all things be vanity and torment of the spirit. (And so it vexed me to live, seeing that all things under the sun be troublesome, and that everything is empty and futile, like chasing the wind.)
18 Again I cursed all my busyness, by which I travailed most studiously under [the] sun; and I shall have an heir after me,
19 whom I know not, whether he shall be wise either a fool; and he shall be lord in my travails, for which I sweated greatly, and was busy; and is there anything so vain? (whom I know not, whether he shall be wise or a fool; but he shall be the lord of all my works, for which I was so busy, and greatly sweated over; is there anything so empty and futile as this?)
20 Wherefore I ceased, and mine heart forsook for to travail further under [the] sun. (And so I ceased to study, and my heart did not desire to labour any more under the sun.)
21 For why when another man travaileth in wisdom, and teaching, and busyness, he leaveth things gotten to an idle man; and therefore this is vanity, and great evil. (For though a person laboureth over something with wisdom, and knowledge, and diligence, he must leave all that he hath gotten to someone else, who did not labour over it; and so this is empty and futile, and a great evil.)
22 For why what shall it profit to a man of all his travail, and torment of spirit, with which he was tormented under [the] sun? (For what shall it profit a person for all his labour, and trials and tribulations, with which he was tormented under the sun?)
23 All his days be full of sorrows and mischiefs, and by night he resteth not in soul; and whether this is not vanity? (All his days be full of sorrows and mischiefs, and at night his soul resteth not; and is not this all empty and futile?)
24 Whether it is not better to eat and drink, and to show to his soul [the] goods of his travails? and this thing is of the hand of God. (Is it not better for a person to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good things from all his labour? and this is also from the hand of God.)
25 Who shall devour so, and shall flow in (such) delights, as I have? (Who shall ever devour such food, and shall flow in, or shall enjoy, such delights, as I have?)
26 God gave wisdom, and knowing, and gladness to a good man in his sight; but he gave torment, and superfluous busyness to a sinner, that he increase, and gather together, and give to him that pleaseth God; but also this is vanity, and vain busyness of soul. (God gave wisdom, and knowledge, and happiness to those who be good before him; but he gave torment, and superfluous busyness to the sinner, so that first he increase, and gather together, but then he must give it all to him who pleaseth God; but this is also empty and futile, like chasing the wind.)
18 And since three years after I came to Jerusalem, to see Peter, and I dwelled with him fifteen days; [Afterward after three years I came to Jerusalem, to see Peter, and dwelled with him fifteen days;]
19 but I saw none other of the apostles, but James, our Lord's brother [no but James, the brother of the Lord].
20 And these things which I write to you, lo! before God I lie not.
21 Afterward I came into the coasts [the parts] of Syria and Cilicia.
22 But I was unknown by face to the churches of Judaea, that were in Christ;
23 and they had only an hearing, that he that pursued us sometime, preacheth now the faith [now evangelizeth the faith], against which he fought sometime;
24 and in me they glorified God.
2 And since fourteen years after [Afterward after fourteen years], again I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took with me Titus.
2 [Forsooth] I went up by revelation, and spake with them the evangel [and said together with them the gospel], which I preach among the heathen; and by themselves to these that seemed to be somewhat, lest I run, or had run in vain [forsooth asides hand, or by themselves, to them that were seen to be somewhat, lest peradventure I should run in vain, or had run in vain.]
3 And neither Titus, that had been with me, while he was heathen, was compelled to be circumcised; [But neither Titus, that was with me, when he was heathen, was compelled to be circumcised;]
4 but for false brethren that were brought in, which had entered to espy our freedom, which we have in Jesus Christ, to bring us into servage.[a]
5 But we gave no place to subjection[b], that the truth of the gospel should dwell with you.
6 But of these that seemed to be somewhat; which they were sometime, it pertaineth not to me [what manner they were sometime, it pertaineth nothing to me], for God taketh not the person of man; for they that seemed to be somewhat, gave me nothing [nothing to me gave].
7 But on the contrary, when they had seen, that the evangel of [the] prepuce was given to me, as the evangel of circumcision was given to Peter [that the gospel of prepuce, or of heathen men, was taken to me, as and of circumcision to Peter];
8 for he that wrought to Peter in apostlehood of circumcision, wrought also to me among the heathen;
9 and when they had known the grace of God, that was given to me, James, and Peter, and John, which were seen to be the pillars, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and to Barnabas, that we among the heathen, and they into the circumcision;[c]
10 only that we had mind of poor men [only that we should be mindful of poor men], the which thing I was full busy to do.
53 And it was done, when Jesus had ended these parables, he passed from thence.
54 And he came into his country, and taught them in their synagogues, so that they wondered, and said, From whence this wisdom and works of power came to this [Whereof to him this wisdom and virtues]?
55 Whether this is not the son of a carpenter [Whether is not this the son of a carpenter]? Whether his mother be not said Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
56 and his sisters, whether they all be not among us? From whence then all these things come to this [Therefore whereof to him all these things]?
57 And so they were offended in him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honour [A prophet is not without worship], but in his own country, and in his own house.
58 And he did not there many works of power [And he did not there many virtues], for the unbelief of them.
2001 by Terence P. Noble