Book of Common Prayer
148 Alleluia. Ye of heavens, praise the Lord; praise ye him in high things. (Alleluia. Ye in heaven/Ye in the heavens, praise the Lord; praise ye him in high places.)
2 All his angels, praise ye him; all his virtues, praise ye him (all his hosts, praise ye him).
3 Sun and moon, praise ye him; all stars and light, praise ye him (all the stars of light/all the shining stars, praise ye him.).
4 Heavens of heavens, praise ye him (Heaven of heavens/The highest heaven, praise ye him); and the waters that be above (the) heavens,
5 praise they the name of the Lord. For he said, and things were made; he commanded, and things were made of nought (he commanded, and everything was made out of nothing).
6 He ordained those things into the world, and into the world of world; he setted a commandment, and it shall not pass. (He ordained those things forever and ever; he gave a command, and it shall not pass away.)
7 Ye of the earth, praise the Lord; dragons, and all depths of waters. (Praise the Lord, from the earth; ye dragons, and all the depths of the waters.)
8 Fire, hail, snow, ice, spirits of tempests; that do his word. (Fire, hail, snow, ice, and the winds of the tempests; that all follow his command.)
9 Mountains, and all little hills; trees bearing fruit, and all cedars.
10 Wild beasts, and all tame beasts; serpents, and feathered birds.
11 The kings of earth, and all peoples; the princes, and all judges of earth. (The kings of the earth, and all the peoples; the princes, and the judges, that is, the leaders, over all the earth.)
12 Young men, and virgins, eld men with [the] younger, (Young men, and virgins, old men, and the young,)
13 praise the name of the Lord; for the name of him alone is enhanced. His acknowledging be on heaven and earth; (praise the name of the Lord; for only his name should be exalted. For his glory is above the earth, and above heaven;)
14 and he hath enhanced the horn of his people. An hymn be to all his saints; to the children of Israel, to a people nighing to him. (and he hath exalted the horn of his people. So let there be a hymn to all his saints; to the children of Israel, to the people who be the closest to him/So let there be praises from all his saints; from the children of Israel, from the people who be the closest to him.)
149 Alleluia. Sing ye to the Lord a new song; his praising be in the church of saints. (Alleluia. Sing ye a new song to the Lord; let his praises be in the congregation of his saints.)
2 Israel be glad in him that made him; and the daughters of Zion make full out joy in their king. (Let the people of Israel be glad in him, who made them; and let the daughters of Zion rejoice in their King.)
3 Praise they his name in a quire; say they psalm to him in a tympan, and psaltery. (Praise they his name with a dance; sing they songs to him with a tympan, or with a drum, and a lute./Praise they his name with dancing; sing they songs to him with a tambourine, and a lute.)
4 For the Lord is well pleased in his people; and he hath raised mild men into health. (For the Lord is well pleased with his people; and he hath raised up the meek to victory/and he hath given salvation, or deliverance, to the humble.)
5 Saints shall make full out joy in glory; they shall be glad in their beds. (The saints shall rejoice in triumph; they shall sing joyfully all night long.)
6 The full out joyings of God in the throat of them; and swords sharp on both sides in the hands of them. (Let there be rejoicing for God on their lips/in their mouths; and let sharp swords be in their hands.)
7 To do vengeance in nations; and blamings in peoples. (To bring vengeance to the nations; and to punish the peoples.)
8 To bind the kings of them in stocks; and the noble men of them in iron manacles. (To bind up their kings in the stocks; and their noble men in iron manacles.)
9 That they make in them (the) doom written; this is the glory to all his saints. (So that they execute the judgement written against them; this is the glory for all his saints.)
150 Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord in his saints; praise ye him in the firmament of his virtue. (Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord in his sanctuary; praise ye him in the firmament of his power/praise ye him in his mighty heavens.)
2 Praise ye him in his virtues; praise ye him by the multitude of his greatness. (Praise ye him for his mighty works; praise ye him for the abundance of his greatness.)
3 Praise ye him in the sound of a trump; praise ye him in a psaltery and harp. (Praise ye him with the sound of a trumpet; praise ye him with a lute and a harp.)
4 Praise ye him in a tympan and quire; praise ye him in strings and organ. (Praise ye him with a tympan, or a drum, and a dance/Praise ye him with a tambourine, and dancing; praise ye him with strings and an organ.)
