Book of Common Prayer

88 The song of the psalm, to the sons of Korah, to victory on Mahalath, for to answer the learning of Heman, (the) Ezrahite. Lord God of mine health; I cried in day and night before thee. (The song of the psalm, for the sons of Korah, to victory on Mahalath, to answer the teaching of Heman, the Ezrahite. Lord God of my salvation; I have cried day and night before thee.)

² My prayer enter before thy sight (Let my prayer come before thee); bow down thine ear to my prayer.

³ For my soul is [full-]filled with evils; and my life nighed to hell. (For my soul is filled full of evils; and my life came near to Sheol, that is, the land of the dead/and my life nighed to the grave.)

⁴ I am guessed with them that go down into the pit; I am made as a man without help,

⁵ and free among dead men. As men wounded sleeping in sepulchres, of which men none (thou) is mindful (of) after; and they be put away from thine hand. (and free among the dead. Like the slain who sleep in tombs, or graves, of whom there is no one thou remembereth any more; yea, they all be cut off from thy help, or thy care.)

⁶ They have put me in the lower pit; in dark places, and in the shadow of death.

⁷ Thy strong vengeance is confirmed on me (Thy fury hath raged against me); and thou hast brought in all thy waves on me.

⁸ Thou hast made far from me my known; they have set me (an) abomination to themselves. I am taken (in), and I went not out; (Thou hast taken all my friends far away from me; thou hast made me an abomination to them. I am enclosed, and I cannot go out;)

⁹ mine eyes were sick for poverty [mine eyes (were) (en)feebled for mis-ease]. Lord, I cried to thee; all day I spreaded abroad mine hands to thee. (my eyes have been weakened from suffering. Lord, I cried to thee; and every day I spread abroad my hands to thee.)

¹⁰ Whether thou shalt do marvels to dead men; either leeches shall raise (them up), and they shall acknowledge to thee? (Shalt thou do marvellous deeds for the dead? or shall physicians raise them up, and then they shall praise thee?)

¹¹ Whether any man in sepulchre shall tell thy mercy; and thy truth in perdition? (Shall any man in the tomb, or in the grave, tell of thy love? or in perdition, tell of thy faithfulness?)

¹² Whether thy marvels shall be known in darknesses; and thy rightfulness in the land of forgetting? (Shall thy marvellous deeds be known in the dark places? or thy righteousness in the land of the forgotten?/in the land of oblivion?)

¹³ And, Lord, I cried to thee; and early my prayer shall before come to thee. (But, Lord, I cried to thee; and every morning my prayer hath come before thee.)

¹⁴ Lord, why puttest thou away my prayer; thou turnest away thy face from me? (Lord, why puttest thou me away? why rejectest me? why turnest thou away thy face from me?)

¹⁵ I am poor, and in travails from my youth; soothly I am enhanced, and I am made low, and troubled. (I am poor, and have had troubles from my youth; truly I am abased, and greatly troubled.)

¹⁶ Thy wraths passed on me; and thy dreads troubled me. (Thy rages have swept over me/Thy anger hath come upon me; and thy terrors have made me afraid.)

¹⁷ They (en)compassed me as water all day; they (en)compassed me (al)together. (They surrounded me like water all day long; they have completely surrounded me.)

¹⁸ Thou madest far from me a friend and neighbour; and my known from wretchedness. (Thou hast taken my friends and my neighbours far away from me; and now wretchedness is my only companion.)

91 He that dwelleth in the help of the highest God; shall dwell in the protection of God of heaven. (He who dwelleth in the shelter of the Most High God, shall live under the protection of the God of heaven.)

² He shall say to the Lord, Thou art mine up-taker, and my refuge; my God, I shall hope in him. (He shall say to the Lord, Thou art my defender, and my refuge; my God, I trust in thee.)

³ For he delivered me from the snare of hunters; and from a sharp word. (For he shall save me from the hunter’s snare; and from a sharp word.)

⁴ With his shoulders he shall make shadow to thee; and thou shalt have hope under his feathers. His truth shall (en)compass thee with a shield; (With his feathers he shall make a shadow for thee; and thou shalt have hope under his wings. His faithfulness shall surround thee like a shield.)

