Book of Common Prayer

16 Of the meek and simple, the psalm of David. Lord, keep thou me, for I have hoped in thee; (To the humble and the innocent, the song of David. Lord, keep thou me safe, for I put my trust in thee;)

² I said to the Lord, Thou art my God; for thou hast no need of my goods. (I said to the Lord, Thou art my God; and every good thing that I have, cometh from thee.)

³ To the saints that be in the land of him; he made wonderful all my wills in them. (To the wonderful saints of him who be in the land; in whom be all my delight.)

⁴ The sicknesses of them be multiplied; afterward they hasted. I shall not gather together the conventicles, either little covents/or small covents, of them of bloods; and I shall not be mindful of their names by my lips. (May the sicknesses of those who hasten after other gods, be multiplied. I shall not offer their blood offerings; and I shall not remember, or speak, their names with my lips.)

⁵ The Lord is [the] part of mine heritage, and of my passion; thou art, that shall restore mine heritage to me. (The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, and of my cup; thou art he, who shall restore my inheritance to me.)

⁶ Cords felled to me in full clear things; for mine heritage is full clear to me. (The cords, or the boundary-lines, fell to me in pleasant places; I am well content with my inheritance.)

⁷ I shall bless the Lord, that hath given understanding to me; furthermore and my reins have blamed me unto the night. (I shall bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding; and furthermore my innards have taught me, that is, my conscience hath taught me, in the night.)

⁸ I saw before (me) ever[more] the Lord in my sight; for he is at the right half to me, that I be not moved. (I see the Lord before me forevermore; for he is at my right hand, and I shall not be moved/and I cannot be shaken.)

⁹ For this thing mine heart was glad, and my tongue joyed fully; furthermore and my flesh shall rest in hope. (For this thing my heart was glad, and my tongue full out joyed, or rejoiced; and furthermore, my flesh shall rest with trust, or with confidence.)

¹⁰ For thou shalt not leave my soul in hell; neither thou shalt give thine holy (man) to see corruption. (For thou shalt not leave my soul in Sheol, or the land of the dead; nor shalt thou allow thy holy man to see corruption, or decay.)

¹¹ Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt [full-]fill me with gladness with thy cheer; delightings be in thy right half unto the end. (Thou hast made known to me the way of life; thou shalt fill me full of gladness when I go before thee; delights be at thy right hand forever.)

17 The prayer of David. Lord, hear thou my rightfulness; behold thou my prayer. Perceive thou with ears my prayer; not made in guileful lips. (The prayer of David. Lord, hear thou my plea for justice; consider thou my prayer. Listen thou to my prayer; for it is not made with deceitful, or lying, lips.)

² My doom come forth of thy cheer; thine eyes see they equity. (Let my judgement come forth from thy lips; let thine eyes be fixed on justice.)

³ Thou hast proved mine heart, and hast visited (me) in [the] night; thou hast examined, or assayed, me by fire, and wickedness is not found in me.

⁴ That my mouth speak not (of) the works of men; for the words of thy lips I have kept hard ways. (My mouth shall not speak of the works of men; by the words of thy lips I have kept myself from bad ways.)

⁵ Make thou perfect my goings in thy paths; that my steps be not moved. (Make thou perfect my goings on thy paths; so that my steps will not slip, or stumble/so that I do not fall.)

⁶ I cried, for thou, God, heardest me; bow down thy ear to me, and hear thou my words. (I cried, for I know that thou, God, shalt answer me; bow down thy ear to me, and listen to my words.)

⁷ Make wonderful thy mercies; that makest safe them that hope in thee. (Show thou me thy constant love, thou who savest me; with thy right hand save thou those who trust in thee, from those who stand against them.)

⁸ Keep thou me as the apple of thine eye; and from them that against-stand thy right hand. Cover thou me under the shadow of thy wings; (Keep thou me as the apple of thine eye. Cover thou me, or hide me, under the shadow of thy wings;)

⁹ from the face of unpious men, that have tormented me. Mine enemies have (en)compassed my soul; (from the face of the unpious, or of the wicked, who torment me. My enemies have surrounded me;)

¹⁰ they have closed (al)together their fatness; the mouth of them spake pride. (they be enclosed in their own fatness; their mouths have spoken proudly, or boastfully.)

¹¹ They casted me forth, and have (en)compassed me now; they ordained to bow down their eyes into [the] earth. (They surround me now, wherever I turn; they lie in wait, to bring me down to the ground.)

¹² They, as a lion made ready to his prey, have taken me; and as the whelp of a lion dwelling in hid places. (They be ready to catch me, like a lion catcheth its prey; and like the cub of a lion living in hidden places.)

