Book of Common Prayer
56 To the overcoming on the dumb culver of far drawing away, the comely song of David, when the Philistines held him in Gath. God, have mercy on me, for a man hath defouled me; all day he impugned, and troubled me. (To the overcomer, for the silent dove, for it went far away, the comely song of David, when the Philistines held him in Gath. God, have mercy on me, for men have persecuted me; all day long they impugned, and troubled, me.)
2 Mine enemies defouled me all day; for many fighters were against me. (My enemies persecuted me all day long; yea, many fight against me.)
3 Of the highness of day I shall dread; but God, I shall hope in thee. (From the height of the day, I have fear; but God, I put my trust in thee.)
4 In God I shall praise my words; I hoped in God, I shall not dread what thing flesh, or man, shall do to me. (Yea, I shall praise God with my words; for I trust in God, and I shall not fear what any person shall do to me.)
5 All day they cursed my words; against me all their thoughts were into evil. (All day long they cursed my words; all their thoughts were against me for evil.)
6 They shall dwell, and they shall hide; they shall ambush mine heel. As they abide my life (But though they lie in wait for my life),
7 for nought shalt thou make them safe; in ire thou shalt break (al)together peoples. (it is they who shall not escape; for in thy anger, God, thou shalt break them all in pieces.)
8 God, I showed my life to thee; thou hast set my tears in thy sight. As and in thy promise, Lord; (God, thou knowest my troubles; thou hast set my tears before thee. Be they not in thy Book, O Lord?)
9 then mine enemies shall be turned aback. In whatever day I shall inwardly call thee; lo! I have known, that thou art my God. (On whatever day I shall call to thee, then my enemies shall be turned back; for lo! I know this, that thou art with me, my God.)
10 In God I shall praise a word; in the Lord I shall praise a word. (I shall praise God with my words; yea, I shall praise the Lord with my words.)
11 I shall hope in God; I shall not dread what thing man shall do to me. (I put my trust in God; and I shall not fear what anyone shall do to me.)
12 God, thine avows be in me; which I shall yield praisings to thee. (God, thy vows be upon me/God, I shall pay my vows to thee; I shall give praises to thee.)
13 For thou hast delivered my life from death, and my feet from sliding; that I please before God in the light of them that live. (For thou hast rescued my life from death, and my feet from slipping, or stumbling; so that I can walk before God in the light that shineth on the living.)
57 To the victory, lose thou not the seemly song, either the sweet song, of David, when he fled from the face of Saul into the den. God, have mercy on me, have thou mercy on me; for my soul trusteth in thee. And I shall hope in the shadow of thy wings; till wickedness pass. (To victory, destroy thou not the comely song, or the sweet song, of David, when he fled from the face of Saul into the cave. God, have mercy on me, have thou mercy on me; for my soul trusteth in thee. And I shall trust in the shadow of thy wings, until all wickedness pass by.)
2 I shall cry to God alder-highest; to God that did well to me. (I shall cry to the Most High God; to God who did so much good for me.)
3 He sent from heaven, and delivered me; he gave into shame them that defoul me. God sent his mercy and his truth, (He sent from heaven, and saved me; he shamed those who persecute me. God showed his love and his faithfulness,)
4 and delivered my soul from the midst of whelps of lions; I slept troubled, or disturbed. The sons of men, the teeth of them be armours and arrows; and their tongue is a sharp sword. (and saved me from the midst of those ravenous lions. Yea, those sons of men, whose teeth be like arms, or spears, and arrows; and whose tongues be like sharp swords.)
5 God, be thou enhanced above heavens; and thy glory above all earth. (God, be thou exalted above the heavens; and thy glory above all the earth.)
6 They made ready a snare to my feet; and they greatly bowed my life. They delved a ditch before my face; and they felled down into it. (They prepared a snare for my feet; and they greatly bowed down my life. They dug a ditch before me; but they themselves fell down into it.)
