Book of Common Prayer

102 The prayer of a poor man, when he was anguished, and shedded out his speech before the Lord. Lord, hear thou my prayer; and my cry come to thee. (The prayer of a poor man, when he was anguished, and poured out his words before the Lord. Lord, hear thou my prayer; and let my cry come unto thee.)

² Turn not away thy face from me; in whatever day I am troubled, bow down thine ear to me. In whatever day I shall inwardly call thee; hear thou me swiftly. (Turn not away thy face from me; on whatever day I am troubled, bow down thy ear to me. On whatever day that I shall call to thee, please swiftly answer thou me.)

³ For my days have failed as smoke; and my bones have dried up as croutons/as cracklings, either (the) leaving(s) of frying. (For my days have vanished like smoke; and my bones have dried up like croutons.)

⁴ I am smitten as hay, and mine heart (hath) dried up; for I have forgotten to eat my bread. (I am beaten down like dry grass; and I have forgotten to eat my food.)

⁵ Of the voice of my wailing; my bone cleaved to my flesh. (My voice waileth; for my bones cleave to my flesh.)

⁶ I am made like a pelican of (the) wilderness; I am made as a night crow in an house.

⁷ I waked; and I am made as a solitary sparrow in the roof. (I lie awake; and I am like a solitary sparrow on the rooftop.)

⁸ All day mine enemies despised me; and they that praised me swore against me. (All day long my enemies despise me; and those who be angry with me/and those who mock me, conspire against me.)

⁹ For I ate ashes as bread; and I meddled my drink with weeping. (For I have eaten ashes for food; and I have mixed my tears with my drink.)

¹⁰ From the face of the ire of thine indignation; for thou raising me [up] hast hurtled me down. (All because of thy anger, and thy indignation; for first thou hast raised me up, and then thou hast hurtled me down.)

¹¹ My days bowed away as a shadow; and I waxed dry as hay. (My days disappeared like a shadow; and I am dried up like the hay, or the grass.)

¹² But, Lord, thou dwellest [into] without end; and thy memorial in generation and into generation. (But, Lord, thou livest forever; and shalt be remembered by all generations.)

¹³ Lord, thou rising up, shalt have mercy on Zion (Lord, thou shalt rise up, and have mercy on Zion); for the time to have mercy thereof cometh, for the time cometh.

¹⁴ For the stones thereof pleased thy servants; and they shall have mercy on the land thereof. (For its stones pleased thy servants; and they even love its dust.)

¹⁵ And, Lord, heathen men shall dread thy name; and all kings of earth shall dread thy glory. (And, Lord, the heathen shall fear thy name; and all the kings of the earth shall fear thy glory.)

¹⁶ For the Lord hath built [up] Zion; and he shall be seen in his glory. (And when the Lord buildeth up Zion again; he shall be seen in all his glory.)

¹⁷ He beheld on the prayer of meek men; and he despised not the prayer of them. (He heareth the prayers of the humble; and he did not despise their prayers.)

¹⁸ Be these things written in another generation; and the people that shall be made shall praise the Lord. (These things be written for another generation; and then those people, yet to be, shall praise the Lord.)

¹⁹ For he beheld from his high holy place; the Lord looked from heaven into earth (the Lord looked down from heaven onto the earth).

²⁰ For to hear the wailings of fettered men; and for to unbind the sons of slain men.

²¹ That they tell in Zion the name of the Lord; and his praising in Jerusalem. (So that they tell out the Lord’s name in Zion; and his praises in Jerusalem.)

²² In gathering together peoples into one; and kings, that they serve the Lord. (Yea, when all peoples, and kingdoms, shall be gathered together into one, to serve the Lord.)

²³ It answered to him in the way of his virtue; Tell thou to me the fewness of my days. (But he hath weakened my strength along the way; he hath shortened my days.)

²⁴ Again-call thou not me in the middle of my days; thy years be in generation and into generation. (Please do not call me back in the middle of my days; thy years last for all generations.)

²⁵ Lord, thou foundedest the earth in the beginning; and (the) heavens be the works of thine hands.

²⁶ Those shall perish, but thou dwellest perfectly; and all shall wax eld as a cloth. And thou shalt change them as a covering, and those shall be changed; (They shall perish, but thou shalt live forever; all of them shall grow old like a cloak. And thou shalt change them like a covering, and they shall be changed;)

²⁷ but thou art the same thyself, and thy years shall not fail. (but thou thyself art the same, and thy years shall have no end.)

²⁸ The sons of thy servants shall dwell; and the seed of them shall be (ad)dressed, (or directed,) into the world. (The sons and daughters of thy servants shall live; and their children shall be secure before thee/and their descendants shall be established before thee.)