⁵ thou shalt not dread of the night’s dread. Of an arrow flying in the day, (Thou shalt not fear the terror in the night; nor an arrow flying in the day.)

⁶ of a goblin going in darknesses; of assailing, and of a midday fiend. (Nor the pestilence going in darkness; nor the assailing of the plague at midday.)

⁷ A thousand shall fall down from thy side, and ten thousand from thy right side; forsooth it shall not nigh to thee. (A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right side; but it shall not come even close to thee.)

⁸ Nevertheless thou shalt behold with thine eyes; and thou shalt see the yielding of sinners. (Nevertheless thou shalt see with thine eyes; yea, thou shalt see the punishment of the sinners.)

⁹ For thou, Lord, art mine hope; thou hast set thine help (to be the) alder-Highest. (For thou hast made the Lord to be thy hope; yea, the Most High to be thy help.)

¹⁰ Evil shall not come to thee; and a scourge shall not (come) nigh to thy tabernacle.

¹¹ For God hath commanded to his angels of thee; that they keep thee in all thy ways. (For God hath commanded his angels to be all around thee; so that they keep thee safe on all thy ways.)

¹² They shall bear thee in the hands; lest peradventure thou hurt thy foot at a stone. (They shall lift thee up with their hands; lest thou hurt thy foot on a stone.)

¹³ Thou shalt go upon a snake, and a cockatrice; and thou shalt defoul a lion, and a dragon (and thou shalt trample upon a lion, and a dragon).

¹⁴ (For God saith,) For he hoped in me, I shall deliver him (For God saith, Because he loved me, I shall save him); I shall defend him, for he knew my name.

¹⁵ He cried to me, and I shall hear him; I am with him in tribulation; I shall deliver him, and I shall glorify him. (When he crieth to me, I shall answer him; I shall be with him in all his troubles; I shall rescue him, and I shall honour him.)

¹⁶ I shall [ful]fill him with the length of days; and I shall show mine health to him. (I shall fulfill him with length of days, that is, with a long life; and I shall give my salvation, or my deliverance, to him/and I shall save him.)

92 The psalm of song, in the day of sabbath. It is good to acknowledge to the Lord; and to sing to thy name, thou Highest. (The psalm of the song, on the sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to the Lord; and to sing unto thy name, O Most High.)

² To show early thy mercy; and thy truth by night. (To declare thy love in the morning; and thy faithfulness every night.)

³ In a psaltery of ten cords; with song in harp. (On a lute with ten strings; and with a song on the harp.)

⁴ For thou, Lord, hast delighted me in (the works of) thy making; and I shall make full out joy in the works of thine hands. (For thou, Lord, hast delighted me with thy deeds, or thy acts; and I shall rejoice over the works of thy hands.)

⁵ Lord, thy works be magnified greatly; thy thoughts be made full deep. (Lord, thy works be truly great; thy thoughts be so very deep!)

⁶ An unwise man shall not know; and a fool shall not understand these things. (But this is what the ignorant do not know; and what the foolish do not understand.)

⁷ When sinners come forth, as hay; and all they appear, that work wickedness. That they perish into the world of world; (That even though the sinners come forth like hay, or like grass, and that those who do evil prosper; they shall all utterly perish forever.)

⁸ forsooth thou, Lord, art the Highest, [into] without end. (But thou, Lord, art the Most High, forever.)

⁹ For lo! Lord, thine enemies, for lo! thine enemies shall perish; and all they shall be scattered that work wickedness (and all who do evil shall be destroyed).

¹⁰ And mine horn shall be raised as an unicorn; and mine eld (age shall be) in plenteous mercy. (But my head shall be raised up, like the horn of a wild ox; and I shall be richly anointed with oil.)

¹¹ And mine eye despised mine enemies; and when wicked men rise against me, mine ear shall hear (their downfall). (And my eyes shall see my heart’s desire for my enemies/And my eyes shall see the defeat of my enemies; and my ears shall hear the downfall of the wicked people who rise up against me.)

¹² A just man shall flower as a palm tree; he shall be multiplied as a cedar of Lebanon. (The righteous shall flourish like the palm trees; they shall be multiplied like the cedars of Lebanon.)