¹³ Lord, rise thou up, before come thou him, and deceive thou him/and overturn thou him; deliver thou my life from the unpious, deliver thou thy sword; (Lord, rise thou up, come thou before him, and overturn thou him; save thou my life from the unpious, with thy sword,)

¹⁴ from the enemies of thine hand. Lord, part thou them from a few men of the land in the life of them; their womb is [full-]filled of thine hid things. They be [full-]filled with sons; and they left their remnants, either residue, to their little children. (yea, from the enemies of thy hand. Lord, save thou me from those of the land who have their portion in this life; their womb is filled full of thy good things. They be filled full with sons and daughters; and they have left all that they have to their little children.)

¹⁵ But I in rightfulness shall appear to thy sight; I shall be [ful]filled, when thy glory shall appear. (But I shall appear upright, or righteous, before thee; and I shall be fulfilled, when thy glory shall appear.)

22 To (the) overcomer, for the morrowtide hind, the psalm of David. God, my God, behold thou on me, why hast thou forsaken me? the words of my trespasses be far from mine health. (To the overcomer, for the labourer in the morning, the song of David. God, my God, look thou upon me, why hast thou abandoned me? why is thy help so far from me, yea, from answering my plea?)

² My God, I shall cry by day, and thou shalt not hear; and by night, and not to unwisdom to me. (My God, I cry to thee all day long, but thou answerest me not; and I cry to thee all night, without any ceasing.)

³ Forsooth thou, the praising of Israel, dwellest in holiness;

⁴ our fathers hoped in thee; they hoped, and thou deliveredest them. (our forefathers put their trust in thee; yea, they trusted thee, and thou deliveredest them.)

⁵ They cried to thee, and they were made safe; they hoped in thee, and they were not shamed. (They cried to thee, and they were saved; they trusted thee, and they were not put to shame, or were not disappointed.)

⁶ But I am a worm, and not a man; the shame of men, and the outcasting of the people. (But I am a worm, and not a man; despised, and an outcast among the people.)

⁷ All men seeing me scorned me; they spake with lips, and wagged the head, and said,

⁸ He hoped in the Lord, deliver he him; make he him safe, for he will him. (He hoped in the Lord, that he would rescue him; so let him save him, if he delighteth in him.)

⁹ For thou it art that drewest me out of the womb, that art mine hope from the teats of my mother; (For thou art he who drew me out of the womb, thou who art my hope from my mother’s breast;)

¹⁰ into thee I am cast forth from the womb. From the womb of my mother thou art my God; (and I was cast upon thee from the womb. Thou art my God from my mother’s womb;)

¹¹ depart thou not from me. For tribulation is next; for none there is that helpeth. (go thou not away from me. For trouble is near; and there is no one to help me.)

¹² Many calves (en)compassed me; fat bulls besieged me. (Many calves surrounded me; the strong bulls of Bashan besieged me.)

¹³ They opened their mouth on me; as a lion ravishing and roaring. (They opened their mouths upon me; like a roaring and ravaging lion.)

¹⁴ I am poured out as water; and all my bones be scattered. Mine heart is made, as wax floating abroad; in the midst of my womb. (I am poured out like water; and all my bones be out of joint. My heart hath turned to wax; and it melteth within me.)

¹⁵ My virtue dried as a tilestone, and my tongue cleaved to my cheeks; and thou hast brought forth me into the dust of death. (My strength dried up like a tilestone, and my tongue cleaved to my cheeks; and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.)

¹⁶ For many dogs (en)compassed me; the council of wicked men besieged me. They delved mine hands and my feet; (For many dogs surrounded me; yea, a band of wicked men besieged me. They pierced my hands and my feet;)

¹⁷ they numbered all my bones. Soothly they looked (at), and beheld me; (and they counted up all my bones. Yea, they beheld me;)

¹⁸ they parted my clothes to themselves, and they sent lot on my cloth. (then they parted my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my cloak.)

¹⁹ But thou, Lord, delay not thine help from me; behold thou to my defence (hasten thou to my defence).

²⁰ God, deliver thou my life from sword; and deliver thou mine one alone from the hand, or power, of the dog. (God, deliver thou my life from the sword; yea, rescue thou my very life from the power of these dogs.)

²¹ Make thou me safe from the mouth of a lion; and my meekness from the horns of unicorns. (Save thou me from the lion’s mouth; yea, my poor body from the horns of these bulls.)

²² I shall tell thy name to my brethren; I shall praise thee in the midst of the church. (I shall tell out thy name to my brothers, or my kinsmen; and I shall praise thee in the midst of the congregation.)