107 Alleluia. Acknowledge ye to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy is into the world. (Alleluia. Give ye thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his love is forever.)

² Say they, that be again-bought of the Lord; which he again-bought from the hand of the enemy, (Say they, who were redeemed by the Lord; whom he rescued from the power of the enemy,)

³ from countries he gathered them together. From the rising of the sun, and from the going down; from the north, and from the sea. (yea, he gathered them together from all the countries. From the rising of the sun, and from the going down of the same; from the north, and from the sea.)

⁴ They erred in wilderness, in a place without water; they found not way of the city of dwelling place. (They wandered about in the desert, in a place without water; they could not find the way to a city to live in.)

⁵ They were hungry and thirsty; their soul(s) failed in them.

⁶ And they cried to the Lord, when they were set in tribulation; and he delivered them from their needinesses. (And they cried to the Lord, when they were in trouble; and he saved them from all their distress.)

⁷ And he led forth them into the right way; that they should go into the city of dwelling. (And he led them forth by the right way; so that they came to a city to live in.)

⁸ The mercies of the Lord, acknowledge to him; and his marvels acknowledge to the sons of men. (Give thanks to the Lord for his constant love; and for the marvellous deeds which he hath done, for the sons and daughters of men.)

⁹ For he [ful]filled a void man; and he filled with goods an hungry man. (For he fulfilleth the thirsty; and he filleth the hungry with good things to eat.)

¹⁰ God delivered men sitting in darkness, and in the shadow of death; and men imprisoned in beggary, and in iron(s).

¹¹ For they made bitter the speeches of God; and wrathed the counsel of the Highest. (Because they had rebelled against the words of God; and had rejected the counsel of the Most High.)

¹² And the heart of them was made meek in travails; and they were sick, and none was that helped (them). (And their hearts were made weary by their labour; and they were enfeebled, or weak, and there was no one to help them.)

¹³ And they cried to the Lord, when they were set in tribulation; and he delivered them from their needinesses. (And they cried to the Lord, when they were in trouble; and he saved them from all their distress.)

¹⁴ And he led them out of darknesses, and [the] shadow of death; and brake the bonds of them.

¹⁵ The mercies of the Lord, acknowledge to him; and his marvels, acknowledge to the sons of men. (Give thanks to the Lord for his constant love; and for the marvellous deeds which he hath done, for the sons and daughters of men.)

¹⁶ For he all-brake [the] brazen gates; and he brake [the] iron bars. (For he broke all the bronze gates; and the iron bars.)

¹⁷ He up-took them from the way of their wickedness; for they were made low for their unrightfulnesses. (And some were fools, and they went forth in their wicked ways; and they were made low for their unrighteousnesses.)

¹⁸ The soul of them loathed all meat (They hated all kinds of food); and they nighed unto the gates of death.

¹⁹ And they cried to the Lord, when they were set in tribulation; and he delivered them from their needinesses. (And they cried to the Lord, when they were in trouble; and he saved them from all their distress.)

²⁰ He sent his word, and healed them; and delivered them from the perishings of them (and saved them from death).

²¹ The mercies of the Lord, acknowledge to him; and his marvels to the sons of men. (Give thanks to the Lord for his constant love; and for the marvellous deeds which he hath done, for the sons and daughters of men.)

²² And offer they the sacrifice of praising; and tell they his works with full out joying. (And offer they the sacrifice of praise; and tell they about his works with rejoicing.)

²³ They that go down into the sea in ships; and make working in many waters. (And let others go down to the sea in ships; and do their work/and ply their trade in many waters.)

²⁴ They saw the works of the Lord; and his marvels in the depth. (And they saw the works of the Lord; and his marvellous deeds in the depths of the sea.)

²⁵ He said, and the spirit of tempest stood; and the waves thereof were areared. (He spoke, and the wind of the tempest stood still; and its waves were lifted up high.)

²⁶ They ascend till to heavens, and go down unto the depths; the soul of them failed in evils. (They were lifted up to the heavens, and then brought down to the depths; and their souls failed because of their troubles, yea, they lost all hope, or all courage.)

²⁷ They were troubled, and they were moved as a drunken man; and all the wisdom of them was devoured. (They were troubled, and they staggered around like drunken men; and all their wisdom, or all their skill, had fled.)

²⁸ And they cried to the Lord, when they were set in tribulation; and he led them out of their needinesses. (And they cried to the Lord, when they were in trouble; and he saved them from all their distress.)

²⁹ And he ordained the tempest thereof into a soft wind, either peaceability; and the waves thereof were still(ed).

