Book of Common Prayer

137 On the floods of Babylon, there we sat, and wept; while we bethought on Zion. (By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, and wept; when we thought about Zion.)

² In sallows in the midst thereof; we hanged up our organs. (On the willows nearby; we hung up our harps.)

³ For they that led us prisoners; asked us there the words of songs. And they that led away us said; Sing ye to us an hymn of the songs of Zion. (For they who led us away as prisoners; told us to sing there. Yea, they who led us away said, Sing ye for us a hymn of the songs of Zion.)

⁴ How shall we sing a song of the Lord; in an alien land? (But how can we sing a song to the Lord, in a foreign, or a strange, land?)

⁵ If I forget thee, Jerusalem; my right hand be given to forgetting. (Yea, if I forget thee, Jerusalem; may my right hand forget how to play my harp/may my right hand wither away.)

⁶ My tongue cleave to my cheeks; if I bethink not on thee. If I purposed not of thee, Jerusalem; in the beginning of my gladness. (And may my tongue cleave to my cheeks; if I do not remember thee, Jerusalem. Yea, if I do not think of thee, as my greatest joy.)

⁷ Lord, have thou mind on the sons of Edom; for the day of Jerusalem. Which say, Extinguish ye, extinguish ye; till to the foundament therein. (Lord, remember what the Edomites did; on that day that Jerusalem fell. They said, Destroy ye it! destroy ye it! unto its foundations!)

⁸ Thou wretched daughter of Babylon; he is blessed, that yieldeth to thee thy yielding, which thou yieldest to us. (O wretched daughter of Babylon; happy is he, who doeth to thee, what thou hast done to us/happy be those, who repay thee, for all that thou hast done to us.)

⁹ He is blessed, that shall hold; and hurtle down his little children at the stone. (Happy is he/Happy be they, who shall take hold of thy little children; and hurtle them against a stone.)

144 A psalm of David. Blessed be my Lord God, that teacheth mine hands to war; and my fingers to battle. (A song of David. Blessed be the Lord my God, who traineth my hands for war; and my fingers for battle.)

² My mercy, and my refuge; my taker up, and my deliverer. My defender, and I hoped in him; and thou makest subject my people under me. (My mercy, and my refuge; my defender, and my deliverer. Yea, my defender, and in whom I trust; and thou makest the peoples to be subject under me.)

³ Lord, what is a man, for thou hast made (thyself) known to him; either the son of man, for thou areckonest him of some value? (Lord, what is man, that thou hast taken notice of him?/that thou carest for him? or the son of a man, that thou reckonest, or esteemest, him of some value?)

⁴ A man is made like vanity; his days pass as shadow. (A person is but like vanity, yea, but a puff of air; his days pass like a shadow.)

⁵ Lord, bow down thine heavens, and come thou down; touch thou [the] hills, and they shall make smoke.

⁶ Light thou shining, and thou shalt scatter them (Send thou forth thy lightning, and thou shalt scatter thy enemies); send thou out thine arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.

⁷ Send out thine hand from on high, ravish me out, and deliver thou me from many waters; and from the hand of alien sons. (Send out thy hand from on high, and take me out of here, that is, rescue me; save thou me from the deep waters, and from the power of foreigners, or of strangers.)

⁸ The mouth of whom spake vanity (Their mouths spoke lies); and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness.

⁹ God, I shall sing to thee a new song; I shall say psalm to thee in psaltery of ten strings (yea, I shall sing a song to thee to the strains of a ten-stringed lute).

¹⁰ Which givest health to kings, which again-boughtest David, thy servant; from the wicked sword ravish thou out me. (Who givest salvation, or deliverance, to kings, and redeemest thy servant David; rescue thou me from the wicked sword.)

¹¹ And deliver thou me from the hand of alien sons; the mouth of which spake vanity, and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness. (And save thou me from the power of foreigners, or of strangers; whose mouths spoke lies, and whose right hands be the right hands of wickedness, that is, they always break their oaths, or their pledges.)