²³ Ye that dread the Lord, praise him; all the seed of Jacob, glorify him. All the seed of Israel, dread him; (Ye who fear the Lord, praise him; all of Jacob’s children, glorify him. All of Israel’s descendants, fear him;/Ye who revere the Lord, praise him; all of Jacob’s children, glorify him. All of Israel’s descendants, revere him;)

²⁴ for he forsook not, neither despised the prayer of a poor man. Neither he turned away his face from me; and when I cried to him, he heard me. (for he forsook not, nor despised the prayer of the poor man. Nor hath he turned his face away from him; but when he cried to him, he answered him.)

²⁵ My praising is with thee in a great church; I shall yield my vows in the sight of men dreading him. (My praises shall be for thee before the great congregation; I shall pay my vows before those who fear thee/before those who revere thee.)

²⁶ Poor men shall eat, and shall be [ful]filled, and they shall praise the Lord, that seek him; the hearts of them shall live into the world of world. (The poor shall eat, and shall be satisfied; and they who seek the Lord shall praise him, and their hearts shall live forever and ever.)

²⁷ All the ends of earth shall bethink; and shall be converted to the Lord. And all the families of heathen men, shall worship in his sight. (All the ends of the earth shall remember the Lord; and shall turn to him. And all the families of the heathen, shall worship before him.)

²⁸ For the realm is the Lord’s; and he shall be Lord of heathen men. (For the Lord is the King; and he is the Lord of the heathen, yea, of all the nations.)

²⁹ All the fat men of earth ate and worshipped; all men, that go down into earth, shall fall down in his sight. And my soul shall live to him; (All the proud people of the earth shall eat at his feasts, and they shall worship him; all those, who go down into the earth, yea, who go down into the grave, shall bow down before him. And my soul shall live for him;)

³⁰ and my seed shall serve him. A generation to coming shall be told to the Lord; (and my children, or my descendants, shall serve him. The generations to come shall be told about the Lord;)

³¹ and heavens shall tell his rightfulness to the people that shall be born, whom the Lord made. (they shall tell of his righteousness to the people yet to be born, yea, what the Lord hath done/that the Lord hath done this.)

1 All wisdom is of (or from) the Lord God, and was ever with him, and is before the world.

² Who numbered the gravel of the sea, and the drops of rain, and the days of the world?

³ Who measured the highness [or the height] of heaven, and the breadth of (the) earth, and the depth of the sea? Who ensearched (or searched for) the wisdom of God, that goeth before all things?

⁴ Wisdom was formed first of all things, and the understanding of prudence, from the world, that is, from without beginning.

⁵ The well of wisdom is the son of God in high things; and the entering of that wisdom is (the) everlasting commandments. [The well of wisdom (is) the word of God in heights; and the in-going of it (is) everlasting commandments.]

⁶ To whom was the root of wisdom showed? and who knew the subtleties thereof?

⁷ To whom was the lore [or the discipline] of wisdom showed, and made open? and who understood the multiplying of the entering thereof, that is, of the work thereof?

⁸ One is the highest Creator of all things, almighty, and a mighty king, and worthy to be dreaded full much (or greatly to be feared and revered), sitting on the throne of that wisdom, and God having lordship. [One is the highest maker (out) of nought of all things, almighty, and a mighty king, and worthy to be dreaded full much, sitting upon the throne of him, and God lordshipping.]

⁹ He formed it in the Holy Ghost, and he saw, and numbered, and he measured (it). And he shedded out it on all his works, [He formed it in the Holy Ghost, and he saw, and distinctly numbered, and measured; and poured out it upon all his works,]

¹⁰ and on each flesh by his gift; he giveth it to them that love him. [and upon all flesh after his gift; he giveth it to men loving itself.]

¹⁸ The crown of wisdom is the dread of the Lord, and filleth peace [or fulfilling peace], and the fruit of health. And he saw, and numbered it; forsooth ever either be the gifts of God.

¹⁹ Wisdom shall part the cunning (or the knowing) and understanding of prudence; and it enhanceth the glory of them, that hold it.

²⁰ The root of wisdom is for to dread God; forsooth the branches thereof be long (en)during [or The root of wisdom is to dread God; the branches forsooth of it long living]. Understanding and religiosity of cunning (or of knowing) be in the treasures of wisdom; but wisdom is abomination to sinners.

²¹ The dread of the Lord putteth away sin, for he that is without dread of God, may not be justified [or shall not be able to be justified];

²² for why the wrathfulness of his pride [or of (his) willfulness] is the destroying of him.

²³ A patient man shall suffer the dis-eases of a proud man till into (a) time; and afterward there shall be yielding of mirth. [Unto (a) time the patient shall suffer; and afterward is yielding again of full mirth.]

