Book of Common Prayer
55 To victory in organs, the learning of David. God, hear thou my prayer, and despise thou not my beseeching; (To victory, on instruments, the teaching of David. God, hear thou my prayer, and despise thou not my plea;)
2 give thou attention to me, and hear thou me. I am sorrowful in mine exercising (I am grieved by my distress);
3 and I am disturbed of the face of the enemy, and of the tribulation of the sinner. For they bowed wickednesses into me; and in ire they were dis-easeful to me. (and I am made afraid by my enemies, and by the trouble which the sinners have brought upon me. For they bowed down wickednesses upon me; and with great anger they were very hateful to me.)
4 Mine heart was troubled in me; and the dread of death felled on me. (My heart was troubled within me; and the fear of death fell upon me.)
5 Dread and trembling came on me (Fear and trembling came upon me); and darknesses covered me.
6 And I said, Who shall give to me feathers, as of a culver; and I shall fly, and shall take rest? (And I said, Who shall give me wings like a dove? and then I can fly away, and get some rest.)
7 Lo! I went far away, and fled; and I dwelled in wilderness. (Lo! I would flee far away; and I would live in the wilderness.)
8 I abode him, that made me safe from the littleness, either dread, of spirit; and from tempest. (I would hasten, and make myself safe from the wind, and from the tempest.)
9 Lord, cast thou down, [and] part thou the tongues of them; for I saw wickedness and against-saying in the city.
10 By day and night wickedness shall (en)compass it on the walls thereof; and travail and unrightfulness be in the midst of them. (Day and night they surround the city, all along its walls; and trouble and unrighteousness be in its midst.)
11 And usury and guile failed not; from the streets thereof. (And greed, and deceit, always be found in its streets.)
12 For if mine enemy had cursed me; soothly I had suffered. And if he, that hated me, had spoken great things on me; in hap I had hid me from him. (For if my enemy had cursed me; truly I would have suffered it. And if he, who hated me, had spoken great things against me; I would have hid myself from him.)
13 But thou art a man of one will (with me); my leader, and my known. (But thou art a man of one mind with me; my leader, and my dear friend.)
14 Which tookest together sweet meats with me; we went with consent in(to) the house of God. (Who shared his good counsel with me; and we went together to the House of God.)
15 Death come on them; and go they down quick into hell (May death come upon them; and may they go down alive into Sheol, or the land of the dead). For waywardnesses be in the dwelling places of them; (and) in the midst of them.
16 But I cried to thee, Lord; and the Lord saved me. (But I shall cry to thee, Lord; and the Lord will save me.)
17 In the eventide, and [the] morrowtide, and in midday (and at midday), I shall tell, and show (him); and he shall hear my voice.
18 He shall again-buy my soul in peace from them, that nigh to me; for among many they were with me. (And he shall deliver my soul unto peace again, from those who come against me; for there were many against me.)
19 God shall hear; and he that is before the worlds shall make them low. For changing is not to them, and they dreaded not God; (God shall hear; and he who was before the worlds, shall humble them. For changing is not to them, and they do not fear God;)
20 he holdeth forth his hand in yielding. They defouled his testament, (indeed, they put forth their hands, against those who be at peace with them. They have broken their promise, or their covenant,)
21 the cheers thereof were parted from ire; and his heart nighed. The words thereof were softer than oil; and they be darts. (their words were smoother than butter; but battle was in their hearts. Their words were softer than oil; but they were as sharp as darts.)
22 Cast thy care, or thought, [(or) busyness,] on the Lord, and he shall fully nourish thee; and he shall not give [into] without end fluttering to a just man. (Cast thy burdens upon the Lord, and he shall nourish and protect thee; yea, he shall not allow the righteous to be moved, or shaken.)
23 But thou, God, shalt lead them forth; into the pit of death. Men-quellers and beguilers shall not have half their days; but, Lord, I shall hope in thee. (But murderers and deceivers shall not have half their days; for thou, God, shalt lead them forth, into the pit of death. But, O Lord, I shall put my trust in thee.)
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.)
2 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with darkness in his strong vengeance? he hath cast down from heaven into earth the noble city of Israel; and bethought not on the stool of his feet, in the day of his strong vengeance. (How the Lord hath covered the daughter of Zion with darkness in his strong vengeance! he hath thrown down the glory of Israel from heaven to the earth; and thought not about the stool of his feet, on the day of his strong vengeance.)
2 The Lord casted down, and spared not, all the fair things of Jacob; he destroyed in his strong vengeance the strongholds of the virgin of Judah, and casted down into [the] earth; he defouled the realm, and the princes thereof. (The Lord threw down, and spared not, all the beautiful things of Jacob; he destroyed in his strong vengeance the strongholds of the virgin of Judah, and threw them down to the ground; he defiled the kingdom, and its leaders.)
3 He brake in the ire of his strong vengeance all the horn of Israel; he turned aback his right hand from the face of the enemy; and he kindled in Jacob, as fire of flame devouring in compass (and he kindled against Jacob, like a fire of devouring flame all around it).
4 He as an enemy bent his bow, he as an adversary made steadfast his right hand; and he killed all thing that was fair in sight in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion; he shedded out his indignation as fire. (He bent his bow like an enemy, he made steadfast, or firm, his right hand like an adversary; and he killed everything that was beautiful in sight in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he poured out his anger like fire.)