5 Praise ye him in cymbals sounding well, praise ye him in cymbals of jubilation; (Praise ye him with good-sounding cymbals, yea, praise ye him with cymbals of jubilation;)
6 each spirit, praise the Lord. (every creature that hath breath, praise the Lord. Amen.)
114 Alleluia. In the going out of Israel from Egypt; of the house of Jacob from the heathen people. (Alleluia. When Israel went out from Egypt, yea, the house of Jacob from a people with a strange language;)
2 Judah was made the hallowing of him; Israel the power of him. (Judah was made the Lord’s sanctuary; and Israel was made his dominion.)
3 The sea saw, and fled; Jordan was turned aback. (The Red Sea, or the Sea of Reeds, saw it, and fled away; the Jordan River turned back, or backed away.)
4 Mountains full out joyed as rams; and little hills as the lambs of sheep. (The mountains rejoiced like rams; and the little hills like the lambs of sheep.)
5 Thou sea, what was to thee, for thou fleddest; and thou, Jordan, for thou were turned aback? (O Red Sea/O Sea of Reeds, what happened to thee, that thou fleddest away? and O Jordan, why hast thou turned back?)
6 Mountains, ye made full out joy as rams; and little hills, as the lambs of sheep. (O mountains, why did ye rejoice like rams? and ye little hills, like the lambs of sheep?)
7 The earth was moved from the face of the Lord; from the face of God of Jacob. (The earth shaketh at the presence of the Lord; at the presence of the God of Jacob.)
8 Which turned a stone into a pond of waters; and an hard rock into wells of waters. (Who turned the rock into a pool of water; yea, the hard rock cliff into a flowing spring.)
115 Lord, not to us, Lord, not to us; but give thou glory to thy name. Of thy mercy, and of thy truth; (Lord, not to us, Lord, not to us; but give thou glory to thy name. For thy love, and for the sake of thy faithfulness;)
2 lest any time heathen men say, Where is the God of them? (lest any time the heathen say, Where is their God?)
3 Forsooth our God in heaven; did all things, whichever he would. (For our God is in heaven; and he doeth whatever he desireth.)
4 The simulacra of heathen men be silver and gold (The idols of the heathen be made out of silver and gold); the works of men’s hands.
5 They have mouth(s), and shall not speak; they have eyes, and shall not see. (They have mouths, but they cannot speak; they have eyes, but they cannot see.)
6 They have ears, and shall not hear; they have nostrils, and shall not smell. (They have ears, but they cannot hear; they have nostrils, but they cannot smell.)
7 They have hands, and shall not grope; they have feet, and shall not go; they shall not cry in their throat. (They have hands, but they cannot feel; they have feet, but they cannot move; and they cannot make any sound.)
8 They that make those simulacra be made like those; and all that trust in them. (Let all who make those idols be made like them; and also all who trust in them.)
9 The house of Israel hoped in the Lord (But let the house of Israel trust in the Lord); he is the helper of them, and the defender of them.
10 The house of Aaron hoped in the Lord (And let the house of Aaron trust in the Lord); he is the helper of them, and the defender of them.
11 They that dread the Lord, hoped in the Lord (Let all who fear the Lord/Let all who revere the Lord, trust in the Lord); he is the helper of them, and the defender of them.
12 The Lord was mindful of us; and blessed us. He blessed the house of Israel; he blessed the house of Aaron. (The Lord remembereth us; and will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.)
13 He blessed all men that dread the Lord; both little and greater. (He will bless all those who fear the Lord/all those who revere the Lord; both small and great alike.)
14 The Lord add, either increase, on you; on you, and on your sons. (May the Lord give you increase; yea, you, and your sons and your daughters.)
15 Blessed be ye of the Lord; that made heaven and earth. (May ye be blessed by the Lord; who made heaven and earth.)
16 Heaven of heaven is to the Lord/Heaven of heavens to the Lord; but he gave the earth to the sons of men. (Heaven and the heavens be the Lord’s; but he gave the earth to the sons and daughters of men.)
17 Lord, not dead men shall praise thee; neither all men that go down into hell. (Lord, the dead shall not praise thee; yea, none who go down into Sheol, or the land of the dead/none who go down into the grave.)
18 But we that live, bless the Lord; from this time now, and till into the world. (But we who live, bless the Lord; from this time now, and forever.)