¹² Whose sons be as new plantings in their youth. The daughters of them be arrayed; adorned about as the likeness of a temple. (May our sons be like plants fully grown in their youth; may our daughters be arrayed, or adorned, like a palace.)

¹³ The cellars of them be full; bringing out from this vessel into that/from one vessel into another. The sheep of them be with lambs, plenteous in their goings out; (May our cellars be full; and we be able to bring forth from this vessel into that one/and we be able to bring forth from one vessel into another. May our sheep be with lambs; yea, plentiful and innumerable.)

¹⁴ their kine be fat. There is no falling of their wall, neither passing over (of it); neither cry is in the streets of them. (May all our kine be fat; and be there no parting in the walls of their wombs, nor any passing over of them. And may there be no cries of distress in all our streets.)

¹⁵ They said, The people is blessed, that hath these things; blessed is the people, whose Lord is the God of it. (And so we say, Happy be the people, who have things like we do; happy be the people, whose God is the Lord.)

104 My soul, bless thou the Lord; my Lord God, thou art magnified greatly. Thou hast clothed acknowledging and fairness; (My soul, bless thou the Lord; my Lord God, thou art greatly magnified. Thou art clothed with majesty and glory;)

² and thou art clothed with light, as with a cloth. And thou stretchest forth heaven as a skin; (and thou art clothed with light, like with a cloak. And thou stretchest forth, or spreadest out, the heavens like a tent;)

³ and thou coverest with waters the higher parts thereof. Which settest a cloud thy ascending; which goest on the feathers of winds. (and thou layest the beams of thy chambers upon the waters. Thou who makest a cloud thy chariot; and who goest upon the wings of the wind.)

⁴ Which makest spirits thine angels; and thy ministers (a) burning fire. (Who makest the winds to be thy messengers; and flames of fire, or flashes of lightning, to be thy servants.)

⁵ Which hast founded the earth on his stableness; it shall not be bowed into the world of world. (Who hast set the earth on its foundations; yea, it shall never be moved, or shaken.)

⁶ The depth of waters as a cloth is the clothing thereof; waters shall stand on hills. (The depth of waters, like a cloak, is its clothing; and the waters rose above, or covered, the mountains.)

⁷ Those shall flee from thy blaming; men shall be afeared of the voice of thy thunder. (The waters fled from thy rebuke; they were afraid of the sound of thy thunder.)

⁸ Hills go up, and fields go down; into the place which thou hast founded to those. (They went up over the mountains, and down into the valleys; to the place which thou hast prepared for them.)

⁹ Thou hast set a term, which they shall not pass (over); neither those shall be turned (again), for to cover the earth (nor shall they ever return to cover the earth).

¹⁰ And thou sendest out wells into great valleys (And thou sendest forth springs in the great valleys); (and the) waters shall pass betwixt the midst of (the) hills.

¹¹ All the beasts of the field shall drink; wild asses shall abide in their thirst, that is, to be filled in their thirst. (All the beasts of the field shall drink from these waters; the wild donkeys shall quench their thirst there.)

¹² [The] Birds of the air shall dwell on those; from the midst of the stones they shall give voices. (The birds of the air shall live on trees nearby; from the midst of the leaves they shall give out their voices.)

¹³ And thou moistest [the] hills of their higher things; the earth shall be [ful]filled of the fruit of thy works. (And thou waterest the hills from thy high places; and the earth shall be filled full with the fruit of thy works.)

¹⁴ And thou bringest forth hay to beasts; and herb to the service of men. That thou bring forth bread (out) of the earth; (And thou bringest forth hay, or grass, for the beasts; and plants for service to people. So that thou bring forth food from the earth;)

¹⁵ and that wine make glad the heart of men. That he make glad the face with oil; and that bread make steadfast the heart of man. (and wine to make the hearts of people glad. And oil to make their faces shine; and bread to make their hearts strong.)

¹⁶ The trees of the field shall be [full-]filled (The trees of the field be filled full with sap), and the cedars of the Lebanon, which he planted;

¹⁷ sparrows shall make nest there. The house of the gyrfalcon is the leader of those; (the sparrows make their nests there; and the homes of the gyrfalcons be on the tops of them.)