7 God, mine heart is ready, mine heart is ready; I shall sing, and I shall say psalm. (God, my heart is ready, my heart is ready; I shall sing, yea, I shall sing a song.)[a]
8 My glory, rise thou up; psaltery and harp, rise thou up; I shall rise up early. (My spirit, rise thou up; lute and harp, rise thou up; yea, I shall rise up in the morning.)
9 Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee among peoples; and I shall say psalm [to thee] among heathen men. (Lord, I shall praise thee/Lord, I shall confess thee/Lord, I shall give thanks to thee among the peoples; and I shall sing a song to thee among the heathen.)
10 For thy mercy is magnified till to heavens; and thy truth till to the clouds. (For thy love reacheth above the heavens; and thy faithfulness up to the clouds.)
11 God, be thou enhanced above heavens; and thy glory above all earth. (God, be thou exalted above the heavens; and let thy glory be over all the earth.)
58 To victory, lose thou not the sweet song, either the seemly psalm, of David. Forsooth if ye speak rightfulness verily; ye sons of men, deem rightfully. (To victory, destroy thou not the sweet song, that is, the comely song, of David. Speak ye truly with righteousness, ye sons and daughters of men? judge ye justly? Nay!)
2 For in heart ye work wickedness in earth; your hands make ready unrightfulnesses. (For in your hearts ye do evil; and your hands bring forth unrightfulnesses, or wickedness, in all the earth.)
3 Sinners were made aliens from the womb (Sinners, or evil-doers, go wrong from the womb); they erred from the womb, they spake false things.
4 Strong vengeance is to them, by the likeness of a serpent; as of a deaf snake, and stopping his ears. (Strong venom cometh forth from them, like that of serpents; and they be like a deaf snake that stoppeth its ears.)
5 Which shall not hear the voice of charmers; and of a venom-maker charming (ever so) wisely.
6 God shall all-break the teeth of them in their mouth; the Lord shall break (al)together the great teeth of lions. (O God, break all the teeth in their mouths; O Lord, break all in pieces the great teeth of these lions.)
7 They shall come to nought, as water running away; he bent his bow, till they be made sick. (They shall come to nothing, like water running forth; and when they go to bend their bows, they shall be made feeble, or weak.)
8 As wax that floateth away, they shall be taken away; fire fell above, and they saw not the sun. (Like a snail that melteth away into slime, they shall be taken away; like a dead-born child, they shall not see the sun.)
9 Before that your thorns understood the rhamn, either thieve-thorn; he swalloweth them so in ire, as (with) living men. (Before that the rhamn, or the thieve-thorn, that is, a weed, can grow, he shall swallow them up in his anger; yea, while they still be living.)
10 The just man shall be glad, when he shall see vengeance; he shall wash his hands in the blood of a sinner. (The righteous shall be glad when they see the vengeance taken; they shall wash their hands in the blood of the sinners.)
11 And a man shall say truly, For fruit is to a just man; truly God is deeming them in earth. (And someone shall say, Truly there is a reward for the righteous; truly God is judging people here on earth.)
64 To victory, the psalm of David. God, hear thou my prayer, when I beseech; deliver thou my soul from dread of the enemy. (To victory, the song of David. God, hear thou my prayer, when I beseech thee; save thou me from the threats of my enemies.)
2 Thou hast defended me from the covent of evil-doers; from the multitude of them that work wickedness. (Thou hast protected me from the plots of the evil-doers; yea, from the many who do evil.)
3 For they sharpened their tongues as a sword, they bend their bow, a bitter thing; (For they sharpened their tongues like swords, yea, they bent their bows, and shot out bitter words;)
4 for to shoot in huddles, or privates, him that is unwemmed. Suddenly they shall shoot him, and they shall not dread; (to secretly attack he who is without blemish, or without fault. Suddenly they shall shoot at him, and they shall not fear;)
5 they made steadfast to themselves a wicked word. They told, that they should hide snares; they said, Who shall see them? (for they encouraged each other in their evil plots. And they told one another to hide their snares; even though they also said, But who shall see them?)
