Book of Common Prayer

105 Alleluia. Acknowledge ye to the Lord, and inwardly call ye his name; tell ye his works among heathen men. (Alleluia. Give ye thanks to the Lord, and call ye on his name; tell ye about his works among the heathen.) ^[a]

² Sing ye to him, and say ye psalm to him, and tell ye all his marvels (and tell ye of all his marvellous deeds);

³ be ye praised in his holy name. The heart of men seeking the Lord be glad; (glory ye in his holy name. Let the hearts of the people seeking the Lord be glad;)

⁴ seek ye the Lord, and be ye confirmed; seek ye ever[more] his face. (seek ye the Lord, who is your strength; seek ye his face forevermore.)

⁵ Have ye mind on his marvels, which he did; on his great wonders, and dooms of his mouth. (Remember the marvellous deeds, which he hath done; and the judgements, which came forth from his mouth.)

⁶ The seed of Abraham, his servant; the sons of Jacob, his chosen man. (Ye descendants of his servant Abraham; ye children of his chosen man Jacob.)

⁷ He is our Lord God; his dooms be in all the earth. (He is the Lord our God; his judgements be for all the earth.)

⁸ He was mindful of his testament into the world; of the word which he commanded into a thousand generations. (He shall remember his covenant forever; yea, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.)

⁹ Which he disposed to Abraham; and of his oath to Isaac. (The covenant which he made with Abraham; and his oath to Isaac.)

¹⁰ And he ordained it to Jacob into a commandment; and to Israel into everlasting testament. (And he ordained it to Jacob for a law; yea, to Israel for an everlasting covenant.)

¹¹ And he said, I shall give to thee the land of Canaan; the cord of your heritage (yea, your possession, your inheritance).

¹² When they were in a little number; and the comelings of them were full few. (When they were little in number; yea, very few, and newcomers, or strangers, in that land.)

¹³ And they passed from folk into folk; and from a realm into another people. (And they went from one nation to another; and from one kingdom to another.)

¹⁴ He left not a man to annoy them; and he chastised kings for them. (He did not let anyone harm them; and he admonished, or warned, kings about them.)

¹⁵ (Saying,) Do not ye touch my christs; and do not ye do wickedly among my prophets. (Saying, Do not ye touch my anointed servants; and do not ye harm my prophets.)

¹⁶ And God called hunger on earth (And God called for hunger, or a famine, on the earth); and he wasted all the steadfastness of bread.

¹⁷ He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold into a servant (Joseph was sold as a slave).

¹⁸ They made low his feet in fetters, iron passed by his soul; (They put his feet in fetters, and an iron collar around his neck;)

¹⁹ till the word of him came. The speech of the Lord enflamed him; (until the word of the Lord came as predicted. The word of the Lord proved him right;)

²⁰ the king sent and unbound him; the prince of peoples sent and delivered him. (then the king sent and unbound him; yea, the ruler of the nations sent word, and set him free.)

²¹ He ordained him lord of his house; and prince of all his possession. (He ordained him lord of his house; and the ruler of all his possessions.)

²² That he should learn his princes as himself (And that he should teach his leaders, or his officials, as he desired); and that he should teach his eld men prudence.

²³ And Israel entered into Egypt; and Jacob was a comeling in the land of Ham. (And then Jacob, or Israel, came down to Egypt; and he was a newcomer, or a stranger, in the land of Ham.)

²⁴ And God increased his people greatly; and made them steadfast on his enemies. (And God greatly increased his people; and he made them stronger than their enemies.)

²⁵ He turned the heart of them, that they hated his people; and did guile against his servants. (And then he turned the hearts of their enemies, so that they hated his people; and they were deceitful with his servants.)

²⁶ He sent Moses, his servant; [and] that Aaron, whom he chose.

²⁷ He putted in them (to tell and to do) the words of his miracles; and of his great wonders in the land of Ham. (And they told of his miracles beforehand; and then they performed his great wonders in the land of Egypt.)