5 The Lord is made as an enemy; he casted down Israel, he casted down all the walls thereof; he destroyed the strongholds thereof, and filled in the daughter of Judah a man made low, and a woman made low. (The Lord is made like an enemy; he threw down Israel, he threw down all its walls; he destroyed its strongholds, and filled the daughter of Judah full of men and women who were humbled, or were made low.)
6 And he scattered his tent as a garden (And he plowed under his tent like a garden), (yea,) he destroyed his tabernacle; the Lord gave to forgetting in Zion a feast day, and (the) sabbath; and (put) the king and (the) priest into shame, and into the indignation of his strong vengeance.
7 The Lord putted away his altar, he cursed his hallowing; he betook into the hands of the enemy the walls of the towers thereof; they gave voice in the house of the Lord, as in a solemn day. (The Lord destroyed his altar, he cursed his sanctuary; he gave into the hands of the enemy the walls of its towers; and the enemy gave his voice in the House of the Lord, like on a feast day.)
8 The Lord thought to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; he stretched forth his cord, and turned not away his hand from perdition; the forewall, either the outerward, mourned, and the wall was destroyed together (with it).
9 The gates thereof be pitched in the earth, he lost and all-brake the bars thereof; the king thereof and the princes thereof (be) among heathen men; the law is not, and the prophets thereof found not of the Lord a vision, either revelation. (Its gates be thrown onto the ground, he destroyed and broke up all its bars, or all its locks; its king and its leaders be put among the heathen; the Law is not, and its prophets cannot find a vision, that is, a revelation, from the Lord.)
14 Thy prophets saw to thee false things, and fond; and they opened not thy wickedness, that they should stir thee to penance; but they saw to thee false takings, and castings out. (Thy prophets saw false and foolish things for thee; and they told not about thy wickedness, so that they could stir thee to penance; but they saw for thee false burdens, and castings out, or causes of banishment.)
15 All men passing on the way clapped with hands on thee; they hissed, and moved their head on the daughter of Jerusalem; and said, This is the city of perfect fairness, the joy of all (the) earth. (All those passing on the way clapped with their hands at thee; they hissed, and shook their heads over the daughter of Jerusalem; and said, Is this the city that once was so perfect in beauty, yea, the joy of all the earth?)
16 All thine enemies opened their mouth on thee; they hissed, and gnashed with their teeth, and said, We shall devour; lo! this is the day which we abided, we found, we saw. (All thy enemies opened their mouths against thee; they hissed, and gnashed with their teeth, and said, We shall devour thee; lo! this is the day which we have waited for; now it hath arrived, and we have seen it happen!)
17 The Lord did those things which he thought, he [ful]filled his word which he had commanded from [the] eld days; he destroyed, and spared not; and made glad the enemy on thee (and let the enemy rejoice over thee); and enhanced the horn of thine enemies.
23 For I call God to witness against my soul [Forsooth I in-call God witness into my soul], that I sparing you came not over to Corinth;
24 not that we be lords of your faith [not for we be lords of your faith], but we be helpers of your joy; for through belief ye stand.
2 And I ordained this [same] thing at me, that I should not come again in heaviness to you [in sorrow to you].
2 For if I make you sorry, who is he that gladdeth me, but he that is sorrowful of me?
3 And this same thing I wrote to you, that when I come, I have not sorrow on sorrow, of the which it behooved me to have joy. And I trust in you all, that my joy is of all you[a].
4 For of much tribulation and anguish of heart I wrote to you by many tears, not that ye be sorry, but that ye know what charity I have more plenteously in you.
5 For if any man hath made me sorrowful, he hath not made me sorrowful but a part [he hath not made me sorrowful but in part], that I charge not you all.
6 This blaming that is made of many, sufficeth to him, that is such one [that is such a manner man];
7 so that on the contrary ye rather forgive and comfort, lest peradventure he that is such a manner man, be swallowed up [be sopped up, or despair,] by more great heaviness.
8 For which thing I beseech you, that ye confirm charity into him.
9 For why therefore [and] I wrote this, that I know your proof, whether in all things ye be obedient.
10 For to whom ye have forgiven any thing, also I have forgiven. For I, that that I forgave, if I forgave any thing, have forgiven for you in the person of Christ,
11 that we be not deceived of Satan; for we know his thoughts. [that we be not deceived of Satan; soothly we unknow not his thoughts.]
12 And Jesus began to speak to them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and delved a lake, and builded a tower [and built a tower], and hired it to earth-tillers, and went forth in pilgrimage.
2 And he sent to the earth-tillers in time a servant, to receive of the earth-tillers of the fruit of the vineyard.[a]
3 And they took him, and beat him, and let him go void [and left him void].
4 And again he sent to them another servant, and they wounded him in the head, and tormented him [and punished him with chidings, or reprovings].
5 And again he sent another, and they slew him, and others more, beating some, and slaying others. [And again he sent another, and they killed him, and others more, and they beat some, soothly they killed others.]
6 But yet he had a most dear-worthy son, and he sent him last to them, and said [Therefore yet he having one son most dear-worthy, and to them he sent him the last, saying], Peradventure they shall dread [with reverence] my son.
7 But the earth-tillers said together [said to themselves], This is the heir; come ye, slay we him, and the heritage shall be ours.
8 And they took him, and killed him, and casted [cast] him out without the vineyard.
9 Then what shall the lord of the vineyard do [What therefore shall the lord of the vinery do]? He shall come, and destroy [and lose] the earth-tillers, and give the vineyard to others.
10 Whether ye have not read this scripture, The stone which the builders have despised, this is made into the head of the corner?
11 This thing is done of the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes.
2001 by Terence P. Noble