Book of Common Prayer

137 On the floods of Babylon, there we sat, and wept; while we bethought on Zion. (By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, and wept; when we thought about Zion.)

² In sallows in the midst thereof; we hanged up our organs. (On the willows nearby; we hung up our harps.)

³ For they that led us prisoners; asked us there the words of songs. And they that led away us said; Sing ye to us an hymn of the songs of Zion. (For they who led us away as prisoners; told us to sing there. Yea, they who led us away said, Sing ye for us a hymn of the songs of Zion.)

⁴ How shall we sing a song of the Lord; in an alien land? (But how can we sing a song to the Lord, in a foreign, or a strange, land?)

⁵ If I forget thee, Jerusalem; my right hand be given to forgetting. (Yea, if I forget thee, Jerusalem; may my right hand forget how to play my harp/may my right hand wither away.)

⁶ My tongue cleave to my cheeks; if I bethink not on thee. If I purposed not of thee, Jerusalem; in the beginning of my gladness. (And may my tongue cleave to my cheeks; if I do not remember thee, Jerusalem. Yea, if I do not think of thee, as my greatest joy.)

⁷ Lord, have thou mind on the sons of Edom; for the day of Jerusalem. Which say, Extinguish ye, extinguish ye; till to the foundament therein. (Lord, remember what the Edomites did; on that day that Jerusalem fell. They said, Destroy ye it! destroy ye it! unto its foundations!)

⁸ Thou wretched daughter of Babylon; he is blessed, that yieldeth to thee thy yielding, which thou yieldest to us. (O wretched daughter of Babylon; happy is he, who doeth to thee, what thou hast done to us/happy be those, who repay thee, for all that thou hast done to us.)

⁹ He is blessed, that shall hold; and hurtle down his little children at the stone. (Happy is he/Happy be they, who shall take hold of thy little children; and hurtle them against a stone.)

144 A psalm of David. Blessed be my Lord God, that teacheth mine hands to war; and my fingers to battle. (A song of David. Blessed be the Lord my God, who traineth my hands for war; and my fingers for battle.)

² My mercy, and my refuge; my taker up, and my deliverer. My defender, and I hoped in him; and thou makest subject my people under me. (My mercy, and my refuge; my defender, and my deliverer. Yea, my defender, and in whom I trust; and thou makest the peoples to be subject under me.)

³ Lord, what is a man, for thou hast made (thyself) known to him; either the son of man, for thou areckonest him of some value? (Lord, what is man, that thou hast taken notice of him?/that thou carest for him? or the son of a man, that thou reckonest, or esteemest, him of some value?)

⁴ A man is made like vanity; his days pass as shadow. (A person is but like vanity, yea, but a puff of air; his days pass like a shadow.)

⁵ Lord, bow down thine heavens, and come thou down; touch thou [the] hills, and they shall make smoke.

⁶ Light thou shining, and thou shalt scatter them (Send thou forth thy lightning, and thou shalt scatter thy enemies); send thou out thine arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.

⁷ Send out thine hand from on high, ravish me out, and deliver thou me from many waters; and from the hand of alien sons. (Send out thy hand from on high, and take me out of here, that is, rescue me; save thou me from the deep waters, and from the power of foreigners, or of strangers.)

⁸ The mouth of whom spake vanity (Their mouths spoke lies); and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness.

⁹ God, I shall sing to thee a new song; I shall say psalm to thee in psaltery of ten strings (yea, I shall sing a song to thee to the strains of a ten-stringed lute).

¹⁰ Which givest health to kings, which again-boughtest David, thy servant; from the wicked sword ravish thou out me. (Who givest salvation, or deliverance, to kings, and redeemest thy servant David; rescue thou me from the wicked sword.)

¹¹ And deliver thou me from the hand of alien sons; the mouth of which spake vanity, and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness. (And save thou me from the power of foreigners, or of strangers; whose mouths spoke lies, and whose right hands be the right hands of wickedness, that is, they always break their oaths, or their pledges.)

¹² Whose sons be as new plantings in their youth. The daughters of them be arrayed; adorned about as the likeness of a temple. (May our sons be like plants fully grown in their youth; may our daughters be arrayed, or adorned, like a palace.)

¹³ The cellars of them be full; bringing out from this vessel into that/from one vessel into another. The sheep of them be with lambs, plenteous in their goings out; (May our cellars be full; and we be able to bring forth from this vessel into that one/and we be able to bring forth from one vessel into another. May our sheep be with lambs; yea, plentiful and innumerable.)