²⁸ He sent darknesses, and made (it) dark; and he made not bitter his words. (He sent darkness, and all the land was made dark; but still the Egyptians resisted his commands.)

²⁹ He turned the waters of them into blood; and he killed the fishes of them.

³⁰ And the land of them gave paddocks; in the privy places of the kings of them. (And their land brought forth frogs; even the king’s private rooms were filled with them.)

³¹ God said, and a flesh fly came; and gnats in all the coasts of them. (And God spoke, and then swarms of flies came; and gnats as well, in all their coasts.)

³² He setted their rains (into) hail; (and) fire burning in the land of them.

³³ And he smote the vines of them, and the fig trees of them; and all-brake the trees of the coasts of them.

³⁴ He said, and the locust(s) came; and a bruchus of which (there) was no number (and innumerable bruchi).

³⁵ And it ate all the hay in the land of them; and it ate all the fruit of the land of them. (And they ate all the plants in their land; and they ate all the fruit of their land.)

³⁶ And he killed each the first engendered thing in the land of them (And he killed all their first-born in their land); the first fruits of all the travail of them.

³⁷ And he led out them with silver and gold; and none was sick in the lineages of them. (And he led them out with silver and gold; and no one was weak, or feeble, in all their tribes.)

³⁸ Egypt was glad in the going out of them; for the dread of them lay on Egyptians. (The Egyptians were glad that they left; for the Egyptians feared them.)

³⁹ He spreaded abroad a cloud, into the covering of them (for their covering); and (a) fire, that it shined to them by night.

⁴⁰ They asked, and a curlew came; and he [ful]filled them with the bread of heaven. (They asked for food, and the curlews came; and then he fulfilled them with bread, or manna, from heaven.)

⁴¹ He brake the stone, and waters flowed; floods went forth in the dry place. (He broke open a rock, and waters flowed out; yea, a river went forth there in the desert, or in the wilderness.)

⁴² For he was mindful of his holy word; which he had (said) to Abraham, his servant. (For he remembered his solemn promise; which he had made to his servant Abraham.)

⁴³ And he led out his people in full out joying; and his chosen men in gladness. (And so he led out his people rejoicing; and his chosen in gladness.)

⁴⁴ And he gave to them the countries of heathen men; and they had in possession the travails of (other) peoples. (And he gave them the countries of the heathen; and they had in possession what other peoples had toiled for, or had worked so hard for.)

⁴⁵ That they keep his justifyings; and keep his law. (So that they would obey his statutes; and obey his laws.)

14 Therefore (And so in time, when he was a grown man,) Samson went down into Timnath, and he saw there a woman of the daughters of (the) Philistines;

² and he went up, and he told this to his father and mother, and said, I saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of Philistines, and I beseech, that ye take her (to be) a wife to me (and I beseech thee, that ye get her for a wife for me).

³ To whom his father and mother said, Whether there is no woman among the daughters of thy brethren, and in all my people, for thou wilt take a wife of the Philistines, that be uncircumcised? And Samson said to his father, Take thou this (for a) wife to me, for she hath pleased mine eyes. (To whom his father and mother said, Is there no woman among the daughters of thy kinsmen, or among all our people, that thou must take a wife of the Philistines, yea, of those who be uncircumcised? And Samson said to his father, Get thou her for a wife for me, for she hath pleased my eyes.)

⁴ But his father and mother knew not, that this thing was done of the Lord (that this thing was done by the Lord); and that he sought occasions against [the] Philistines; for in that time (the) Philistines were lords of Israel.

⁵ Therefore Samson went down with his father and mother into Timnath; and when they had come to the vineries of the city, a fierce and roaring whelp of a lion appeared, and ran to Samson (and ran at Samson).

⁶ And the spirit of the Lord felled into Samson, and he rent the lion into gobbets, as if he had rent a kid, and utterly he had nothing in his hand; and he would not show this to his father and mother. (And the spirit of the Lord fell upon Samson, and he tore the lion into pieces, like tearing up a goat kid, and he had utterly nothing in his hands; but he did not tell what he had done to either his father or his mother.)

