Book of Common Prayer
70 To the victory, [the psalm] of David, to have mind. God, behold thou into mine help; Lord, haste thou to help me. (To victory, the song of David, to bring to mind or remembrance. God, look thou to help me; Lord, hasten thou to help me.)[a]
2 Be they shamed, and ashamed; that seek my life. Be they turned aback; and shame they, that will evils to me. (Be they shamed, and ashamed; all who seek to take my life. Be they turned back, and be ashamed; all who desire evil for me.)
3 Be they turned away anon, and shame they; that say to me, Well! well! (Be they turned away at once, and be they ashamed; who scornfully say to me, Well! well!)
4 All men that seek thee, make fully joy, and be glad in thee; and they that love thine health, say ever[more], The Lord be magnified. (But let all those who seek thee, make full out joy, or rejoice, and be glad in thee; and let those who love thy salvation, or thy deliverance, say forevermore, The Lord be magnified.)
5 Forsooth I am a needy man, and poor (But I am a poor and needy man); God help thou me. Thou art mine helper and my deliverer; Lord, tarry thou not.
71 Lord, I hoped in thee; be I not shamed [into] without end; (Lord, I put my trust in thee; never let me be put to shame;)
2 in thy rightwiseness deliver thou me, and ravish me out. Bow down thine ear to me; and make me safe. (in thy righteousness save thou me, and rescue me. Bow down thy ear to me; and save me.)
3 Be thou to me into God a defender; and into a strengthened place, that thou make me safe. For thou art my steadfastness; and my refuge. (God, be thou my defender; and a place of strength, where I shall be safe. For thou art my steadfastness; and my refuge.)
4 My God, deliver thou me from the hand of the sinner; and from the hand of a man doing against the law, and of the wicked man. (My God, rescue thou me from the power of the sinner; and from the power of the law-breakers, and of the wicked.)
5 For thou, Lord, art my patience (For thou, Lord, art whom I put my trust in); Lord, thou art mine hope from my youth.
6 In thee I am confirmed, that is, defended, from the womb; thou art my defender from the womb of my mother. My singing is ever[more] in thee (My praises shall be to thee forevermore);
7 I am made as a great wonder to many men; and thou art a strong helper. (I am made a great example to many men; but thou art my strong helper.)
8 My mouth be filled with praising; that I sing thy glory, all day thy greatness. (My mouth shall be filled with praise; and I shall sing of thy glory, and of thy greatness, all day long.)
9 Cast thou not away me in the time of eld (age)/in the time of oldness; when my strength faileth, forsake thou not me. (Cast thou me not away in the time of old age; when my strength faileth, desert thou me not.)
10 For mine enemies said of me; and they that kept my life made counsel together. (For my enemies spoke against me; those who laid ambush for me took counsel together.)
11 Saying, God hath forsaken him; pursue ye, and take him; for none there is that shall deliver. (And they said, God hath deserted him; pursue ye after him, and take hold of him; for there is no one who will save him.)
12 God, be thou not made afar from me; my God, behold thou into mine help. (God, be thou not made far away from me; my God, hasten thou to help me.)
13 Men that backbite my soul, be shamed, and fail they; and be they covered with reproof and shame, that seek evils to me. (Let those who backbite me be shamed, and fail they; let those who seek evil for me, be covered with reproach and shame.)
14 But I shall hope ever[more]; and I shall add to ever over all thy praising. (But I shall have hope in thee forevermore; and I shall praise thee more and more.)
15 My mouth shall tell thy rightfulness; all day thine health. For I knew not (by) literature, that is, by man’s teaching, but by God’s revelation, (My mouth shall tell out thy righteousness; and thy salvation, or thy deliverance, all day long. For I know not by literature, that is, by man’s teaching, or by reading and study, but by the revelation of God.)
16 I shall enter into the powers of the Lord; Lord, I shall bethink on thy rightfulness alone. (I shall walk in the Lord’s strength; I shall tell out thy righteousness, thine alone.)
17 God, thou hast taught me from my youth, and till to now; I shall tell out thy marvels. (God, thou hast taught me from my youth; and I have told out all thy marvellous deeds.)