¹⁴ their kine be fat. There is no falling of their wall, neither passing over (of it); neither cry is in the streets of them. (May all our kine be fat; and be there no parting in the walls of their wombs, nor any passing over of them. And may there be no cries of distress in all our streets.)

¹⁵ They said, The people is blessed, that hath these things; blessed is the people, whose Lord is the God of it. (And so we say, Happy be the people, who have things like we do; happy be the people, whose God is the Lord.)

104 My soul, bless thou the Lord; my Lord God, thou art magnified greatly. Thou hast clothed acknowledging and fairness; (My soul, bless thou the Lord; my Lord God, thou art greatly magnified. Thou art clothed with majesty and glory;)

² and thou art clothed with light, as with a cloth. And thou stretchest forth heaven as a skin; (and thou art clothed with light, like with a cloak. And thou stretchest forth, or spreadest out, the heavens like a tent;)

³ and thou coverest with waters the higher parts thereof. Which settest a cloud thy ascending; which goest on the feathers of winds. (and thou layest the beams of thy chambers upon the waters. Thou who makest a cloud thy chariot; and who goest upon the wings of the wind.)

⁴ Which makest spirits thine angels; and thy ministers (a) burning fire. (Who makest the winds to be thy messengers; and flames of fire, or flashes of lightning, to be thy servants.)

⁵ Which hast founded the earth on his stableness; it shall not be bowed into the world of world. (Who hast set the earth on its foundations; yea, it shall never be moved, or shaken.)

⁶ The depth of waters as a cloth is the clothing thereof; waters shall stand on hills. (The depth of waters, like a cloak, is its clothing; and the waters rose above, or covered, the mountains.)

⁷ Those shall flee from thy blaming; men shall be afeared of the voice of thy thunder. (The waters fled from thy rebuke; they were afraid of the sound of thy thunder.)

⁸ Hills go up, and fields go down; into the place which thou hast founded to those. (They went up over the mountains, and down into the valleys; to the place which thou hast prepared for them.)

⁹ Thou hast set a term, which they shall not pass (over); neither those shall be turned (again), for to cover the earth (nor shall they ever return to cover the earth).

¹⁰ And thou sendest out wells into great valleys (And thou sendest forth springs in the great valleys); (and the) waters shall pass betwixt the midst of (the) hills.

¹¹ All the beasts of the field shall drink; wild asses shall abide in their thirst, that is, to be filled in their thirst. (All the beasts of the field shall drink from these waters; the wild donkeys shall quench their thirst there.)

¹² [The] Birds of the air shall dwell on those; from the midst of the stones they shall give voices. (The birds of the air shall live on trees nearby; from the midst of the leaves they shall give out their voices.)

¹³ And thou moistest [the] hills of their higher things; the earth shall be [ful]filled of the fruit of thy works. (And thou waterest the hills from thy high places; and the earth shall be filled full with the fruit of thy works.)

¹⁴ And thou bringest forth hay to beasts; and herb to the service of men. That thou bring forth bread (out) of the earth; (And thou bringest forth hay, or grass, for the beasts; and plants for service to people. So that thou bring forth food from the earth;)

¹⁵ and that wine make glad the heart of men. That he make glad the face with oil; and that bread make steadfast the heart of man. (and wine to make the hearts of people glad. And oil to make their faces shine; and bread to make their hearts strong.)

¹⁶ The trees of the field shall be [full-]filled (The trees of the field be filled full with sap), and the cedars of the Lebanon, which he planted;

¹⁷ sparrows shall make nest there. The house of the gyrfalcon is the leader of those; (the sparrows make their nests there; and the homes of the gyrfalcons be on the tops of them.)

¹⁸ high hills be refuge to harts; the stone is refuge to urchins. (The high hills, or the mountains, be a refuge for the harts; and the stones be a refuge for the conies, or the rock badgers.)

¹⁹ He made the moon into times; the sun knew his going down. (Thou hast made the moon for telling times, or months; and the sun, it knoweth its time to go down, and when to set.)

²⁰ Thou hast set darknesses, and night is made; all beasts of the wood shall go therein.

²¹ Lions’ whelps roaring for to ravish (prey); and to seek of God meat to themselves. (The lions’ whelps roar while they hunt the prey; seeking food for themselves from God.)