²⁴ Good wit shall hide the words of him till into a time; and the lips of many men shall tell out the wit of him.

²⁵ In the treasures of wisdom is signifying of cunning (or of knowing); but the worshipping of God is abomination to a sinner. [In the treasures of wisdom is tokening of discipline; cursing forsooth to the sinner is the praising of God.]

²⁶ A! (O!) son, coveting wisdom, keep thou rightfulness [or keep rightwiseness], and God shall give it to thee.

²⁷ For why the dread of the Lord is wisdom, and cunning, (or knowing), and that that is well pleasant (or well-pleasing) to him is faith and mildness (or meekness); and God shall fill the treasures of him. [Wisdom forsooth and discipline the dread of the Lord, and that well-pleased is to him, faith and debonairness; and it shall full-fill the treasures of him.]

28 And when we had escaped, then we knew that the isle was called Melita.

² And the heathen men did to us not little courtesy [Soothly barbarians, or heathen men, gave to us not little humanity, or courtesy]. And when a fire was kindled, they refreshed us all, for the rain that came, and the cold.

³ But when Paul had gathered a quantity of cuttings of vines, and laid on the fire, an adder came forth from the heat, and took him by the hand [an adder, when she came forth from the heat, assailed his hand].

⁴ And when the heathen men of the isle saw the beast hanging in his hand, they said together, For this man is a manslayer; and when he escaped from the sea, God's vengeance suffereth him not to live in earth. [Therefore as barbarians saw the beast hanging in his hand, they said together, Soothly this man is a man-queller; which when he escaped from the sea, God's vengeance suffereth him not to live.]

⁵ But he shook away the beast into the fire, and had none harm. [And he soothly shaking off the beast into the fire, suffered nothing of evil.]

⁶ And they guessed that he should be turned into swelling, and fall down suddenly, and die. But when they abided long, and saw that nothing of evil was done in him [Forsooth them long abiding, and seeing nothing of evil to be done in him], they turned them(selves) together, and said, that he was God.

⁷ And in those places were manors [were manors, or fields,] of the prince of the isle, Publius by name, which received us by three days benignly [benignly, or with good will], and `found' us.

⁸ And it befell, that the father of Publius lay travailed with fevers and bloody flux [lay travailed with fevers and dysentery, or flux]. To whom Paul entered, and when he had prayed, and laid his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹ And when this thing was done, all that in the isle had sicknesses, came, and were healed [all that in the isle had sicknesses, came to, and were cured, or healed].

¹⁰ Which also honoured us with many honours, and putted what things were necessary to us, when we shipped. [Which also honoured us in many worships, and to us shipping, inputted what things were necessary.]

¹¹ And after three months we shipped in a ship of Alexandria, that had wintered in the isle, to which was an excellent sign of Castor.

¹² And when we came to Syracuse, we dwelled there three days.

¹³ From thence we sailed about, and came to Rhegium; and after one day, while the south blew, in the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴ Where when we found brethren, we were prayed to dwell there with them seven days. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵ And from thence, when brethren had heard, they came to us [till] to the market of Appii, and to the Three taverns. And when Paul had seen them [Whom when Paul had seen], he did thankings to God, and took trust.

¹⁶ And when we came to Rome, it was suffered to Paul to dwell by himself, with a knight keeping him.

²⁸ And it was done after these words almost eight days, and he took Peter and James and John, and he ascended into an hill, to pray.

²⁹ And while he prayed, the likeness of his face was changed, and his clothing was white shining. [And the while he prayed, the likeness of his cheer was made other manner, and his clothing white shining.]

³⁰ And lo! two men spake with him, and Moses and Elias

³¹ were seen in majesty; and they said his going out, which he should fulfill in Jerusalem.

³² And Peter, and they that were with him, were heavy of sleep [were grieved, or heavied, with sleep], and they waking saw his majesty, and the two men that stood with him.

³³ And it was done, when they departed from him, Peter said to Jesus, Commander, it is good that we be here, and make we here three tabernacles, one to thee, and one to Moses, and one to Elias. And he knew not what he should say. [And it was done, when they departed from him, Peter saith to Jesus, Commander, it is good to us for to be here, and make we here three tabernacles, one to thee, and one to Moses, and one to Elias; not witting what he should say.]

³⁴ But while he spake these things, a cloud was made, and overshadowed them; and they dreaded, when they entered into the cloud.

³⁵ And a voice was made out of the cloud, and said [saying], This is my dear-worthy Son, hear ye him.

³⁶ And while the voice was made, Jesus was found alone. And they were still, and to no man said in those days any of those things, that they had seen [And they held peace, and said to no man in those days aught of those things, which they had seen].