Book of Common Prayer
82 The psalm of Asaph. God stood in the synagogue of gods; forsooth he deemeth gods in the middle. (The song of Asaph. God standeth in the council of heaven; and he judgeth among the gods.)
2 How long deem ye (with) wickedness; and take the faces of sinners? (And he saith, How long shall ye judge wickedly; and make exceptions for sinners?)
3 Deem ye to the needy man, and to the motherless child; justify ye the meek man and poor. (Judge ye for the needy, and for the motherless; give ye justice to the weak, and to the poor.)
4 Ravish ye out a poor man; and deliver ye a needy man from the hand of the sinner. (Rescue ye the poor and the needy; save ye them from the power of sinners.)
5 They know not, neither understand, they go in darknesses; all the foundaments of earth shall be moved. (But ye know not, nor do ye understand, that ye go in darkness; and that all the foundations of the earth have been shaken.)
6 I said, Ye be gods; and all ye be the sons of the high God. (And I said, Ye be gods; and ye all be the sons of the Most High God.)
7 But ye shall die as men; and ye shall fall down as one of the princes. (But ye shall die like men die; and ye shall fall like any of the princes, or the leaders.)
8 Rise, thou God, deem thou the earth; for thou shalt have heritage in all folks. (Rise up, O God, and judge thou the earth; for all the nations shall be thy inheritance.)
98 A psalm. Sing ye a new song to the Lord; for he hath done marvels. His right hand and his holy arm; hath made health to him. (A song. Sing ye a new song to the Lord; for he hath done marvellous deeds. His right hand, or his power, and his holy arm, have won him the victory.)
2 The Lord hath made known his health; in the sight of heathen men he hath showed his rightfulness. (The Lord hath made known his victory; yea, he hath shown his righteousness before the heathen.)
3 He bethought on his mercy; and on his truth, to the house of Israel. All the ends of earth; saw the health of our God. (He remembered his love, and his faithfulness, toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth; have seen the victory of our God.)
4 All earth, make ye heartily joy to God; sing ye, and make ye full out joy, and say ye psalm. (All the earth, heartily make ye joy to God; sing ye, and rejoice, and sing ye a song.)
5 Sing ye to the Lord in an harp, in harp and in voice of psalm; (Sing ye to the Lord on a harp, yea, on a harp, and with the words of a song/and with the strains of a lute;)
6 in trumps beaten out with hammer, and in voice of a trump of (a) horn. Heartily sing ye in the sight of the Lord, the king; (and with trumpets beaten out with a hammer, yea, with the sound of trumpets and horns. Heartily sing ye before the Lord, the King;)
7 the sea and the fullness thereof be moved; the world, and they that dwell therein. (let the sea roar, and all the creatures in it; yea, the whole world, and all that live in it!)
8 Floods shall make joy with hand; together hills shall make full out joy, (The rivers make joy, or clap, with their hands; the hills rejoice together,)
9 for the sight of the Lord; for he cometh to deem the earth. He shall deem the world in rightfulness; and peoples in equity. (before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness; and the peoples with justice, or with fairness.)
3 Lo! I shall send mine angel, and he shall make ready the way before my face; and anon the Lord, whom ye seek, shall come to his holy temple, and the angel of the testament, whom ye will. Lo! he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts; (Lo! I shall send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before my face; and at once the Lord, whom ye seek, shall come to his holy Temple, and also the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Lo! he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts;)
2 and who shall be able to think (on) the day of his coming? and who shall stand to see him? For he shall be as fire welling together, and as the herb of fullers, either tuckers; (and then who shall be able to even think, let alone endure, on the day of his coming? and who shall be able to stand firm to see him? For he shall be like a fire welling together, or purging and refining, and like fuller’s, or tucker’s, soap;)
3 and he shall sit welling together and cleansing silver, and he shall purge the sons of Levi; and he shall purge them as gold and as silver, and they shall be offering to the Lord sacrifices in rightwiseness. (and he shall sit welling together and cleansing, or purging and refining, silver, and he shall purge the Levites; yea, he shall refine them like gold and silver, and then they shall offer to the Lord sacrifices in righteousness.)
4 And the sacrifice of Judah and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as the days of the world, and as old years. (And then the sacrifices, or the offerings, of Judah and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, like in the days of old, and like in the years long ago.)
5 And I shall come to you in doom, and I shall be a swift witness to mis-doers, either enchanters of devil’s craft, and to adulterers, and to forsworn men, and that falsely challenge the hire of an hired man, and widows, and fatherless children, and oppress a pilgrim, and dreaded not me, saith the Lord of hosts. (And I shall come to you in judgement, and I shall be a swift witness against all evil-doers, that is, enchanters of the devil’s craft, and adulterers, and perjurers, and those who cheat hired men out of their wages, and do wrong to widows, and fatherless, or motherless, children, and foreigners, yea, those who do not fear me/yea, those who do not revere, or respect, me, saith the Lord of hosts.)
22 After these things Jesus came, and his disciples, into the land of Judaea, and there he dwelled with them, and baptized [and baptized, or christened].
23 And John was baptizing in Aenon, beside Salim, for many waters were there; and they came, and were baptized.
24 And John was not yet sent into prison.
25 Therefore a question was made of John's disciples with the Jews, of the purification [of the purification, or cleansing].
26 And they came to John, and said to him, Master [Rabbi, or Master], he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witnessing, lo! he baptizeth, and all men come to him.
27 John answered, and said, A man may not take any thing, but it be given to him from heaven.
28 Ye yourselves bear witnessing to me, that I said, I am not Christ, but that I am sent before him.
29 He that hath a wife, is the husband[a]; but the friend of the spouse that standeth, and heareth him, joyeth with joy, for the voice of the spouse. Therefore in this thing my joy is fulfilled.