⁷ And (so) he went down, and spake to the woman, that pleased his eyes.

⁸ And after some days he turned [again] to take her; and he went aside to see the lion’s carrion (and he went aside to see the lion’s carcass); and lo! a swarm of bees was in the lion’s mouth, and (also) an honeycomb.

⁹ And when Samson had taken the comb in his hands, he ate it in the way; and he came to his father and mother, and gave them part thereof, and they ate; nevertheless he would not show to them, that he had taken that honey of the lion’s mouth. (And when Samson had taken the comb in his hands, he ate some honey on the way; and he came to his father and mother, and gave them part of it, and they ate it; but he did not tell them, that he had taken the honey out of the lion’s mouth.)

¹⁰ And so his father went down to the woman, and made a feast to his son Samson; for so young men were wont to do. (And so his father went down to see the woman, and Samson gave a feast there, as young men were wont to do.)

¹¹ Therefore when the citizens of that place had seen him, they gave to him thirty fellows, which should be with him.

¹² To which Samson spake, I shall put forth to you a problem, that is, a doubtful word and privy, and if ye solve it to me within (the) seven days of the feast, I shall give to you thirty linen clothes, and coats of the same number; (To whom Samson said, I shall put forth a problem, or a riddle, to you, and if ye solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I shall give you thirty linen clothes, and the same number of coats;)

¹³ soothly if ye may not solve (it), ye shall give to me thirty linen clothes, and coats of the same number (and the same number of coats). Which answered to him, Set forth the problem, (so) that we hear it.

¹⁴ And he said to them, Meat went out of the eater, and sweetness went out of the strong. And by three days they might not solve the proposition, that is, the reason(ing) set forth (And for three days, they could not solve the riddle).

¹⁵ And when the seventh day came, they said to the wife of Samson, Gloss thine husband, and counsel him, that he show to thee what the problem signifieth. That if thou wilt not do it, we shall burn thee and the house of thy father. Whether therefore ye called us to [the] weddings, that ye should rob us? (And when the fourth day came, they said to Samson’s wife, Flatter thy husband, and counsel him, so that he show thee what the answer is. And if thou wilt not do this, we shall burn down thee and thy father’s house as well. Or have ye only called us to the wedding, so that ye could rob us?)

¹⁶ And she shedded tears at Samson, and complained, and said, Thou hatest me, and lovest me not, therefore thou wilt not expound to me the problem, which thou hast put forth to the sons of my people. And he answered, I would not say this thing to my father and mother, and shall I be able to show it to thee? (And so she shed tears before Samson, and complained, and said, Thou hatest me, and lovest me not, and so thou wilt not expound the riddle to me, which thou hast put forth to the sons of my people. And he answered, If I would not even tell it to my father or my mother, then why would I tell it to thee?)

¹⁷ Therefore by seven days of the feast she wept upon him; and at the last in the seventh day, he told it to her clearly, when she was dis-easeful to him. And anon she told it to her citizens. (And so for the remainder of the seven days of the feast, she wept before him; and at last on the seventh day, he told her the answer, after that she had made his life miserable. And at once she told it to her fellow citizens.)

¹⁸ And they said to him in the seventh day before the going down of the sun, What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not eared, or busied you, in my cow calf, that is, my wife, ye had not found (out) my proposition. (And so on the seventh day, before the going down of the sun, they said to him, What is sweeter than honey, and stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not busied yourselves with my cow calf, that is, with my wife, ye would not have solved my riddle.)

¹⁹ Therefore the spirit of the Lord felled into him; and he went down to Ashkelon, and killed there thirty men, whose clothes he took away, and he gave to them that solved the problem; and he was full wroth, and went up into his father’s house. (And then the spirit of the Lord fell upon him; and he went down to Ashkelon, and killed thirty men there, whose clothes he took away, and he gave them to those who had solved his riddle; and he was very angry, and went back to his father’s house.)

¹⁵ And all men that sat in the council beheld him, and saw his face as the face of an angel. [And all men that sat in the council beholding him, saw the face of him as the face of an angel.]

