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.)

138 [The psalm of David.] Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee in all mine heart; for thou heardest the words of my mouth. My God, I shall sing to thee in the sight of angels; (The song of David. Lord, I shall praise thee with all my heart. My God, I shall sing praises to thee before the angels, or before the gods.)

² I shall worship to(ward) thine holy temple, and I shall acknowledge to thy name. On thy mercy and thy truth; for thou hast magnified thine holy name above all thing. (I shall worship towards thy holy Temple, and I shall praise thy name; because of thy love, and thy faithfulness; for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all things.)

³ In whatever day I shall inwardly call thee, hear thou me; thou shalt multiply virtue in my soul. (On whatever day I called to thee, thou answeredest me; and thou hast multiplied the strength in my soul/and thou hast made me strong.)

⁴ Lord, all the kings of earth acknowledge to thee; for they heard all the words of thy mouth. (Lord, all the kings of the earth shall praise thee; for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.)

⁵ And sing they in the ways of the Lord (And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord); for the glory of the Lord is great.

⁶ For the Lord is high, and beholdeth meek things; and knoweth afar high things. (For though the Lord is high above, he looketh upon the meek/he careth for the humble; and he knoweth the proud from afar.)

⁷ If I shall go in the midst of tribulation, thou shalt quicken me; and thou stretchedest forth thine hand on the ire of mine enemies, and thy right hand made me safe. (Yea, though I go in the midst of trouble, or of tribulation, thou keepest me safe/thou keepest me alive; and thou stretchest forth thy hand against the rage of my enemies, and thy right hand savest me.)

⁸ The Lord shall yield for me, Lord, thy mercy is [into] without end; despise thou not the works of thine hands. (The Lord shall bring to pass his promises to me. O Lord, thy love is forever; so complete thy work.)

139 To victory, the psalm of David. Lord, thou hast proved me, and hast known me; (To victory, the song of David. Lord, thou hast assayed, or tested, me, and thou knowest me;)

² thou hast known my sitting, and my rising again. Thou hast understood my thoughts from [a]far; (thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up. Thou hast understood my thoughts from afar;)

³ thou hast inquired (of) my path and my cord. And thou hast before-seen all my ways; (thou hast examined my path, and my resting places. And thou hast foreseen all my ways.)

⁴ for no word is in my tongue. Lo! Lord, thou hast known all things, (Yea, there is no word on my tongue, lo! Lord; but that thou not knowest it first.)

⁵ the new things and eld; thou hast formed me, and hast set thine hand on me. (Thou art behind me, and before me; and thou hast set thy hand upon me.)

⁶ Thy knowing is made wonderful of me; it is comforted, and I shall not be able to it. (Thy abundant knowledge is so wonderful to me; yea, it is so very great, and I shall never be able to comprehend it all.)

⁷ Whither shall I go from thy spirit; and whither shall I flee from thy face? (Where shall I go from thy spirit; and where shall I flee from thy presence?)

⁸ If I shall ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I shall go down into hell, thou art present. (If I shall go up into heaven, thou art there; if I shall go down into Sheol, or into the land of the dead, thou art there also.)

⁹ If I shall take my feathers full early; and shall dwell in the last parts of the sea. (If I shall take flight early in the morning; or if I shall live on the farthest edge, or the coast, of the sea.)

¹⁰ And soothly thither thine hand shall lead me forth; and thy right hand shall hold me. (Even there thy hand shall lead me forth; and thy right hand shall keep me safe.)

¹¹ And I said, In hap darknesses shall defoul me; and the night is my lightening in my delights. (And I said, Perhaps the darkness shall cover me; or the light all around me shall become my night.)

¹² For why darknesses shall not be made dark from thee, and the night shall be lightened as the day; as the darknesses thereof, so and the light thereof. (But the darkness shall not be dark for thee, and the night shall be like the daylight; yea, to you, the darkness is no different than the light.)

¹³ For thou haddest in possession my reins; thou tookest me up from the womb of my mother. (For thou haddest my reins in thy possession/For thou formedest my inner parts; yea, thou madest me in my mother’s womb.)

¹⁴ I shall acknowledge to thee, for thou art magnified dreadfully; thy works be wonderful, and my soul shall know (that) full much. (I shall praise thee, for thou art greatly to be feared/for thou hath filled me with awe; thy works be wonderful, and I truly know that.)