¹⁸ high hills be refuge to harts; the stone is refuge to urchins. (The high hills, or the mountains, be a refuge for the harts; and the stones be a refuge for the conies, or the rock badgers.)

¹⁹ He made the moon into times; the sun knew his going down. (Thou hast made the moon for telling times, or months; and the sun, it knoweth its time to go down, and when to set.)

²⁰ Thou hast set darknesses, and night is made; all beasts of the wood shall go therein.

²¹ Lions’ whelps roaring for to ravish (prey); and to seek of God meat to themselves. (The lions’ whelps roar while they hunt the prey; seeking food for themselves from God.)

²² The sun is risen, and those be gathered together; and those shall be set (down) in their couches. (Then the sun riseth, and they be gathered together; and they return to their dens.)

²³ A man shall go out to his work; and to his working, till to the eventide. (A man goeth out to his work; and doeth his labour, until the evening.)

²⁴ Lord, thy works be magnified full much, thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with thy possession(s). (Lord, thou hast made a great many things, thou hast made all things by thy wisdom; the earth is filled with thy creatures.)

²⁵ This sea is great and large to hands; there be creeping beasts, of which is no number. Little beasts with [the] great; (The sea is great, and too large to hold in our hands; and in it be creeping things of which there is no number. Yea, little beasts with the great.)

²⁶ ships shall pass there. This dragon which thou hast formed, for to scorn him. (Ships pass there; and that dragon, or Leviathan, which thou hast formed, playeth there.)

²⁷ All things abide of thee; that thou give to them meat in time. (All things wait for thee; to give them their food at the proper time.)

²⁸ When thou shalt give to them, they shall gather; when thou shalt open thine hand, all things shall be filled with goodness. (What thou givest to them, they gather up; when thou openest up thy hand, they be filled with good things.)

²⁹ But when thou shalt turn away thy face, they shall be troubled; thou shalt take away the spirit of them, and they shall fail; and they shall turn again into their dust. (But when thou turnest away thy face, they be troubled; and when thou takest away their breath, they fail; and then they return to the dust from whence they came.)

³⁰ Send out thy spirit, and they shall be formed of the new/and they shall be reformed of new; and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. (Give thou them breath, and they shall be formed anew; yea, thou shalt renew the face of all the earth.)

³¹ The glory of the Lord be into the world; the Lord shall be glad in his works. (May the glory of the Lord be forever; may the Lord be satisfied with, or happy over, his works.)

³² Which beholdeth the earth, and maketh it to tremble; which toucheth hills, and those smoke. (Who looketh upon the earth, and maketh it to tremble; who toucheth the hills, and they smoke.)

³³ I shall sing to the Lord in my life; I shall say psalm to my God, as long as I am. (I shall sing to the Lord all my life; yea, I shall sing psalms, or songs of praise, to my God, as long as I am.)

³⁴ My speech be merry to him/My speech be mirth to him; forsooth I shall delight in the Lord. (May my words please him; for my delight is in the Lord.)

³⁵ Sinners fail from the earth, and wicked men fail, so that they be not; my soul, bless thou the Lord. (May the sinners perish from the earth, and the wicked fail, so that they be not; but my soul, bless thou the Lord.)

²² The Lord wielded me in the beginning of his ways (The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways); before that he made anything, (yea,) at the (very) beginning.

²³ From without beginning I was ordained; and from eld times, before that the earth was made.

²⁴ [The] Depths of waters were not yet (made); and I was conceived then. The wells of waters had not broken out yet (The water wells had not yet broken forth),

²⁵ and hills stood not (al)together yet by firm heaviness; before little hills I was born. (and the mountains did not yet stand with firm heaviness; yea, I was born before the little hills.)

²⁶ Yet he had not made [the] earth; and floods, and the earths of the world. (He had not yet made the earth; and the rivers, and the dust of the world.)

²⁷ When he made ready heavens, I was present (When he prepared the heavens, I was there); (and) when he compassed, [or (en)closed,] the depths of (the) waters by certain law and compass.

²⁸ When he made steadfast the air above; and weighed the wells of waters (and set in place the water wells).