18 And till into eld (age)/into oldness, and the last age; God, forsake thou not me. Till I tell thine arm, or power, to each generation that shall come. (And now in my old age, and in the last moments; O God, do not thou desert, or abandon, me. And I shall tell of thy power, or of thy might, to each generation yet to come.)
19 Till I tell (of) thy might, and thy rightfulness, God, till into the highest great deeds which thou hast done; God, who is like thee? (Yea, until I tell of thy might, or of thy power, and thy righteousness, O God; and of the greatest deeds which thou hast done! O God, who is like thee!)
20 How great tribulations, many and evil, hast thou showed to me; and thou converted, hast quickened me, and hast again-brought me again from the depths of earth. (What great troubles, many and evil, thou hast sent me! and then turned, thou hast granted me life, and hast brought me up again from the watery depths of the earth/and hast brought me up again from the grave.)
21 Thou hast multiplied thy great doing; and thou converted (and thou turned), hast comforted me.
22 For why and I shall acknowledge to thee, thou God, thy truth in the instruments of psalm; I shall sing in an harp to thee, that art the holy of Israel. (And I shall praise thee, O God, for thy faithfulness, with the instruments of song; I shall sing to thee on a harp, O Holy One of Israel.)
23 My lips shall make fully joy, when I shall sing to thee; and my soul, which thou again-boughtest. (My lips shall make full out joy, when I shall sing to thee; as will my soul, which thou hast bought back, or redeemed.)
24 But and my tongue shall think all day on thy rightfulness; when they shall be shamed and ashamed, that seek evils to me. (And my tongue shall tell of thy righteousness all day long; and they, who seek evil for me, shall be shamed, and ashamed.)
74 The learning of Asaph. God, why hast thou put (us) away into the end; thy strong vengeance is wroth on the sheep of thy pasture? (The teaching of Asaph. God, why hast thou deserted us? is it forever? and why is thy anger, yea, thy fury, so strong against the sheep of thy pasture?)
2 Be thou mindful of thy gathering together; which thou haddest in possession from the beginning. Thou again-boughtest the rod of thine heritage; the hill of Zion, in which thou dwelledest therein. (Remember thy congregation; whom thou haddest in possession since the old days. Thou redeemedest this tribe for thy inheritance. And remember Mount Zion; where thou dwelledest.)
3 Raise thine hands into the prides of them; how great things the enemy did wickedly in the holy (place). (How greatly wicked were the things that the enemy did in the holy place; raise up thy hands against their pride.)
4 And they that hated thee; had glory in the midst of thy solemnity. They setted their signs, either banners, to be signs on the highest (place), as in the out-going; and they knew not. (For they who hated thee, had glory in the midst of thy holy place. They set up their signs, or their banners, there, as signs of victory.)
5 As in a wood of trees, they hewed down with axes the gates thereof into itself; (Like in a forest, they hewed down its gates with their axes, as if they were woodsmen;)
6 they casted down it with an ax, and a broad falling ax. (they threw them down with their axes, yea, with their broad falling axes.)
7 They burnt with fire thy saintuary; they defouled the tabernacle of thy name in earth. (They burned thy sanctuary with fire; they defiled the Temple of thy name, and razed it to the ground.)
8 The kindred of them said together in their heart; Make we all the feast days of God to cease in the earth. (They said in their hearts, Let us altogether destroy them; and they burned down all the synagogues of God in the land/and they burned down all the holy places of God in the land.)
9 We have not seen our signs, now there is no prophet; and he shall no more know us. (We cannot see our signs, that is, the future, for now there is no prophet here; and none of us know how long this shall last.)
10 God, how long shall the enemy say despite? the adversary stirreth to ire thy name into the end. (God, how long shall the enemy show their despising of us? shall the adversary scorn thy name forever?)
11 Why turnest thou away thine hand, and to (not) draw out thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom, till into the end? (Why turnest thou away thy hand, and why draw thou not out thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom?)
12 Forsooth God our king before worlds, wrought health in the midst of earth. (But God, our King forever, hath given salvation, or deliverance, all the world over.)
13 Thou madest firm the sea by thy virtue; thou hast troubled the heads of the dragons in waters. (Thou dividedest the sea by thy strength, or thy power; thou hast broken the heads of the dragons in the water/thou hast broken the heads of the Dragon in the water.)