³⁰ And they were glad, for those were still; and he led them forth into the haven of their will. (And they were glad that all was still; and he led them forth into the haven of their desire, yea, into a safe harbour.)

³¹ The mercies of the Lord, acknowledge to him; and his marvels to the sons of men. (Give thanks to the Lord for his constant love; and for the marvellous deeds which he hath done, for the sons and daughters of men.)

³² And enhance they him in the church of the people; and praise they him in the chair(s) of the elder men. (And let them exalt him in the congregation of the people; and praise they him in the council of the elders.)

²⁰ Forsooth his wife took (as) an husband, one of the friends and privy keepers of her. [Forsooth the wife of him took an husband, one of his friends and wooers.]

15 But a little time after, when the days of wheat harvest nighed, Samson came, and would visit his wife, and he brought to her a goat kid; and when he would enter into her bed by custom, her father forbade him,

² and said, I guessed that thou haddest hated her, and therefore I gave her to thy friend; but she hath a sister, which is younger and fairer than she, be she [a] wife to thee for her (let her be your wife instead!).

³ To whom Samson answered, From this day forth no blame shall be in me against [the] Philistines, for I shall do evils to you. (To whom Samson answered, From this day forth, none of the Philistines can blame me, though I shall do much evil to you.)

⁴ And he went, and took three hundred foxes, and he joined together their tails to tails, (one to one,) and he bound fire brands in (the) middle of the tails (and he tied torches in the middle of their tails),

⁵ which he kindled with fire, and (then) let them (go), that they should run about hither and thither (so that they would run about here and there); which went at once into the corns of [the] Philistines, by which kindled, both the corns borne now together, and (those) yet standing in the stubble, were (all) burnt, in so much that the flame (also) wasted (the) vineries, and (the) places of (the) olive trees.

⁶ And the Philistines said, Who did this thing? To whom it was said, Samson, the husband of (the) Timnite’s daughter, for he took away Samson’s wife, and gave her to another man. And (so) the Philistines went up, and burnt (up) both the woman and her father.

⁷ To the which Philistines Samson said, Though ye have done this thing, nevertheless yet I shall ask and take vengeance of you, and then I shall rest. (To which Philistines Samson said, Because ye have done this thing, now I shall take vengeance on all of you, and then I shall rest.)

⁸ And he smote them with great wound, so that they wondered, and (they fled so fast, that they) putted the hinder part of the hip on the thigh; and he went down, and dwelled in the den of the stone of Etam. (And he struck them down, hip and thigh, with a great slaughter; and then he went, and lived in the cave in the Rock of Etam.)

⁹ Then the Philistines went up into the land of Judah, and they setted tents in the place, that was called afterward Lehi, that is, a cheek[bone], where their host was spread abroad. (Then the Philistines went up into the land of Judah, and they pitched their tents at the place, that later was called Lehi, that is, Jawbone, where their army was spread out over all the land.)

¹⁰ And men of the lineage of Judah said to them, Why have ye gone up against us? The which answered, We come that we bind Samson (And they answered, We have come so that we can bind up Samson), and yield to him (for) those things the which he [hath] wrought against us.

¹¹ Therefore three thousand of men of Judah went down to the den of the flint of Etam; and they said to Samson, Knowest thou not, that [the] Philistines command to us, that is, they have lordship on us? (And so three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the Rock of Etam; and they said to Samson, Knowest thou not, that the Philistines command, or rule, over us?) Why wouldest thou do this thing to them? To whom he said, As they did to me, so I did to them.

¹² They said, We come to bind thee, and to betake thee into the hands of Philistines. To whom Samson answered, Swear ye, and promise ye to me, that ye slay not me. (And they said to him, We have come to bind thee up, and to deliver thee into the hands of the Philistines. To whom Samson answered, Swear ye, and promise ye to me, that ye shall not kill me.)

¹³ And they said, We shall not slay thee, but we shall betake thee bound to them. And (so) they bound him with two new cords, and took him from the stone of Etam.

¹⁴ And when they had come to the place that is called Cheek[bone], and the Philistines crying high had run (out) to him, the spirit of the Lord felled into him, and as sticks be wont to be wasted at the hot tasting of fire, so and the bonds, with which he was bound, were scattered and loosed. (And when they had come to the place that now is called Lehi, or Jawbone, and the Philistines came running toward him, and shouting, the spirit of the Lord fell upon him, and as sticks be wont to be wasted with the hot tasting of the fire, so the bonds, with which he was bound, were scattered and loosed from off his hands.)