¹³ Men planted in the house of the Lord; shall flower in the porches of the house of our God. (Those who be planted in the House of the Lord; shall flourish in the courtyards of the House of our God.)

¹⁴ Yet they shall be multiplied in plenteous eld (age); and they shall be suffering well. (They shall be granted a plentiful old age; and they shall be strong, and vigorous/and they shall be prosperous, and flourishing.)

¹⁵ That they tell, that our Lord God is rightful; and no wickedness is in him. (And they shall declare that the Lord our God is righteous; and there is no wickedness in him.)

9 Forsooth Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went into Shechem to the brethren of his mother; and he spake to them, and to all the kindred of the house of his mother, and said, (And Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went into Shechem to his mother’s brothers and her kinsmen; and he spoke to them, and to all the kindred of the house of his mother, and said,)

² Speak ye to all the men of Shechem, (and say,) What is better to you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, be lords of you, whether that one man be lord to you? and also behold, that I am your bone, and your flesh. (Say ye to all the men of Shechem, What is better for you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you? and also remember, that I am your own flesh and blood.)

³ And the brethren of his mother spake of him all these words to all the men of Shechem; and they bowed their hearts after Abimelech, and said, He is our brother. (And his mother’s kinsmen spoke all these words about him to all the men of Shechem; and they turned their hearts to Abimelech, and said, He is our kinsman.)

⁴ And they gave to him seventy pieces of silver (out) of the temple of Baalberith; and he hired to him thereof men poor and having no certain dwelling (and with it he hired men to join him who were poor, and who had no certain dwelling), and they followed him.

⁵ And he came into the house of his father in Ophrah, and killed his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. And Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was left, and hid. (And he came to his father’s house in Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, was left alive, for he had hid himself.)

⁶ And all the men of Shechem, and all the families of the city of Millo, were gathered together, and they went, and made Abimelech king, beside the oak that stood in Shechem.

⁷ And when this thing was told to Jotham, he went, and stood in the top of the hill Gerizim (and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim), and cried (out) with (a) voice raised [up], and said, Ye men of Shechem, hear me, so that God (may) hear you.

⁸ Trees went to anoint a king on them (The trees went to anoint a king over themselves); and they said to the olive tree, Command thou to us.

⁹ Which answered, Whether I may forsake my fatness, which both Gods and men use, and come, that I be advanced among trees? (Which answered, Can I forsake my rich oil, which is used to honour both gods and men, and go that I be advanced over the other trees?)

¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and take the realm on us (Come thou, and take the kingdom, and reign over us). Which answered to them,

¹¹ Whether I may forsake my sweetness, and my full sweet fruits, and go that I be advanced among other trees? (Can I forsake my sweetness, and my full sweet fruits, and go that I be advanced over the other trees?)

¹² Also the trees spake to the vine, (and said,) Come thou, and command to us.

¹³ Which answered, Whether I may forsake my wine, that gladdeth God and men, and be advanced among other trees? (Which answered, Can I forsake my wine, that gladdeneth both the gods and people, and go that I be advanced over the other trees?)

¹⁴ And all the trees said to the rhamn, or the thieve-thorn, Come thou, and be lord on us (Come thou, and be lord over us).

¹⁵ Which answered to them, If ye make me verily king to you, come, and rest ye under my shadow; and, if ye will not, fire go out of the rhamn, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. (Which answered to them, If ye truly shall make me king over you, come, and rest ye under my shadow; but if ye will not, then let fire go out of the rhamn, and devour Lebanon’s cedars.)

¹⁶ Now therefore, if rightfully and without sin ye have made Abimelech king on you, and if ye have done well with Jerubbaal, and with his house, and if ye have yielded while to the benificences of him, (And so now, if rightfully and without sin ye have made Abimelech king over you, and if ye have done the right thing with Jerubbaal, and with his household, and if ye have yielded to him according to his good deeds,)

¹⁹ therefore if ye have done rightfully, and without sin with Jerubbaal and his house, today be ye glad in Abimelech, and be he glad in you; (and so if ye have done rightfully, and without sin with Jerubbaal and with his household, or his family, today, then be ye happy with Abimelech, and let him be happy with you;)

²⁰ but if ye have done waywardly, (may) fire go out from Abimelech, and waste the dwellers of Shechem, and the city of Millo; and (may) fire go out from the men of Shechem, and from the city of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

²¹ And when Jotham had said these things, he fled, and went into Beer, and dwelled there, for dread of Abimelech, his brother (in fear of his brother Abimelech).