14 Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon; thou hast given him to be meat to the peoples of Ethiopians. (Thou hast broken the heads of the Dragon, or of Leviathan; thou hast given him to be food for the peoples of the desert.)
15 Thou hast broken wells, and strands; thou madest dry the floods of Eitan. (Thou hast broken open the wells, or the springs, and the streams; thou hast dried up the mighty rivers.)
16 The day is thine, and the night is thine; thou madest the morrowtide and the sun.
17 Thou madest all the ends of the earth; summer, and ver time, either springing time (or spring time), thou formedest those.
18 Be thou mindful of this thing, the enemy hath said shame to the Lord; and the unwise people hath excited to ire thy name. (Remember this, that the enemy hath said shame to the Lord; and that the foolish and the ignorant have scorned thy name.)
19 Betake thou not (over) to beasts men acknowledging to thee; and forget thou not into the end the souls of thy poor men. (Give thou not over to beasts those who confess thee; and forget thou not forever the suffering of thy poor.)
20 Behold into thy testament; for they that be made dark of (the) earth, be [full-]filled with the houses of wickednesses. (Remember thy covenant; for the dark places of the earth, be filled full with the houses of wickedness.)
21 A meek man be not turned away made ashamed; a poor man and needy shall praise thy name. (Let not the humble be turned away, and be made ashamed; yea, let the poor and the needy praise thy name.)
22 God, rise up, deem thou thy cause; be thou mindful of thy shames, either upbraidings, of those that be all day of the unwise man. (God, rise up, defend thou thy own case; remember the reproaches, or the upbraidings, that come to thee all day long, from the foolish and the ignorant.)
23 Forget thou not the voices of thine enemies; the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth ever[more]. (Do not thou forget the words, or the shouts, of thy enemies; the noise of those who hate thee goeth up forevermore.)
23 Forsooth Sarah lived an hundred and seven and twenty years,
2 and died in the city of Arba (and then she died in Kiriatharba), which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to bewail and (to) beweep her.
3 And when he had risen from the office of the dead body, he spake to the sons of Heth, and said, (And when he had risen up from before his dead wife’s body, he said to the Hittites,)
4 I am a comeling and a pilgrim with you; give ye to me (the) right of [a] sepulchre with you, that I bury my dead body. (I am a newcomer and a foreigner among you; sell ye me some land for a burial place, so that I can bury my dead wife’s body on it.)
5 And the sons of Heth answered, and said, (And the Hittites answered, and said,)
6 Lord, hear thou us; thou art the prince of God with us; bury thou thy dead body in our chosen sepulchres, and no man shall be able to forbid thee, that not thou bury thy dead body in the sepulchre of him. (My lord, hear thou us; thou art the prince of God with us; bury thou thy dead wife’s body in the choicest of our burial places; none of us shall forbid thee, to bury thy dead wife’s body in his burial place.)
7 And Abraham [a]rose, and worshipped the people of the land, that is, the sons of Heth. (And Abraham arose, and bowed before the people of the land, that is, the Hittites.)
8 And he said to them, If it pleaseth your soul that I bury my dead body (If it pleaseth your soul that I bury my dead wife’s body here), hear ye me, and pray ye for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar,
9 that he give to me the double cave, which he hath in the uttermost part of his field; for sufficient money give he it to me before you into possession of [a] sepulchre. (that he give me the cave at Machpelah, which he hath in the uttermost part of his field, for the full price; yea, let him sell it to me for a possession of a burial place here among you.)
10 Forsooth Ephron dwelled in the midst of the sons of Heth (And Ephron happened to be sitting there in the midst of the other Hittites). And Ephron answered to Abraham, while all (the) men heard that entered [in] by the gate of that city, and (he) said,
11 My lord, it shall not be done so, but more harken thou (to) that that I say; I give to thee the field, and the cave which is therein, while the sons of my people be present; bury thou thy dead body. (My lord, it shall not be done so, but more harken thou to what I say; I give thee the field, and the cave which is in it, while the sons of my people be present; bury thou thy wife’s dead body there.)