6 They sought wickednesses; they sought, and failed (not) in seeking. A man nighed to [a] deep heart; (They sought out wickednesses; yea, they sought them out, and failed not in finding them, for their hearts be dark and deep.)
7 and God shall be enhanced. The arrows of little men, that is, (of) envious men, be made the wounds of them; (But God shall shoot his arrows at them; and then suddenly they shall be the ones who be wounded.)
8 and the tongues of them be made sick against them. All men be troubled, that saw them; (And their tongues, that is, their own evil words, shall be their own undoing. And all who see them shall shake their heads;)
9 and each man dreaded. And they told the works of God; and they understood the deeds of him. (and every person shall be afraid. And they shall tell about the works of God; for they shall understand his deeds, that is, why he hath done all this.)
10 The just man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in him; and all men of rightful heart shall be praised. (The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust him; and all who have upright hearts shall praise him.)
65 To victory, the psalm of the song of David. God, praising becometh thee in Zion; and a vow shall be yielded to thee in Jerusalem. (God, praises be due to thee in Zion; and our vows shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem.)
2 Hear thou my prayer; each man shall come to thee. (Hear thou my prayer; let everyone come to thee.)
3 The words of wicked men had the mastery over us; and thou shalt do mercy to our wickednesses. (The words of the wicked had the mastery over us; but thou hath shown mercy toward our wickednesses.)
4 Blessed is he, whom thou hast chosen, and hast taken; he shall dwell in thy foreyards. We shall be [ful]filled with the goods of thine house; thy temple is holy, (Happy is he, whom thou hast chosen, and thou hast brought to live in thy courtyards; and we shall be satisfied with the good things of thy House, yea, of thy holy Temple.)
5 wonderful in equity. God, our health, hear thou us; thou art hope of all coasts of earth, and in the sea afar. (With wonderful things, and with victory, thou answereth us, O God, our salvation/O God, our deliverance; thou art the hope of all who be at the ends of the earth, and who be far across the sea.)
6 And thou makest ready hills in thy virtue, and art girded with power; (And thou preparest the mountains with thy strength, and thou art girded with power;)
7 which troublest the depth of the sea, the sound of the waves thereof. Folks shall be troubled, (ye who maketh the sea to be still, when it is troubled, yea, who quieteth the roar of its waves. And the people as well; when they be troubled.)
8 and they that dwell in the ends shall dread of thy signs; thou shalt delight the outgoings of the morrowtide and eventide. (And they who live at the ends of the earth shall be filled with awe at thy signs; thou even makest the morning and the evening to have delight at what thou hast done.)
9 Thou hast visited the land, and hast greatly filled it; thou hast multiplied to make it rich. The flood of God was [full-]filled with waters; thou madest ready the meat of them, for the making ready thereof is so (The rivers of God were filled full with water; and thou preparedest rain for the land/and thou preparedest corn for the land, for such is its preparation).
10 Thou filling greatly the streams thereof, multiply the fruits thereof; the land bringing forth fruits shall be glad in the gutters of it. (And by greatly filling up its streams, thou hast multiplied its fruits; and the land bringing forth these fruits shall be glad for all this water.)
11 Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of thy good will; and thy fields shall be [full-]filled with plenty of fruits. (Thou shalt crown the year with thy goodness/with thy good things; and thy fields shall be filled full with plenty of fruits.)
12 The fair things of desert shall wax fat; and little hills shall be compassed with full out joying. (The fields of the wilderness shall grow fat; and the hills shall resound with rejoicing.)
13 The wethers of sheep be clothed, and valleys shall be plenteous of wheat; they shall cry (out), and soothly they shall say praising/and soothly they shall say psalm. (The pastures shall be clothed with sheep, and the valleys shall be plentiful with corn; they shall cry aloud, and truly they shall say praises/and truly they shall sing songs.)