5 I shall sing for my darling the song of mine uncle’s son, of his vineyard. A vinery was made to my darling, in the horn, that is, in an high place and excellent, in the son of oil, that is, in a place full of olives, of whose fruit is wrung out oil. (I shall sing for my darling the song of my darling’s vineyard. A vineyard was made for my darling in the horn, that is, in a high and an excellent place, in the son of oil, that is, in a place full of olives, where oil is wrung out of the fruit.)
2 And he hedged it, and chose (the) stones thereof, and planted a chosen vinery; and he builded a tower in the midst thereof, and reared (up) a (wine)press therein; and he abode, that it should make grapes, and it made wild grapes (and he waited, for it to yield sweet new grapes, but only sour wild grapes grew there).
3 Now therefore, ye dwellers of Jerusalem, and ye men of Judah, deem between me and my vinery. (And so now, ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and ye people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.)
4 What is it that I ought to do more to my vinery, and I did not to it? whether that I abode, that it should make grapes, and it made wild grapes? (What more could I have done for my vineyard, that I did not do for it? but why, when I waited for it to yield sweet grapes, did it instead bring forth only sour wild grapes?)
5 And now I shall show to you, what I shall do to my vinery. I shall take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be into ravishing (and it shall be eaten up); I shall cast down the wall thereof, and it shall be into defouling;
6 and I shall set it deserted, either forsaken. It shall not be cut, and it shall not be digged, and briars and thorns shall grow upon it; and I shall command to [the] clouds, that they rain not rain on it.
7 Forsooth the vinery of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah be the delightable burgeoning of him. I abode, that it shall make doom, and lo! wickedness; and that it should do rightfulness, and lo! cry. (And the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah be his delightful burgeoning. I waited for them to yield justice, but lo! wickedness; and that they should do righteousness, or do what is right, but lo! cries of distress/cries for justice.)
11 Therefore when all these things shall be dissolved, what manner men behooveth it you to be in holy livings and piety [in holy livings and pieties],
12 abiding and hieing into the coming of the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom heavens burning shall be dissolved, and elements shall fail by burning of fire[a].
13 Also we abide by his promises [Soothly we abide after his promise] new heavens and new earth, in which rightwiseness dwelleth.
14 For which thing, ye most dear, abiding these things, be ye busy to be found to him in peace unspotted and undefouled [in peace unspotted and unfouled].
15 And deem ye long abiding of our Lord Jesus Christ your health, as also our most dear brother Paul wrote to you, by wisdom given to him. [And deem ye the long abiding of our Lord your health, as and our most dear brother Paul wrote to you, after wisdom given to him.]
16 As and in all his epistles he speaketh in them of these things; in which be some hard things to understand, which unwise and unstable men deprave [As and in all epistles he speaking in them of these things; in which be some hard things in understanding, the which unwise, or untaught, and unstable men deprave], as also they do other scriptures, to their own perdition.
17 Therefore ye, brethren, before-witting keep yourselves, lest ye be deceived by error of unwise men, and fall away from your own firmness. [Therefore ye, brethren, before-witting keep yourselves, lest ye over-led, or deceived, by error of unwise men, fall away from your own firmness.]
18 But wax ye in the grace and the knowing of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Saviour; to him be glory now and into the day of everlastingness. Amen.
28 Certainly I say to you, there is no man a more prophet among the children of women, than is John Baptist [Soothly I say to you, among the children of women, no man is more prophet than John Baptist]; but he that is less in the kingdom of heavens, is more than he.
29 And all the people hearing, and publicans, that had been baptized with the baptism of John, justified God; [And all the people hearing, and publicans, baptized with the baptism of John, justified God;]
30 but the Pharisees and the wise men of the law, that were not baptized of him [forsooth Pharisees and wise men of law, not baptized of him], despised the counsel of God against themselves.
31 And the Lord said, Therefore to whom shall I say men of this generation like, and to whom be they like?
32 They be like to children [They be like children] sitting in the market, and speaking together, and saying, We have sung to you with pipes, and ye have not danced; we have made mourning [we have made lamentation, or mourning], and ye have not wept.
33 For John Baptist came, neither eating bread, nor drinking wine, and ye say, He hath a fiend.
34 Man's Son came eating and drinking, and ye say, Lo! a man a devourer [Lo! a man (a) devourer, or glutton], and drinking wine, a friend of publicans and of sinful men.
35 And wisdom is justified of [all] her sons.
2001 by Terence P. Noble