¹⁵ And when he had found a cheek[bone], that is, the nether cheekbone, of an ass, that there lay, he took it, and killed therewith a thousand men; (And when he had found a jawbone, that is, the lower jawbone, of a donkey, that lay there, he took it, and killed a thousand men with it;)

¹⁶ and he said, With the cheek[bone] of an ass, that is, with the nether cheek[bone] of a colt of she-asses, I have done away Philistines, and I have killed therewith a thousand men. (and he said, With the jawbone of a donkey, that is, with the lower jawbone of the colt of a female donkey, I have done away the Philistines, and I have killed a thousand men with it.)

¹⁷ And when he had high cried these words, and had fully ended them, he threw away from his hand the nether cheekbone; and he called the name of that place Ramathlehi, that is to say, the Raising (up) of a cheekbone. (And after that he had sung these words, and had finished them, he threw away the lower jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramathlehi, that is to say, the Raising up of a jawbone.)

¹⁸ And (then) he thirsted greatly, and cried to the Lord, and said, Thou, Lord, hast given into the hand of thy servant this greatest health and victory (Thou, Lord, hast given thy servant this great victory); and lo! I die for thirst, and I shall fall into the hands of uncircumcised men.

¹⁹ Therefore the Lord opened a wang tooth in the cheekbone of the ass, and waters went out thereof, and when he had drunken he refreshed his spirit, and received strengths; therefore the name of that place was called the Well of the inwardly caller of the cheekbone, unto this present day. (And so the Lord opened a molar tooth in the jawbone of the donkey, and water went out of it, and when he had drunk, it refreshed his spirit, and he received strength; and so the name of the spring there in Lehi is called Enhakkore, or the Spring of the Caller, unto this present day).

²⁰ And Samson deemed Israel in the days of [the] Philistines (for) twenty years.

¹⁷ And when the time of promise came nigh, which God had acknowledged to Abraham, the people waxed, and multiplied in Egypt,

¹⁸ till another king rose in Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

¹⁹ This beguiled our kin, and tormented our fathers, that they should put away their young children [that they should put out their young children], for they should not live.

²⁰ In the same time Moses was born, and he was loved of God; and he was nourished three months in the house of his father [and he was accepted, or loved, of God; and he was nursed three months in the house of his father].

²¹ And when he was put out in the river [Forsooth when he was put out], the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and nourished him into her son.

²² And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and works.

²³ But when the time of forty years was filled to him [was full-filled to him], it rose up into his heart, that he should visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.

²⁴ And when he saw a man suffering wrong, he venged him, and did vengeance for him that suffered the wrong [and did vengeance to him that suffered wrong], and killed the Egyptian.

²⁵ For he guessed that his brethren should understand, that God should give to them health by the hand of him [that God by the hand of him should give to them health]; but they understood not.

²⁶ For in the day following he appeared to them chiding, and he accorded them in peace, and said, Men, ye be brethren; why harm ye each other?^[a]

²⁷ But he that did the wrong to his neighbour, putted him away, and said, Who ordained thee prince and doomsman on us? [Forsooth he that did wrong to his neighbour, put him away, saying, Who ordained thee prince and doomsman upon us?]

²⁸ Whether thou wilt slay me, as yesterday thou killedest the Egyptian?

²⁹ And in this word Moses flew, and was made a comeling in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.

⁴³ And after two days he went out from thence [Forsooth after two days he went thence], and went into Galilee.

⁴⁴ And he [Jesus] bare witnessing, that a prophet in his own country hath none honour. [Soothly he Jesus bare witnessing, for a prophet in his own country hath not honour, or worship.]

⁴⁵ Therefore when he came into Galilee, men of Galilee received him, when they had seen all things that he had done in Jerusalem in the feast day; for also they had come to the feast day.

⁴⁶ Therefore he came again into the Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a little king, whose son was sick at Capernaum. [Therefore he came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And some little king was, whose son was sick at Capernaum.]

⁴⁷ When this had heard, that Jesus should come from Judaea into Galilee, he went to him, and prayed him, that he should come down, and heal his son; for he began to die.

⁴⁸ Therefore Jesus said to him, But ye see tokens and great wonders, ye believe not.

⁴⁹ The little king saith to him, Lord, come down, before that my son die.

⁵⁰ Jesus saith to him, Go, thy son liveth. The man believed to the word, that Jesus said to him, and he went.

⁵¹ And now when he came down [Soothly now him coming down], the servants came to meet him, and told to him, and said [saying], That his son lived.

⁵² And he asked of them the hour, in which he was amended. And they said to him, For yesterday in the seventh hour the fever left him.

⁵³ Therefore the father knew, that that hour it was, in which Jesus said to him, Thy son liveth; and he believed, and all his house.

⁵⁴ Jesus did again this second token, when he came from Judaea into Galilee.