²² The sun is risen, and those be gathered together; and those shall be set (down) in their couches. (Then the sun riseth, and they be gathered together; and they return to their dens.)

²³ A man shall go out to his work; and to his working, till to the eventide. (A man goeth out to his work; and doeth his labour, until the evening.)

²⁴ Lord, thy works be magnified full much, thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with thy possession(s). (Lord, thou hast made a great many things, thou hast made all things by thy wisdom; the earth is filled with thy creatures.)

²⁵ This sea is great and large to hands; there be creeping beasts, of which is no number. Little beasts with [the] great; (The sea is great, and too large to hold in our hands; and in it be creeping things of which there is no number. Yea, little beasts with the great.)

²⁶ ships shall pass there. This dragon which thou hast formed, for to scorn him. (Ships pass there; and that dragon, or Leviathan, which thou hast formed, playeth there.)

²⁷ All things abide of thee; that thou give to them meat in time. (All things wait for thee; to give them their food at the proper time.)

²⁸ When thou shalt give to them, they shall gather; when thou shalt open thine hand, all things shall be filled with goodness. (What thou givest to them, they gather up; when thou openest up thy hand, they be filled with good things.)

²⁹ But when thou shalt turn away thy face, they shall be troubled; thou shalt take away the spirit of them, and they shall fail; and they shall turn again into their dust. (But when thou turnest away thy face, they be troubled; and when thou takest away their breath, they fail; and then they return to the dust from whence they came.)

³⁰ Send out thy spirit, and they shall be formed of the new/and they shall be reformed of new; and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. (Give thou them breath, and they shall be formed anew; yea, thou shalt renew the face of all the earth.)

³¹ The glory of the Lord be into the world; the Lord shall be glad in his works. (May the glory of the Lord be forever; may the Lord be satisfied with, or happy over, his works.)

³² Which beholdeth the earth, and maketh it to tremble; which toucheth hills, and those smoke. (Who looketh upon the earth, and maketh it to tremble; who toucheth the hills, and they smoke.)

³³ I shall sing to the Lord in my life; I shall say psalm to my God, as long as I am. (I shall sing to the Lord all my life; yea, I shall sing psalms, or songs of praise, to my God, as long as I am.)

³⁴ My speech be merry to him/My speech be mirth to him; forsooth I shall delight in the Lord. (May my words please him; for my delight is in the Lord.)

³⁵ Sinners fail from the earth, and wicked men fail, so that they be not; my soul, bless thou the Lord. (May the sinners perish from the earth, and the wicked fail, so that they be not; but my soul, bless thou the Lord.)

3 After these things Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,

² and he said,

³ Perish the day in which I was born, and the night in which it was said, A man is conceived.

⁴ That day be turned into darknesses; God seek not it [from] above, and be it not in mind, neither be it lightened with light. (Let that day be turned into darkness; let God not seek it out from above, and be it forgotten, and let no light shine upon it.)

⁵ Darkness make it dark, and the shadow of death and of mist occupy it; and be it wrapped with bitterness. (Let darkness make it dark, and the shadow of death and mist fill it full; and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.)

⁶ Dark whirlwind hold that night; be it not reckoned among the days of the year, neither be it numbered among the months (Let a dark whirlwind hold that night; be it not reckoned among the days of the year, nor let it be counted among the months.)

⁷ (Let) That night be sullen, and not worthy of praising.

⁸ Curse they it, that curse the day, that be ready to raise Leviathan^[a]. (Curse they it, who curse the day, yea, they who be ready to raise up even Leviathan.)

⁹ [The] Stars of that night be they made dark with the darkness thereof; abide it light, and see it not, neither see it the beginning of the morrowtide rising up. (Let the stars of that night be made dark in its darkness; let it wait for the light, but not see it, nor let it see the beginning of the morning rising up.)

¹⁰ For it closed not (up) the doors of the womb, that bare me, neither it took away evil from mine eyes.

¹¹ Why was not I dead in the womb? why went I out of the womb, and perished not anon? (Why was I not dead in the womb? why did I not go out of the womb, and perish at once?)

¹² Why was I taken on knees? why was I given suck with teats?