30 It behooveth him to wax, but me to be made less. [It behooveth him to wax, forsooth me to be diminished, or made less.]
80 To victory; this psalm is the witnessing of Asaph for lilies. Thou that governest Israel, give attention; that leadest forth Joseph as a sheep. Thou that sittest on cherubim, be showed (To victory, the teaching for the lilies, the song of Asaph. Thou who governest Israel, take heed; thou who leadest forth Joseph like a flock of sheep. Thou who sittest upon cherubim, show thyself)
2 before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Stir thy power, and come thou, that thou make us safe. (to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Stir up thy power, and come thou, and save us.)
3 God of virtues, turn thou us (again); and show thy face, and we shall be safe. (God of hosts, bring us back; and shine thy face upon us, and we shall be saved.)
4 Lord God of virtues, how long shalt thou be wroth on the prayer of thy servant(s)? (Lord God of hosts, how long shalt thou be angry with thy people’s prayers?)
5 How long shalt thou feed us with the bread of tears; and shalt give drink to us with tears in (great) measure? (How long shalt thou feed us with tears, instead of bread? and for drink, give us more tears, or even greater sorrow?)
6 Thou hast set us into against-saying to our neighbours (Thou hast made our neighbours to speak out against us); and our enemies have scorned us.
7 God of virtues, turn thou us (again); and show thy face, and we shall be safe. (God of hosts, bring us back; and shine thy face upon us, and we shall be saved.)
8 Thou translatedest a vine from Egypt; thou castedest out heathen men, and plantedest it. (Thou broughtest up a vine out of Egypt; thou threwest out the heathen, and then thou plantedest that vine, that is, us.)
9 Thou were leader of the way in the sight thereof; and thou plantedest the roots thereof, and it filled the land. (Thou madest a place for it on the way; and it planted its roots, and it filled the land.)
10 The shadow thereof covered hills; and the branches thereof filled the cedars of God. (Its shadow covered the hills; and its branches were thick, like the cedars of God.)
11 It stretched forth his scions till to the sea, and the generations thereof till to the flood. (It stretched out its branches unto the Mediterranean Sea, and as far as the Euphrates River.)
12 Why hast thou destroyed the wall thereof; and all men that go forth by the way, gather away the grapes thereof? (But why hast thou destroyed the wall around it? so that now all those who go forth by the way, can gather up, or take away, all of its grapes?)
13 A boar (out) of the wood destroyed it; and a singular wild beast devoured it.
14 God of virtues, be thou turned (again to us); behold from heaven, and see, and visit this vine. (God of hosts, turn thou again to us; look down from heaven, and see us in dire straits, and help us/and care for this vine.)
15 And make thou it perfect, which thy right hand planted; and behold thou on the son of man, which thou hast confirmed to thee. (And make thou perfect what thy right hand hath planted; yea, look thou upon the son of man, whom thou hast made strong for thyself/yea, look thou upon the branch, that thou hast made strong for thyself.)
16 (These) Things (were) burnt with fire, and undermined; (they who did this thing) shall perish for the blaming of thy cheer. (For our enemies have burned it with fire, and have cut it down; but they shall die from the look of blame on thy face.)
17 Thine hand be made on the man of thy right hand; and on the son of man, whom thou hast confirmed to thee. (Let thy hand rest upon the man at thy right hand; yea, upon the son of the man whom thou hast made strong for thy service.)
18 And we departed not from thee; thou shalt quicken us, and we shall inwardly call thy name. (And we shall never leave thee; so grant thou us new life, and we shall call upon thy name.)
19 Lord God of virtues, turn thou us (again); and show thy face, and we shall be safe. (Lord God of hosts, bring us back; and shine thy face upon us, and we shall be saved.)
2 But when John in bonds had heard the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
3 and said to him, Art thou he that shall come, or we abide another [or abide we another]?
4 And Jesus answered, and said to them, Go ye, and tell again to John those things that ye have heard and seen. [And Jesus answering, said to them, Ye going tell again to John those things which ye have heard and seen.]
5 Blind men see, crooked men go [crooked men wander], mesels be made clean, deaf men hear, dead men rise again, poor men be taken to preaching of the gospel [poor men be preached the gospel].
6 And he is blessed, that shall not be caused to stumble in me. [And he is blessed, that shall not be offended in me.]
7 And when they were gone away, Jesus began to say of John to the people [Jesus began to say of John to the companies], What thing went ye out into desert to see? a reed waved with the wind?
8 Or what thing went ye out to see? a man clothed with soft clothes [But what thing went ye out to see? whether a man clothed with soft clothings]? Lo! they that be clothed with soft clothes be in the houses of kings.
9 But what thing went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet.
10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Lo! I send mine angel before thy face, that shall make ready thy way before thee [which shall make ready thy way before thee].
11 Truly I say to you, there rose none more than John Baptist among the children of women; but he that is less in the kingdom of heavens, is more than he. [Truly I say to you, none rose greater than John Baptist among the sons of women; forsooth he that is the least in the kingdom of heavens, is more than he.]
12 And from the days of John Baptist till now the kingdom of heavens suffereth violence, and violent men snatch it.
13 For all [the] prophets and the law till John prophesied;
14 and if ye will receive, he is Elias that is to come.
15 He that hath ears of hearing, hear he.
16 But to whom shall I guess this generation like? It is like to children sitting in the market, that cry to their peers [which, crying to their peers],
17 and say [say], We have sung to you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wailed.
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Lo! a man a glutton, and a drinker of wine, and a friend of publicans and of sinful men [and friend of publicans and sinful men]. And wisdom is justified of her sons.
2001 by Terence P. Noble