²⁹ When he compassed to the sea his mark (When he set the boundaries for the seas); and setted law to (the) waters, that they should not pass their coasts. When he weighed the foundaments of [the] earth;

³⁰ I was making all (these) things with him. And I delighted by all days, and played before him in all time,

³¹ and I played in the world; and my delights be to be with the sons of men (and my delight is to be with the sons and daughters of men).

³² Now, therefore, sons, hear ye me; blessed be they that keep my ways. (And so now, sons and daughters, listen ye to me; blessed be those who follow my ways.)

³³ Hear ye teaching, and be ye wise men; and do not ye cast it away. (Listen ye to my teaching, and be ye wise; and do not ye throw it away.)

³⁴ Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth at my gates all day (Happy is the person who listeneth to me, and who standeth watch at my gates all day long); and keepeth (guard) at the posts of my door[s].

³⁵ He that findeth me, shall find life; and he shall draw health of the Lord. (He who findeth me, shall find life; and he shall obtain favour from the Lord.)

³⁶ But he that sinneth against me shall hurt his soul; all that hate me, love death. (But he who sinneth against me shall hurt his own soul; all who hate me, love death.)

1 Paul, [the] apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, by the promise of life [after the promise of life] that is in Christ Jesus,

² to Timothy, his most dear-worthy son, grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father, and of Jesus Christ, our Lord [and Jesus Christ, our Lord].

³ I do thankings to my God, to whom I serve from my progenitors [from my progenitors, either ancestors,] in clean conscience, that without ceasing I have mind of thee in my prayers, night and day,

⁴ desiring to see thee; having mind of thy tears [mindful of thy tears], that I be filled with joy.

⁵ And I bethink of that faith [And I take recording, or mind, of that faith], that is in thee not feigned, which also dwelled first in thine aunt Lois, and in thy mother Eunice. And I am certain, that also in thee.

⁶ For which cause I admonish thee, that thou raise again the grace of God, that is in thee by the setting on of mine hands [by the on-putting of mine hands].

⁷ For why [Soothly] God gave not to us the spirit of dread, but of virtue, and of love, and of soberness.

⁸ Therefore do not thou shame the witnessing of our Lord Jesus Christ, neither me, his prisoner; but travail thou together in the gospel by the virtue of God [after the virtue of God];

⁹ that delivered us, and called with his holy calling, not after our works, but by his purpose and grace [that delivered us, and called with this holy calling, not after our works, but after his purpose and grace], that is given [to us] in Christ Jesus before worldly times;

¹⁰ but now it is open by the lightening of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which destroyed death, and lightened life and uncorruption by the gospel. [now forsooth it is open by the lighting of our Saviour Jesus Christ, the which soothly destroyed death, forsooth lighted life and uncorruption by the gospel.]

¹¹ In which I am set a preacher and apostle, and master of heathen men.

¹² For which cause also I suffer these things; but I am not confounded. For I know to whom I have believed, and I am certain that he is mighty to keep that (which) is taken to my keeping into that day.

¹³ Have thou the form of wholesome words [Have thou the form of whole words], which thou heardest of me in faith and love in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴ Keep thou the good [thing] taken to thy keeping by the Holy Ghost [Keep thou a good deposit, or thing taken to thy keeping, by the Holy Ghost], that dwelleth in us.

²⁰ And there were some heathen men, of them that had come up to worship in the feast day.

²¹ And these came to Philip, that was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and prayed him, and said, Sire, we will see Jesus [and prayed him, saying, Sire, we would see Jesus].

²² Philip cometh, and saith to Andrew; and again Andrew and Philip said to Jesus.

²³ And Jesus answered to them, and said [saying], The hour cometh, that man's Son be clarified.

²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, but a corn of wheat fall into the earth, and be dead, it dwelleth alone; but if it be dead, it bringeth [forth] much fruit.

²⁵ He that loveth his life, shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it into everlasting life.

²⁶ If any man serve me, follow he me; and where I am, there my minister shall be [there and my minister, or servant, shall be]. If any man serve me, my Father shall honour him [my Father shall worship him].