12 Abraham worshipped before the Lord, and before the people of the land, (And Abraham bowed low before the people of the land,)
13 and he spake to Ephron, while his people stood about, (and said,) I beseech, that thou hear me; I shall give money (to thee) for the field, receive thou it, and so I shall bury my dead body in the field (and then I shall bury my dead wife’s body there in the field).
14 And Ephron answered,
15 My lord, hear thou me; the land which thou askest (for) is worth four hundred shekels of silver, that is the price betwixt me and thee; but (now) how much is this? bury thou thy dead body (so bury thou thy dead wife’s body there).
16 And when Abraham had heard this, he numbered (out) the money which Ephron asked (for), while the sons of Heth heard (And when Abraham had heard this, he counted out the money which Ephron had named, and which the other Hittites had also heard him say), (that is,) four hundred shekels of silver, and of proved common money.
17 And the field that was sometime of Ephron, in which field was a double den, beholding to Mamre, as well that field, as the den, and all the trees thereof, in all the terms thereof by compass, (And so the field that belonged to Ephron, which field was at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, that field, and the cave, and all the trees, within its boundaries all around,)
18 was confirmed to Abraham into (a) possession, while the sons of Heth saw, and all men that entered by the gate of that city. (was confirmed as Abraham’s possession, before the Hittites, and all the other men who came in by the city gate.)
19 And so Abraham buried Sarah, his wife, in the double den of the field, that beheld to Mamre; this is Hebron in the land of Canaan. (And so Abraham buried his wife Sarah, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre; this is Hebron in the land of Canaan.)
20 And the field, and the den that was therein, was confirmed of the sons of Heth to Abraham, into possession of (a) sepulchre. (And the field, and the cave that was in it, were confirmed by the Hittites to be Abraham’s possession for a burial place.)
32 And what yet shall I say? For time shall fail to me [Soothly time shall fail me] telling of Gedeon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, and Samuel, and of other prophets;
33 which by faith overcame realms, wrought rightwiseness, got repromissions; they stopped the mouths of lions,
34 they quenched the fierceness of fire, they drove away the edge of sword, they recovered of sickness, they were made strong in battle, they turned the hosts of aliens.
35 Women received their dead children from death to life; but others were held forth, not taking redemption [Women received their dead of again-rising; forsooth others were holden forth, or dead, not taking redemption], that they should find a better again-rising.
36 And others assayed scornings and beatings, moreover and bonds and prisons.
37 They were stoned, they were sawed, they were tempted, they were dead in slaying of sword. They went about in badger skins [They went about in brock skins], and in skins of goats, needy, anguished, tormented;
38 to which the world was not worthy. They wandered in wildernesses [They erring in wildernesses], and in mountains and dens, and [in] caves of the earth.
39 And all these, approved by witnessing of faith [proved by witnessing of faith], took not repromission;
40 for God provided some better thing for us, that they should not be made perfect without us.
12 Therefore [and] we that have so great a cloud of witnesses put to [us], do we away all charge, and sin standing about us, and by patience run we to the battle purposed to us,
2 beholding into the maker of faith, and the perfect ender, Jesus; which when joy was purposed to him, he suffered the cross [suffered the cross], and despised confusion, and sitteth on the right half of the seat of God.
60 Therefore many of his disciples hearing [this], said, This word is hard, who may hear it?
61 But Jesus witting at himself, that his disciples grumbled of this thing [Forsooth Jesus witting with himself, for his disciples grutched of this thing], said to them, This thing offendeth you?
62 Therefore if ye [shall] see man's Son ascending [up], where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I have spoken to you, be spirit and life.
65 And he said, Therefore I said to you, that no man may come to me, but it were given to him of my Father.
66 From this time many of his disciples went aback, and went not now with him.
67 Therefore Jesus said to the twelve, Whether ye will also go away?
68 And Simon Peter answered to him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast words of everlasting life;
69 and we believe, and have known [and we have believed, and know], that thou art Christ, the Son of God.
70 Therefore Jesus answered to them, Whether I chose not you twelve, and one of you is a fiend [and one of you is a devil]?
71 And he said this of Judas of Simon Iscariot, for this was to betray him, when he was one of the twelve.
2001 by Terence P. Noble