Book of Common Prayer

¹⁴⁵ [Koph]. I cried in all mine heart, Lord, hear thou me; I shall seek thy justifyings. (I cried with all my heart, O Lord, please answer me; for I shall follow thy statutes.)

¹⁴⁶ I cried to thee, make thou me safe; that I keep thy commandments. (I cried to thee, save thou me; so that I can keep thy commandments/and I shall obey thy commandments.)

¹⁴⁷ I before came in ripeness, and I cried; I hoped above on thy words. (I came before thee in the morning; I have great hope in thy words.)

¹⁴⁸ Mine eyes before came to thee full early; that I should bethink (on) thy speeches. (My eyes be open through the night/I lie awake all night; so that I can think about thy words.)

¹⁴⁹ Lord, hear thou my voice by thy mercy; and quicken thou me by thy doom. (Lord, hear thou me in thy mercy; and grant thou me life according to thy judgement./Lord, hear thou me in thy love; and grant thou me life by thy decree.)

¹⁵⁰ They that pursue me nighed to wickedness; forsooth they be made far from thy law. (They who pursue me approach near to wickedness; and they be made far from thy Law./They who wickedly pursue me come near to me; but they be made far from thy Law.)

¹⁵¹ Lord, thou art nigh; and all thy ways be truth. (Lord, thou art near; and all thy commandments be true.)

¹⁵² In the beginning I knew of thy witnessings; for thou hast founded those [into] without end. (Long ago I knew of thy teachings; for thou hast founded them to last forever.)

¹⁵³ [Resh]. See thou my meekness, and deliver thou me; for I forgat not thy law. (See thou my troubles, and save thou me; for I have not forgotten thy Law.)

¹⁵⁴ Deem thou my doom, and again-buy thou me; quicken me for thy speech. (Judge thou my case, and buy thou me back, that is, rescue me; yea, grant thou me life according to thy word, or thy promise.)

¹⁵⁵ Health is far from sinners; for they sought not thy justifyings. (Salvation is far from sinners; for they did not search out thy statutes/for they do not obey thy laws.)

¹⁵⁶ Lord, thy mercies be many; quicken thou me by thy doom. (Lord, thy constant love is great; grant thou me life according to thy judgement./Lord, thy mercy is great; grant thou me life by thy decree.)

¹⁵⁷ They be many that pursue me, and do tribulation to me; I bowed not away from thy witnessings. (There be many who persecute me, and give me trouble; but I have not turned away from thy teachings.)

¹⁵⁸ I saw breakers of the law, and I was melted, either languished; for they kept not thy speeches. (I saw the law-breakers, and I was greatly distressed; for they did not obey thy words, or thy commands.)

¹⁵⁹ Lord, see thou, for I loved thy commandments; quicken thou me in thy mercy. (Lord, see thou, how I love thy precepts; grant thou me life according to thy love.)

¹⁶⁰ The beginning of thy word is truth; all the dooms of thy rightwiseness be [into] without end. (The beginning of thy word is truth; and all thy righteous judgements be forever.)

¹⁶¹ [Schin]. Princes pursued me without cause; and my heart dreaded of thy words. (The rulers persecuted me for no reason; but my heart is in awe of thy words.)

¹⁶² I shall be glad on thy speeches; as he that findeth many spoils. (I shall be glad, or rejoice, in thy words; yea, like he who findeth much prey.)

¹⁶³ I hated and loathed wickedness; forsooth I loved thy law. (I hate and loathe all lies; but I love thy Law.)

¹⁶⁴ I said praisings to thee seven times in the day; on the dooms of thy rightfulness. (Seven times a day I praise thee; for thy righteous judgements/for thy rightful decrees.)

¹⁶⁵ Much peace is to them that love thy law; and no cause of stumbling is to them. (There is much peace for those who love thy Law; and they have no reason to slip, or to stumble.)

¹⁶⁶ Lord, I abode thine health; and I loved thy behests. (Lord, I wait for thy salvation, or thy deliverance; and I follow thy commandments.)

¹⁶⁷ My soul kept thy witnessings; and loved those greatly. (I obey thy teachings; and I love them so very much.)

¹⁶⁸ I kept thy commandments, and thy witnessings; for all my ways be in thy sight. (I obey thy precepts, and thy teachings; and all my ways be before thee.)

¹⁶⁹ [Tau]. Lord, my beseeching come nigh in thy sight; by thy speech give thou understanding to me. (Lord, let my plea come before thee; give thou me understanding of thy word/give thou me understanding according to thy word.)

¹⁷⁰ Mine asking enter into thy sight; by thy speech deliver thou me. (Let my asking come before thee; save thou me according to thy word.)

¹⁷¹ My lips shall tell out an hymn; when thou hast taught me thy justifyings. (My lips shall tell out thy praises/My lips shall praise thee; because thou hast taught me thy statutes.)