¹⁵ My bone, which thou madest in private, is not hid from thee; and my substance (formed) in the lower parts of earth. (My bones, which thou madest in secret, be not a mystery to thee; yea, when my substance was formed in the lower parts of the earth.)

¹⁶ Thine eyes saw mine unperfect thing, and all men shall be written in thy book; days shall be formed, and no man is in those. (Thine eyes saw my imperfect substance, and all was written in thy Book; but when those days were formed, no man was there.)

¹⁷ Forsooth, God, thy friends be made honourable full much to me; the princehood of them is comforted full much. (But, God, how deep be thy thoughts to me; and how many of them there be!)

¹⁸ I shall number them, and they shall be multiplied above the gravel; I rose up, and yet I am with thee. (If I tried to count them all up, their number would be more than all the grains of sand. And then I awake; and still I am with thee.)

¹⁹ For thou, God, shalt slay sinners; ye men-quellers, bow away from me. (O God, I wish that thou wouldest kill the sinners; ye murderers, go far away from me!)

²⁰ For they say in thought; Take they their cities in vanity. (For out loud they say against thee, We shall take thy name in vain.)

²¹ Lord, whether I hated not them that hated thee; and I failed, that is, mourned greatly, on (those who be) thine enemies? (Lord, how I hate those who hate thee; and I am greatly grieved by those who be thy enemies!)

²² By perfect hatred I hated them; they were made enemies to me. (Yea, with perfect hatred I hate them; they be made my enemies too.)

²³ God, prove thou me, and know thou mine heart; ask thou me, and know thou my paths. (God, assay, or test, thou me, and know thou my heart; ask thou me, and know thou my thoughts.)

¹⁸ And Moses areared it, and he set (up) the boards, and bases, and bars, and he ordained [the] pillars;

¹⁹ and he stretched out the roof upon the tabernacle, and he put a covering above (it), as the Lord commanded. (and he stretched out the tent over the Tabernacle, and he put the coverings over the tent, as the Lord commanded.)

²⁰ He put also the witnessing, that is, the tables of the law, in the ark, and he set the bars within (the rings), and God’s answering place above (the ark). (And he put the Witnessing, that is, the tablets of the Law, into the Ark, that is, the Box for the tablets, and he set the bars within the rings, and he put the propitiatory, that is, the mercy seat, or the lid, on the Box.)

²¹ And when he had brought the ark into the tabernacle, he hanged a veil before it, that he should fulfill the commandment of the Lord. (And when he had brought the Ark into the Tabernacle, he hung up the Veil in front of it, as the Lord commanded him.)

²² He setted also the board in the tabernacle of witnessing, at the north coast, without the veil, (And he put the table in the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, on the north side of the Tabernacle, in front of the Veil,)

²³ and he ordained the loaves of setting forth (on the table,) before (the Lord), as the Lord commanded to Moses. (and he placed the loaves of proposition, or the showbread, on the table, before the Lord, as the Lord commanded to Moses.)

²⁴ He set also the candlestick in the tabernacle of witnessing, even against the board, in the south side, (And he set the lamp-stand in the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, opposite the table, on the south side of the Tabernacle,)

²⁵ and he set the lanterns by order, by the commandment of the Lord. (and he set up the lanterns before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.)

²⁶ He putted also the golden altar under the roof of witnessing, that is, of the tabernacle, against the veil, (And he put the gold altar in the Tent of the Witnessing, that is, in the Tabernacle, in front of the Veil,)

²⁷ and he burnt thereon incense of sweet smelling spiceries, as the Lord commanded to Moses.

²⁸ He set also a curtain in the entering of the tabernacle, (And he hung up the curtain at the entrance to the Tabernacle,)

²⁹ and (set) the altar of burnt sacrifice in the porch (of the tabernacle) of witnessing, and he offered there(on) burnt sacrifice, and sacrifices, as the Lord commanded. (and put the altar of burnt sacrifice by the entrance to the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, and then he offered on it the burnt sacrifice, and the sacrifices, as the Lord commanded him.)