¹³ And they saw the steadfastness of Peter and of John, and when it was found that they were men unlettered, and lay men [that there were men without letters, and idiots], they wondered, and they knew them that they were with Jesus.

¹⁴ And they saw the man that was healed, standing with them, and they might nothing gainsay. [And seeing the man standing with them, that was healed, they might nothing against-say.]

¹⁵ But they commanded them to go forth without the council. And they spake together,

¹⁶ and said [saying], What shall we do to these men? for [soothly] the sign is made known by them to all men, that dwell at Jerusalem; it is open, and we be not able to deny [and we may not deny].

¹⁷ But that it be no more published into the people, menace we to them, that they speak no more in this name to any man.

¹⁸ And they called them, and commanded to them [And they calling them announced to them], that on no manner they should speak, neither teach [nor teach], in the name of Jesus.

¹⁹ But Peter and John answered, and said to them, If it be rightful in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, deem ye.

²⁰ For we must needs speak those things, that we have seen and heard. [Forsooth we may not not speak the things that we have seen and heard.]

²¹ And they menaced them, and let them go, and found not how they should punish them, for the people; for all men clarified that thing that was done in that that was befallen.^[a]

²² For the man was more than forty years old, in whom this sign of healing was made [in whom this sign of health was made].

²³ And when they were delivered, they came to their fellows, and told to them, how great things the princes of priests and the elder men had said to them.^[b]

²⁴ And when they heard, with one heart they raised voice to the Lord, and said, Lord, thou that madest heaven and earth, sea, and all things that be in them,

²⁵ which saidest by the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of our father David, thy child, Why heathen men gnashed with teeth together, and the peoples thought vain things? [which by the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of our father David, thy child, saidest, Why heathen men wrathed, or beat with teeth together, and peoples thought vain things?]

²⁶ Kings of the earth stood nigh, and princes came together into one, against the Lord, and against his Christ.

²⁷ For verily Herod and Pontius Pilate, with heathen men, and peoples of Israel, came together in this city against thine holy child Jesus, whom thou anointedest, [For they came together verily in this city against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou anointedest, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with heathen men, and peoples of Israel,]

²⁸ to do the things, that thine hand and thy counsel deemed to be done.

²⁹ And now, Lord, behold into the threatenings of them, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all trust [and give to thy servants with all trust to speak thy word],

³⁰ in that thing that thou hold forth thine hand, that healings and signs and wonders be made by the name of thine holy Son Jesus. [in that thing that thou hold forth thine hand, healths and signs and wonders to be made by the name of thine holy Son Jesus.]

³¹ And when they had prayed, the place was moved, in which they were gathered; and all were filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake the word of God with trust.

2 And the third day weddings were made in the Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there.

² And Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the weddings.

³ And when wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have not wine.

⁴ And Jesus saith to her, What to me and to thee, woman? mine hour came not yet.

⁵ His mother saith to the ministers, Whatever thing he saith to you, do ye.

⁶ And there were set six stone cans, after the cleansing of the Jews, holding each two or three metretes. [Forsooth there were put six stone pots, after the cleansing of Jews, taking each two or three measures.]

⁷ And Jesus saith to them, Fill ye the pots with water. And they filled them, up to the mouth. [Jesus saith to them, Fill ye the pots with water. And they filled them unto the highest part.]

⁸ And Jesus said to them, Draw ye now, and bear ye to the master of the feast^[a]. And they bare.

⁹ And when the master of the feast had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whereof it was, but the ministers knew that drew the water^[b], the master of the feast calleth the spouse,

¹⁰ and saith to him, Each man setteth first good wine, and when men be filled, then that that is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine into this time. [and saith to him, Each man putteth first good wine, and when men shall be full-filled, then that that is worse; soothly thou hast kept good wine till now.]

¹¹ Jesus did this the beginning of signs in the Cana of Galilee, and showed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

¹² After these things he came down to Capernaum, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples; and they dwelled there not many days [and they dwelt there not many days].