¹³ For now I sleeping should be still, and I should rest in my sleep, (For then, now sleeping, I would be silent, and I would be resting in my sleep,)

¹⁴ with kings and counsellors of the earth, which build to them sullen places; (with kings and counsellors of the earth, who built palaces for themselves;)

¹⁵ either with princes that have gold in possession, and fill their houses with silver; (and with princes who had a great deal of gold, and filled their houses with silver;)

¹⁶ either as a child, or a beast, born before the time, and hid, I should not have been; either as they that be conceived, and saw not light. (or like a child, or a beast, born early, or still-born, and then hidden, or buried, I should not have been; or like they who be conceived, but never saw the light.)

¹⁷ There wicked men ceased of (making) noise, and there men made weary of strength rested. (There the wicked cease making noise, and there the strong, made weary, rest.)

¹⁸ And sometime men bound together (now be) without dis-ease, they heard not the voice of the wrongful asker. (And those who before were bound together, now be without unease, or distress; they hear no more their taskmaster’s voice.)

¹⁹ A little man and (a) great man be there, and a servant (is) free from his lord.

²⁰ Why is light given to the wretch, and life to them that be in bitterness of soul? (Why is light given to the wretch, and life to those who have a bitter soul?)

²¹ Which abide death, and it cometh not; as men that dig out treasure, (They who wait for death, but it cometh not; like men who dig out treasure,)

²² and joy greatly, when they have found a sepulchre? (and greatly rejoice, when they have found a tomb, or a grave?)

²³ Why is light given to a man, whose way is hid, and God hath (en)compassed him with darknesses? (Why is light given to a man, whose way forward is hidden, or obscured, and God hath surrounded him with darkness?)

²⁴ Before that I eat, I sigh; and as of water flowing, so is my roaring. (Before that I eat, I sigh; and my roaring floweth out, like the water.)

²⁵ For the dread, which I dreaded, hath come to me; and that thing, that I shamed [of], hath befallen to me. (For the fear, which I feared, hath come to me; and what I was afraid of, hath befallen me.)

²⁶ Whether I dissembled, or feigned, not? whether I was not still? (was I not silent?) whether I rested not? and yet indignation hath come [up]on me.

¹⁰ And a disciple, Ananias by name, was at Damascus [Forsooth some disciple was at Damascus, by name Ananias]. And the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Lo! I, Lord.

¹¹ And the Lord said to him, Rise thou, and go into a street that is called Rectus; and seek, in the house of Judas, Saul by name, of Tarsus. For lo! he prayeth;

¹² and he saw a man, Ananias by name, entering and laying on him hands [entering and putting to him hands], that he receive sight.

¹³ And Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard of many of this man, how great evil he did to thy saints in Jerusalem;

¹⁴ and this hath power of the princes of priests, to bind all men that call thy name to help.

¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, Go thou, for this is to me a vessel of choosing, that he bear my name before heathen men, and kings, and before the sons of Israel [that he bear my name before heathen men, and kings, and the sons of Israel].

¹⁶ For I shall show to him, how great things it behooveth him to suffer for my name.

¹⁷ And Ananias went, and entered into the house; and laid on him his hands, and said [and he putting to him the hands, said], Saul brother, the Lord Jesus sent me, that appeared to thee in the way, in which thou camest, that thou see, and be full-filled with the Holy Ghost.

¹⁸ And at once as the scales felled from his eyes, he received sight [And anon there felled from his eyes as scales, and he received sight]. And he rose, and was baptized.

¹⁹ And when he had taken meat, he was comforted. And he was by some days with the disciples, that were at Damascus.

⁴¹ Therefore the Jews grumbled of him, for he had said [Therefore Jews grutched of him, for he said], I am bread that came down from heaven.

⁴² And they said, Whether this is not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we have known. How then saith he this, That I came down from heaven [Therefore how saith he this, I came down from heaven]?

⁴³ Therefore Jesus answered, and said to them, Do not ye grumble together [Do not ye grutch together].

⁴⁴ No man may come to me, but if the Father that sent me, draw him [no but the Father that sent me, draw him]; and I shall again-raise him in the last day.

⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, And all men shall be able to be taught of God. Each man that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me.

⁴⁶ Not for any man hath seen the Father, but this that is of God, hath seen the Father.

⁴⁷ Soothly, soothly, I say to you, he that believeth in me, hath everlasting life.

⁴⁸ I am [the] bread of life. [I am the bread of life.]

⁴⁹ Your fathers ate manna in desert, and be dead.

⁵⁰ This is bread coming down from heaven, that if any man [shall] eat thereof, he die not.

⁵¹ I am living bread, that came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live without end. And the bread that I shall give, is my flesh for the life of the world.