¹⁷² My tongue shall pronounce thy speech; for why all thy commandments be equity. (My tongue shall tell out thy word; for all thy commandments be just, or fair.)

¹⁷³ Thine hand be made, that it save me; for I have chosen thy behests. (Let thy hand swiftly save me; for I have chosen thy precepts.)

¹⁷⁴ Lord, I coveted thine health; and thy law is my thinking. (Lord, I desire thy salvation, or thy deliverance; and thy Law is my delight.)

¹⁷⁵ My soul shall live, and it shall praise thee; and thy dooms shall help me. (Let me live, and I shall praise thee; and let thy judgements help me/and let thy decrees guide me.)

¹⁷⁶ I erred as a sheep that perished; Lord, seek thy servant, for I forgat not thy commandments. (I have wandered about like a lost sheep; Lord, search for thy servant, for I have not forgotten thy commandments.)

128 The song of degrees. Blessed be all men, that dread the Lord; that go in his ways. (Happy be all those, who fear the Lord/who revere the Lord; and who go in his ways.)

² For thou shalt eat the travails of thine hands; thou art blessed, and it shall be well to thee. (For thou shalt eat the fruit of thy labour; thou shalt be happy, and it shall be well with thee.)

³ Thy wife shall be as a plenteous vine; in the sides of thine house. Thy sons as the new springs of olive trees; in the compass of thy board. (Thy wife shall be like a fruitful vine; by the side of thy house. And thy sons and thy daughters shall be like the new branches of olive trees; all around thy table.)

⁴ Lo! so a man shall be blessed; that dreadeth the Lord. (Lo! so shall the man be blessed; who feareth the Lord/who hath reverence for the Lord.)

⁵ The Lord bless thee from Zion; and see thou the goods of Jerusalem in all the days of thy life. (May the Lord bless thee from Zion; and may thou see the prosperity of Jerusalem/and may thou share in the prosperity of Jerusalem, all the days of thy life.)

⁶ And see thou the sons of thy sons; see thou peace on Israel. (And may thou see the sons of thy sons/the children of thy children. May peace be upon Israel.)

129 The song of degrees. Israel say now; Oft they have fought against me from my youth. (Let Israel say now; they have often fought against me from my youth.)

² Oft they [have] fought against me from my youth; and soothly they might not to me (Yea, they have often fought against me from my youth; but truly they could never overcome me.)

³ Sinners forged on my back; they made long their wickedness. (The sinners scourged my back; they made their furrows deep and long in me.)

⁴ The Lord is just, (he) shall beat (together) the nolls of sinners; (But the Lord is just, and he shall free me from the bonds of the wicked;)

⁵ all that hate Zion be they shamed, and turned aback. (let all who hate Zion be put to shame, and be turned, or driven, back.)

⁶ Be they made as the hay of housetops; that dried up, before that it be drawn up. (Be they made like the grass on the rooftops; it dried up, before that it could be pulled up.)

⁷ Of which hay he that shall reap, shall not fill his hand; and he that shall gather handfuls, shall not fill his bosom. (Of which grass he who shall reap, shall not get a handful; and he who shall gather handfuls, shall not get an armful.)

⁸ And they that passed forth said not, The blessing of the Lord be on you; we blessed you in the name of the Lord. (And so they who pass by, shall never say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you; we bless you in the name of the Lord.)

130 The song of degrees. Lord, I cried to thee from the depths;

² Lord, hear thou my voice. Thine ears be made attentive into the voice of my beseeching (Let thy ears be made attentive to the words of my plea).

³ Lord, if thou keepest wickednesses; Lord, who shall sustain, or abide? (Lord, if thou keepest a record of our wickednesses; then Lord, who shall survive?/then Lord, who will not be condemned?)

⁴ For mercy is at thee; (But there is mercy with thee, and I stand in awe of thee;)

⁵ and, Lord, for thy law I abode thee. My soul sustained in his word; (yea, Lord, I wait for thee. My soul is sustained, and I hope, and I trust, in his word.)

⁶ my soul hoped in the Lord. From the morrowtide keeping till to the night; (My soul waiteth for the Lord, more eagerly than those who wait for the morning light; yea, more eagerly than those who stand guard, or be on watch, until the morning light.)

⁷ Israel hope in the Lord. For why mercy is at the Lord; and plenteous redemption is at him. (Israel, trust in the Lord. For there is always love with the Lord; and there is plentiful redemption with him.)

⁸ And he shall again-buy Israel; from all the wickednesses thereof. (And he shall redeem the people of Israel; from all their wickednesses.)

6 My son, if thou hast promised for thy friend, thou hast fastened thine hand at a stranger. (My son, if thou hast pledged yourself, or made a guarantee, for thy friend, then thou hast fastened thy hand to a stranger.)

² Thou art bound by the words of thy mouth; and thou art taken with thine own words (and thou art caught by thy own words, or thy promises).