16 And the Lord spake to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered alien fire (when they offered unholy fire), and were slain,
2 and commanded to him and said, Speak thou to Aaron, thy brother, that he enter not in all time into the saintuary, which is within the veil before the propitiatory, with which the ark is covered, that he die not; for I shall appear in a cloud on God’s answering place; (and commanded to him and said, Tell thou thy brother Aaron, that he must not enter into the sanctuary, which is behind the Veil, to go before the propitiatory, that is, the mercy seat, or the lid, which is on the Ark, that is, the Box for the tablets of the Law, except at the appointed time, so that he not die; for I shall appear there in a cloud above the propitiatory, or God’s answering place;)
3 no but he do these things before. He shall offer a calf for sin, and a ram into burnt sacrifice; (and to enter only after he hath first done these things. He shall bring a calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt sacrifice;)
4 he shall be clothed with a linen cloth, [and] he shall hide his shamefast members with linen breeches; he shall be girded with a linen girdle, [and] he shall put a linen mitre on his head; for these clothes be holy, with them all he shall be clothed, when he is washed. (and he shall be clothed with a linen cloak, or with a linen robe, and he shall hide his shameful members with linen breeches; and he shall be girded with a linen sash, and put a linen turban on his head; for these clothes be holy, and he shall be clothed with all of them, after that he hath washed himself.)
5 And he shall take of all the multitude of the sons of Israel two kids for sin, and one ram into burnt sacrifice; (And he shall take from all the multitude of the Israelites two goat kids for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt sacrifice;)
6 and when he offereth a calf, and prayeth, for himself, and for his house, (and after that he offereth the calf, and prayeth for cleansing for himself, and for his household, or for his family,)
7 he shall make (the) two goat bucks to stand before the Lord, in the door of the tabernacle of witnessing (at the entrance to the Tabernacle of the Witnessing);
8 and Aaron shall cast lot upon ever either, one lot to the Lord, and another lot to the goat that shall be sent out. (and Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the goat that shall be sent out, that is, the scapegoat for Azazel.)
9 Whose lot goeth out to the Lord, he shall offer it for sin; (Whichever lot goeth out for the Lord, he shall offer that goat as a sin offering;)
10 soothly whose lot goeth out into the goat that shall be sent out, he shall set him quick before the Lord, that he send prayers on him, and send him out into wilderness. (and whichever lot goeth out for the goat that shall be sent out, that is, the scapegoat for Azazel, he shall present him alive before the Lord, and send prayers upon him, and then send him out into the wilderness, to Azazel.)
11 When these things be done rightfully, he shall offer the calf, and he shall pray for himself, and for his house, and shall offer the calf. (When these things be done by this rite, he shall bring forth the calf, and he shall pray for cleansing for himself, and for his household, or for his family, and then he shall kill the calf for a sin offering.)
12 And when he hath taken a censer, which he hath [full-]filled of the coals of the altar, and he hath taken in [his] hand the sweet smelling spicery made into incense, he shall enter over the veil into the holy things; (And when he hath taken a censer, which he hath filled full with coals from the altar, and he hath taken in his hand the sweet smelling spices made into incense, he shall go into the Most Holy Place within the Veil;)
13 that when sweet smelling spiceries be put on the fire, the cloud and vapour of those cover God’s answering place, that is, the propitiatory, which is on the witnessing, that is, on the ark with the tables of (the) law, and he die not. (so that when the sweet smelling spices be put on the fire, their cloud and vapour cover the propitiatory, that is, the mercy seat, or the lid, which is on the Ark of the Witnessing, that is, the Box containing the tablets of the Law, and so he shall not die.)
14 Also Aaron shall take of the calf’s blood, and he shall sprinkle seven times with his finger against God’s answering place, eastward. (And Aaron shall take some of the calf’s blood, and he shall sprinkle it with his finger onto that lid, eastwards, and seven times in front of the propitiatory, that is, in front of the mercy seat.)