7 And the prince of priests said to Stephen, Whether these things have them so?

² Which said, Brethren and fathers [Which saith, Men, brethren, and fathers], hear ye. [The] God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before that he dwelt in Charran [before he dwelt in Charran],

³ and said to him, Go out of thy land, and of thy kindred, and come into the land, which I shall show to thee.

⁴ Then he went out of the land of Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran. And from thence after that his father was dead, he translated him into this land, in which ye dwell now.

⁵ And he gave not to him heritage in it, neither a pace of a foot, but he promised to give [to] him it into possession, and to his seed after him, when he had not a son.

⁶ And God spake to him, That his seed shall be [a] comeling in an alien land, and they shall make them subject to servage, and shall evil treat them, four hundred years and thirty;^[a]

⁷ and I shall judge the folk, to whom they shall serve, saith the Lord. And after these things they shall go out, and they shall serve to me in this place.

⁸ And he gave to him the testament of circumcision; and so he engendered Isaac [and so he gendered Isaac], and circumcised him in the eighth day. And Isaac engendered Jacob, and Jacob engendered the twelve patriarchs [And Isaac gendered Jacob, and Jacob gendered the twelve patriarchs].

⁹ And the patriarchs had envy to Joseph, and sold him into Egypt. And God was with him,

¹⁰ and delivered him of all his tribulations, and gave him grace and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he ordained him sovereign on Egypt, and on all his house.

¹¹ And hunger came into all Egypt, and Canaan, and great tribulation; and our fathers found not meat [and our fathers found not meats].

¹² But when Jacob had heard [Forsooth when Jacob heard], that wheat was in Egypt, he sent our fathers first.

¹³ And in the second time Joseph was known of his brethren, and his kin was made known to Pharaoh.

¹⁴ And Joseph sent, and called Jacob, his father, and all his kindred, seventy and five men [in souls seventy and five].

¹⁵ And Jacob came down into Egypt, and was dead, he and our fathers;

¹⁶ and they were translated into Sychem, and were laid in the sepulchre, that Abraham bought by price of silver of the sons of Emmor, the son of Sychem.

²⁷ And at once [And anon] his disciples came, and wondered, that he spake with the woman; nevertheless no man said to him, What seekest thou, or, What speakest thou with her?

²⁸ Therefore the woman left her water pot, and went into the city, and said to the men [and saith to the men],

²⁹ Come ye, and see a man, that said to me all things that I have done; whether he be Christ? [Come ye, and see a man, that said to me all things what ever I have done; whether he is Christ?]

³⁰ And they went out of the city, and came to him.

³¹ In the mean while his disciples prayed him, and said, Master, eat. [In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Rabbi, or Master, eat.]

³² But he said to them, I have meat to eat, that ye know not.

³³ Therefore the disciples said together, Whether any man hath brought him meat to eat [Whether any man brought to him to eat]?

³⁴ Jesus saith to them, My meat is, that I do the will of him that sent me, [and] that I perform the work of him.

³⁵ Whether ye say not, that yet four months be, and ripe corn cometh? Lo! I say to you, lift up your eyes, and see ye the fields, for now they be white to reap.

³⁶ And he that reapeth taketh hire, and gathereth fruit into everlasting life; that both he that soweth, and he that reapeth, have joy together.

³⁷ In this thing is the word true, For one is that soweth, and another that reapeth.

³⁸ I sent you to reap, that that ye have not travailed; other men have travailed, and ye have entered into their travails.

³⁹ And of that city many [of the] Samaritans believed in him, for the word of the woman, that bare witnessing, That he said to me all things that I have done [For he said to me all things, whatever I did].

⁴⁰ Therefore when Samaritans came to him, they prayed him to dwell there [they prayed him, that he should dwell there]; and he dwelt there two days.

⁴¹ And many more believed for his word,

⁴² and said to the woman, That now not for thy speech we believe; for we have heard, and we know, that this is verily the Saviour of the world.