³ Therefore, my son, do thou that that I say, and deliver thyself; for thou hast fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run thou about, haste thou, raise thy friend; (And so my son, do thou what I say, and save thyself; for thou hast fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run thou about, haste thou, implore thy friend;)

⁴ give thou not sleep to thine eyes, neither (let) thine eyelids nap.

⁵ Be thou ravished, as a doe from the hand; and as a bird from [the] ambushings of the fowler. (Be thou released, like a doe from the hand of the hunter; and like a bird from the ambush of the fowler.)

⁶ O! thou slow man (O! thou lazy one), go to the ant; and behold thou his ways, and learn thou wisdom.

⁷ Which when he hath no duke, neither commander, nor prince (nor leader);

⁸ maketh ready in summer meat to himself, and gathereth together in harvest that, that he shall eat. (prepareth food for himself in the summer, and gathereth together at harvest time what he shall eat.)

⁹ How long shalt thou, slow man, sleep? (How long shalt thou, O lazy one, sleep?) when shalt thou rise from thy sleep?

¹⁰ A little thou shalt sleep, a little thou shalt nap; (and) a little thou shalt join together thine hands that thou sleep (again).

¹¹ And then neediness, as a waygoer, shall come to thee; and poverty, as an armed man. Forsooth if thou art not slow (But if thou art not lazy), thy ripe corn shall come as a well; and neediness shall flee far from thee.

¹² A man apostate, a man unprofitable, (is) he (who) goeth with a wayward mouth;

¹³ he beckoneth with (the) eyes, he trampeth with the foot, he speaketh with the finger,

¹⁴ by shrewd heart he imagineth evil, and in all time he soweth dissensions. (with a depraved heart he imagineth all kinds of evil, and at all times he soweth discord.)

¹⁵ His perdition shall come to him anon, and he shall be broken suddenly; and he shall no more have medicine. (His perdition shall come upon him at once, and suddenly he shall be broken; and then he shall be without any remedy.)

¹⁶ Six things there be, which the Lord hateth; and his soul curseth the seventh thing.

¹⁷ High eyes, a tongue liar, that is, accustomable to deadly leasing (a lying tongue, that is, one accustomed to deadly lies), hands shedding out innocent blood,

¹⁸ an heart imagining full wicked thoughts, feet swift to run into evil (feet quick to run to evil),

¹⁹ a man bringing forth leasing, a false witness; and him that soweth discord among brethren. (a liar, that is, a false witness; and he who soweth discord among brothers, or among friends.)

5 Each man that believeth that Jesus is Christ, is born of God; and each man that loveth him that engendered [and each that loveth him that gendereth], loveth him that is born of him.

² In this thing we know, that we love the children of God, when we love God, and do his commandments.

³ For this is the charity of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments be not heavy [and his commandments be not grievous].

⁴ For all thing that is born of God, overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, our faith.

⁵ And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

⁶ This is Jesus Christ, that came by water and blood; not in water only, but in water and blood. And the Spirit is he that witnesseth, that Christ is [the] truth.

⁷ For three be, that give witnessing in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost [For three be, that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, or Son, and the Holy Ghost]; and these three be one.

⁸ And three be, that give witnessing in earth, the Spirit, water, and blood; and these three be one.

⁹ If we receive the witnessing of men, the witnessing of God is more; for this is the witnessing of God, that is more, for he witnessed of his Son.

¹⁰ He that believeth in the Son of God, hath the witnessing of God in him. He that believeth not to the Son, maketh him a liar; for he believeth not in the witnessing, that God witnessed of his Son.

¹¹ And this is the witnessing, for God gave to you everlasting life [for God gave to us everlasting life], and this life is in his Son.

¹² He that hath the Son of God, hath also life [He that hath the Son, hath life]; he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life.

⁴⁵ Therefore many of the Jews that came to Mary and Martha, and saw what things Jesus did, believed in him.

⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees, and said to them, what things Jesus had done.

⁴⁷ Therefore the bishops and the Pharisees gathered a council against Jesus, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles [for this man doeth many signs, or miracles].

⁴⁸ If we leave him thus, all men shall believe in him; and Romans shall come, and shall take our place and our folk [and Romans shall come, and take our place and folk].

⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas by name, when he was bishop of that year, said to them, Ye know nothing,

⁵⁰ nor think, that it speedeth to you, that one man die for the people, and that all the folk perish not.

⁵¹ But [Forsooth] he said not this thing of himself, but when he was bishop of that year, he prophesied, that Jesus was to die for the folk,

⁵² and not only for the folk, but that he should gather into one the sons of God that were scattered.

⁵³ Therefore from that day they thought for to slay him.

⁵⁴ Therefore Jesus walked not then openly among the Jews [Therefore Jesus walked not now openly at the Jews]; but he went into a country beside [the] desert, into a city, that is said Ephraim, and there he dwelled with his disciples [and there he dwelt with his disciples].