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.)

34 Vain hope and a leasing (or a lie), to an unwise man; and dreams [or swevens] enhance unprudent men.

² As he that taketh [or catcheth (at)] a shadow, and pursueth wind, so and he that taketh heed to leasings seen, [or to the seen leasings], or in vain dreams.

³ After this thing is the sight of dreams [or of swevens]; before the face of a man is the likeness of another man.

⁴ What shall be cleansed of him that is unclean, and what true thing shall be said of a liar? [Of the unclean, what shall be cleansed, and of the liar, what sooth (or truth) shall be said?]

⁵ False divining of error, and false divinings by chittering (or chattering) of birds, and dreams of witches, (all) is vanity. And as the heart of a woman travailing of child, thine heart suffereth fantasies; [Divining of error, and divining by chittering of birds, leasings, and swevens of evil-doing men, (all) is vanity. And as of the woman bearing child, thine heart suffereth fantasies;]

⁶ no but visitation is sent out of (or from) the Highest, give thou not thine heart in (or to) those dreams. [no but of the Highest were sent out visiting, not give thou in (or to) them thine heart.]

⁷ For why dreams have made many men for to err, and men hoping in those fell down. [Many men forsooth swevens made to err, and (they) fell away hoping in them.]

⁸ The word of the law of God and of his prophets, shall be made perfect without leasing (or without lies); and wisdom in the mouth of a faithful man shall be made plain.

¹⁸ The offering of him that offereth of wicked thing, that is, of thing gotten unjustly, is defouled; and the scornings of unjust men be not well pleasant [or well-pleasing].

¹⁹ The Lord alone is to them that abide him in the way of truth, and of rightfulness [or of rightwiseness]. The Highest approveth not (of) the gifts of wicked men, neither beholdeth in (or on) the offerings of wicked men, neither in (or for) the multitude of their sacrifices he shall do [or he shall have] mercy to (or for) (their) sins.

²⁰ He that offereth sacrifice of the chattel of poor men, is as he that slayeth the son in the sight of his father. [Who offereth sacrifices of the substance of poor men, as he that slayeth to sacrifice the son in the sight of his father.]

²¹ The bread of needy men is the life of a poor man; he that defraudeth him, is a man of blood. [The bread of needy men is the life of the poor; who beguileth him, is a man of blood.]

²² He that taketh away bread (earned) in (or with) sweat, is as he that slayeth his neighbour. He that sheddeth out blood, and he that doeth fraud to an hired man, be brethren.

13 And I saw a beast ascending up of the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns; and on his horns ten diadems, and on his heads the names of blasphemy^[a].

² And the beast, whom I saw, was like a pard [was like to a pard, or a leopard], and his feet as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave his virtue and great power to him [and the dragon gave to that his virtue and great power].

³ And I saw one of his heads, as slain into death; and the wound of his death was cured [and the wound of his death is cured, or healed]. And all the earth wondered after the beast.

⁴ And they worshipped the dragon, that gave power to the beast; and they worshipped the beast, and said, Who is like to the beast, and who shall be able to fight with it [saying, Who is like to the beast, and who shall be able to fight with him]?

⁵ And a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies, was given to it [is given to him]; and power was given to it [and power is given to him], to do two and forty months.

⁶ And it opened his mouth into blasphemies to God^[b], to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

⁷ And it was given to him to make battle with saints, and to overcome them; and power was given to him into each lineage [into all lineages], and people, and language [and tongue], and folk.

⁸ And all men worshipped it, that dwell in earth, whose names be not written in the book of life of the lamb, that was slain from the beginning of the world.

⁹ If any man hath ears, hear he.

¹⁰ He that leadeth into captivity, shall go into captivity; he that slayeth with sword, it behooveth him to be slain with sword. This is the patience and the faith of saints.

¹³ And one of the people said to him [Soothly some man of the company saith to him], Master, say to my brother, that he part with me the heritage.

¹⁴ And he said to him, Man, who ordained me a doomsman, or a parter, on you [over you]?

¹⁵ And he said to them, See ye, and beware of all covetousness; for the life of a man is not in the abundance of the things, which he wieldeth.

¹⁶ And he told to them a likeness, and said, The field of a rich man brought forth plenteous fruits. [Soothly he said to them a likeness, saying, The field of some rich man brought forth plenteous fruits.]

¹⁷ And he thought within himself, and said [saying], What shall I do, for I have not whither I shall gather my fruits?

¹⁸ And he saith, This thing I shall do; I shall throw down my barns, and I shall make greater, and thither I shall gather all things that grow to me, and my goods.

¹⁹ And I shall say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many goods kept into full many years [thou hast many goods put up, or kept, into full many years]; rest thou, eat, drink, and make feast.

²⁰ And God said to him, Fool, in this night they shall take thy life from thee. And whose shall those things be, that thou hast arrayed? [Soothly God said to him, Fool, in this night they shall ask of thee thy soul. Forsooth whose shall those things be, which thou hast made ready?]

²¹ So is he that treasureth to himself, and is not rich in God.

²² And he said to his disciples, Therefore I say to you, do not ye be busy to your life, what ye shall eat, neither to your body, with what ye shall be clothed.

²³ The life is more than meat, and the body more than clothing.

²⁴ Behold the crows, for they sow not, neither reap [nor reap], to which is neither cellar, nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more ye be of more price than they [How much more be ye of more price than they(?)].

²⁵ And who of you by thinking may put one cubit to his stature [may add one cubit to his stature]?

²⁶ Therefore if ye be not able to do that that is least [Therefore if ye may not do that that is least], what be ye busy of other things?

²⁷ Behold ye the lilies of the field, how they wax; they travail not, neither spin. And I say to you, that neither Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these.

²⁸ And if God clotheth thus the hay, that to day is in the field [which to day is in the field], and to morrow is cast into an oven; how much more you of little faith.

²⁹ And do not ye seek, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; and do not ye be raised on high.

³⁰ For folks of the world seek all these things; and your Father knoweth, that ye have need to all these things.

³¹ Nevertheless seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be cast to you.