³⁰ Also he ordained the washing vessel, betwixt the tabernacle of witnessing and the altar, and filled it with water. (And he put the washing vessel between the Tabernacle of the Witnessing and the altar, and filled it with water.)

³¹ And Moses, and Aaron, and his sons, washed their hands and their feet therein,

³² when they entered into the tabernacle of the bond of peace, and nighed to the altar, as the Lord commanded to Moses. (whenever they entered into the Tabernacle of the Covenant, that is, the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, or when they approached the altar, as the Lord commanded to Moses.)

³³ He areared also the great porch, by compass of the tabernacle and of the altar, and setted a curtain in the entering thereof. (And he set up the courtyard, that is, the pillars and the curtains that enclosed the courtyard, all around the Tabernacle and the altar, and hung up a curtain at its entrance.)

³⁴ After that all things were perfectly made, a cloud covered the tabernacle of witnessing, and the glory of the Lord filled it; (And when all things were completed, a cloud covered the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, and the glory of the Lord filled it;)

³⁵ neither Moses might enter into the tabernacle of the bond of peace (and Moses could not go into the Tabernacle of the Covenant, that is, the Tabernacle of the Witnessing), while the cloud covered all things, and the majesty of the Lord shined, for the cloud covered all things.

³⁶ If any time the cloud left the tabernacle, the sons of Israel went forth by their companies; (And any time that the cloud left the Tabernacle, the Israelites went forth on their journey;)

³⁷ (but) if the cloud hanged thereabove, they dwelled in the same place;

³⁸ for the cloud of the Lord rested on the tabernacle by day, and fire (was on it) in the night, in the sight of the people of Israel, by all their dwellings. (for the cloud of the Lord rested on the Tabernacle by day, and a fire was over it in the night, before the people of Israel, during all of their journey.)

4 Therefore, brethren, from henceforward we pray you, and beseech in the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us, how it behooveth you to go and to please God, so walk ye, that ye abound more.

² For ye know what commandments I have given to you by the Lord Jesus.

³ For this is the will of God, your holiness, that ye abstain you from fornication.

⁴ That each of you know how to wield his vessel in holiness, and honour;

⁵ not in passion of lust, as heathen men that know not God.

⁶ And that no man over-go, neither deceive his brother, in chaffering. For the Lord is venger of all these things, as we before-said to you, and have witnessed.

⁷ For God called not us into uncleanness, but into holiness.

⁸ Therefore he that despiseth these things, despiseth not man, but God, that also gave his Holy Spirit in us.

⁹ But of the charity of brotherhood we had no need to write to you; ye yourselves have learned of God, that ye love together;

¹⁰ [and] for ye do that into all brethren in all Macedonia. And, brethren, we pray you, that ye abound more;

¹¹ and take keep, that ye be quiet; and that ye do your need [and give work, or busyness, that ye be quiet, and do your need], and that ye work with your [own] hands, as we have commanded to you;

¹² and that ye wander honestly to them that be withoutforth, and that of no man ye desire any thing [and that of no man's ye desire any thing].

³⁸ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.

³⁹ But I say to you, that ye against-stand not an evil man; but if any smite thee in the right cheek, show to him also the other;^[a]

⁴⁰ and to him that will strive with thee in doom, and take away thy coat, leave to him also thy mantle [leave thou to him and thine over-cloth];

⁴¹ and whoever constraineth thee a thousand paces, go thou with him other twain. [and whoever constrain thee a thousand paces, go thou with him other two.]

⁴² Give thou to him that asketh of thee [Forsooth give to him that asketh of thee], and turn thou not away from him that will borrow of thee.

⁴³ Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

⁴⁴ But I say to you, love ye your enemies, do ye well to them that hate you, and pray ye for them that pursue, and slander you [and pray ye for men pursuing, and falsely challenging you];

⁴⁵ that ye be the sons of your Father that is in heavens, that maketh his sun to rise upon good men and evil [that maketh his sun to rise on good and on evil men], and raineth on just men and unjust.

⁴⁶ For if ye love them that love you, what meed shall ye have? whether [the] publicans do not this thing?

⁴⁷ And if ye greet your brethren only, what shall ye do more? do not heathen men this? [And if ye greet, or salute, your brethren only, what moreover shall ye do? whether and pagans do not this thing?]

⁴⁸ Therefore be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.