15 And when Aaron hath slain the goat buck, offered for [the] sin of the people, he shall bring in the blood thereof within the veil, as it is commanded of the calf’s blood, that he sprinkle it even against God’s answering place, (And when Aaron hath killed the goat buck, offered for the people’s sin, he shall bring in its blood within the Veil, as it is commanded of the calf’s blood, and sprinkle it on the propitiatory, and in front of it,)
16 and (so) he shall cleanse the saintuary from [the] uncleanness of the sons of Israel, and from their trespassings, and [from] all their sins. By this custom he shall do in the tabernacle of witnessing (And by this custom he shall do all of this in the Tabernacle of the Witnessing), which is set among them, in the midst of [the] filths of the habitation of them.
17 No man be in the tabernacle, when the bishop shall enter into the saintuary, that he pray for himself, and for his house, and for all the company of Israel, till he go out of the tabernacle. (No one should be in the Tabernacle, when the High Priest shall enter into the sanctuary, so that he can pray for himself, and for his household, or for his family, and for all the congregation of Israel, and until that he go out of the Tabernacle.)
18 Soothly when he hath gone out to the altar which is before the Lord, pray he for himself, and shed he on the horns thereof, by compass, the blood that is taken of the calf, and of the goat buck; (And when he hath gone out to the altar which is before the Lord, pray he for himself, and take he some of the calf’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put he it on the horns all around the altar;)
19 and sprinkle he it seven times with his finger (and with his finger sprinkle he some of the blood onto the altar seven times), and (so) cleanse he, and hallow he the altar from [the] uncleannesses of the sons of Israel.
13 For, brethren, we will not, that ye not know of men that die [Forsooth, brethren, we will not you to unknow of men sleeping, or dying], that ye be not sorrowful, as [and] others that have not hope.
14 For if we believe, that Jesus was dead, and rose again, so God shall lead with him them that be dead by Jesus [so and God shall lead with him them that slept, or died, by Jesus].
15 And we say this thing to you in the word of the Lord, that we that live, that be left in the coming of the Lord, shall not come before them that be dead. [Soothly this thing we say to you in the word of the Lord, that we that live, that be residue, or left, in the coming of the Lord, shall not come before them that slept, or died.]
16 For the Lord himself shall come down from heaven, in the commandment, and in the voice of an archangel [in the commanding, and in the voice of the archangel], and in the trump of God; and the dead men that be in Christ, shall rise again first.
17 Afterward we that live, that be left, shall be snatched (up) together with them in clouds, meeting Christ in the air; and so evermore we shall be with the Lord.
18 Therefore be ye comforted together in these words. [Therefore comfort ye together in these words.]
6 Take heed, that ye do not your rightwiseness before men, to be seen of them, else ye shall have no meed at your Father that is in heavens [else ye shall not have meed of your Father which is in heavens].
2 Therefore when thou doest alms, do not thou trumpet before thee, as hypocrites do in synagogues and streets, that they be worshipped of men[a]; soothly I say to you, they have received their meed.
3 But when thou doest alms, know not thy left hand what thy right hand doeth,
4 that thine alms be in huddles, and thy Father that seeth in huddles, shall requite thee [shall yield to thee].
5 And when ye pray, ye shall not be as hypocrites, that love to pray standing in synagogues and [in] corners of streets, to be seen of men [that they be seen of men]; truly I say to you, they have received their meed.
6 But when thou shalt pray, enter into thy bedchamber, and when the door is shut, pray thy Father in huddles, and thy Father that seeth in huddles, shall yield to thee.
16 But when ye fast, do not ye be made as hypocrites sorrowful, for they deface themselves, to seem fasting to men [for they put their faces out of natural terms, that they seem fasting to men]; truly I say to you, they have received their meed.
17 But when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face,
18 that thou be not seen fasting to men, but to thy Father that is in huddles, and thy Father that seeth in privy [and thy Father that seeth in huddles], shall yield to thee.
2001 by Terence P. Noble