Book of Common Prayer
37 To David. [The psalm of David.] Do not thou follow wicked men; neither love thou men doing wickedness. (The song of David. Do not thou follow the wicked; nor love thou those who do wickedly.)
2 For they shall wax dry swiftly as hay; and they shall fall down soon as the worts of herbs. (For they shall quickly grow dry like the hay, or the grass; and soon they shall fall down like the best herbs, or the plants.)
3 Hope thou in the Lord, and do thou goodness (Trust thou in the Lord, and do good); and inhabit thou the land, and thou shalt be fed with his riches.
4 Delight thou in the Lord; and he shall give to thee the askings of thine heart.
5 Show thy way to the Lord; and hope in him, and he shall do. (Give all thy ways to the Lord, and trust in him; and he shall make it happen.)
6 And he shall lead out thy rightfulness as light, and thy doom as midday; (And he shall lead forth thy righteousness like the light, and thy judgement like the midday sun;)
7 be thou subject to the Lord, and pray thou him. Do not thou follow him, that hath prosperity in his way; (nor) a man doing unrightfulness. (be thou subject to the Lord, and wait thou for him. Do not thou follow a man, simply because he hath prospered along his way; nor a man doing unrighteousness, or wickedness.)
8 Cease thou of ire, and forsake strong vengeance; do not thou follow, that thou do wickedly. (Cease thou from anger, and abandon taking vengeance; do not thou follow after these things, so that thou do wickedly.)
9 For they, that do wickedly, shall be destroyed; but they that suffer the Lord, shall inherit the land. (For they, who do wickedly, shall be destroyed; but they who hope in the Lord, shall inherit the earth.)
10 And yet a little, and a sinner shall not be (For after but just a little time, that sinner shall not be); and thou shalt seek his place, and thou shalt not find it.
11 But mild men shall inherit the land (And the humble, or the meek, shall inherit the earth); and shall delight in the multitude of peace.
12 A sinner shall ambush the rightful man; and he shall gnash with his teeth on him. (A sinner shall attack a righteous man; and he shall gnash on him with his teeth.)
13 But the Lord shall scorn the sinner; for he beholdeth that his day cometh.
14 Sinners have drawn out sword; they bent their bow. To deceive a poor man and needy; to strangle rightful men of heart. (The sinners have drawn out their swords; they have bent their bows. Yea, to destroy the poor and the needy; and to kill those with an upright heart.)
15 Their sword enter into the heart of themselves; and their bow be broken. (But their swords shall enter into their own hearts; and their bows shall be broken.)
16 Better is a little thing to a just man; than many riches of sinners. (Better is the little that the righteous have; than the many riches of the sinners.)
17 For the arms of sinners shall be all-broken; but the Lord confirmeth just men. (For the strength of the sinners shall be all-broken; but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.)
18 The Lord knoweth the days of [the] unwemmed; and their heritage shall be (into) without end. (The Lord knoweth all about those without blemish, or without fault; and their inheritance shall last forever.)
19 They shall not be shamed in the evil time, and they shall be [ful]filled in the days of hunger;
20 for sinners shall perish. Forsooth anon as the enemies of the Lord be honoured, and enhanced; they failing shall fail as smoke. (but the sinners shall perish. And after the Lord’s enemies be honoured, and exalted; they shall disappear, just like smoke.)
21 A sinner shall borrow, and shall not pay (back); but a just man hath mercy, and shall give (but the righteous have love, and shall give to others).
22 For they that bless the Lord shall inherit the land; but they that curse him shall perish. (For those who be blessed by the Lord, shall inherit the earth; but they who be cursed by him, shall perish.)
23 The going(s) of a man shall be (ad)dressed with the Lord; and he shall delight in his way. (The goings of a man be directed by the Lord; and he guardeth him on his way.)
24 When he falleth, he shall not be hurtled down/he shall not be hurled down; for the Lord undersetteth his hand.
25 I was younger, and soothly I waxed eld; and I saw not a just man forsaken, neither his seed seeking bread. (I was young, and then I grew old; and I never saw a righteous person abandoned, nor his children seeking bread.)
26 All day he hath mercy, and lendeth; and his seed shall be in blessing. (All day long he hath love, and lendeth to others; and his children, or his descendants, shall be blessed.)
27 Bow thou away from evil, and do good; and dwell thou into the world of world. (Turn thou away from evil, and do good; and thou shalt live forever.)
28 For the Lord loveth doom, and shall not forsake his saints; they shall be kept [into] without end. Unjust men shall be punished; and the seed of wicked men shall perish. (For the Lord loveth justice, and shall not forsake his saints; they shall be kept safe forever. The unjust, or the unrighteous, shall be punished; and the descendants of the wicked shall perish.)
29 But just men shall inherit the land; and shall inhabit thereon into the world of world. (But the righteous shall inherit the land; and shall inhabit it forever.)
30 The mouth of a just man shall bethink wisdom; and his tongue shall speak doom. (The righteous person speaketh wisdom; yea, his tongue shall speak of justice, or fairness.)
31 The law of his God is in his heart; and his steps shall not be deceived. (The Law of God is in his heart; and his steps shall not slip/and his feet shall not stumble.)
32 A sinner beholdeth a just man; and seeketh to slay him.
33 But the Lord shall not forsake him in his hands; neither he shall condemn him, when it shall be deemed against him.
34 Abide thou the Lord, and keep thou his way, and he shall enhance thee, that by heritage thou take the land; when sinners shall perish, thou shalt see. (Wait thou for the Lord, and keep thou to his way, and he shall raise thee up, or shall exalt thee, so that thou take the land by inheritance; and when the sinners shall perish, thou shalt see it.)
35 I saw the wicked man enhanced above; and raised up as the cedars of Lebanon. (Once I saw a wicked man exalted; yea, raised up as high as the cedars in Lebanon.)
36 And I passed (And then I passed by later), and lo! he was not (there); I sought him, and his place was not found.
37 Keep thou innocence, and see equity; for those be relics to a peaceable man. (Mark thou the innocent, and look upon the righteous; for they be the progeny of peaceful people.)
38 Forsooth unjust men shall perish; the remnants/the relics of wicked men shall perish (al)together. (But the unjust, or the unrighteous, shall perish; yea, the progeny of the wicked shall altogether perish.)
39 But the health of just men is of the Lord; and he is their defender in the time of tribulation. (But the salvation, or the deliverance, of the righteous is from the Lord; and he is their defender in their time of trouble.)
40 And the Lord shall help them, and shall make them free, and he shall deliver them from sinners; and he shall save them, for they hoped in him (and he shall save them, for they trusted in him).
10 A wise judge shall deem his people; and the princehood of a witty, (or a witting, or a knowing) man shall be steadfast [or be stable].
2 After the judge of the people, so and his ministers [or the servants of him]; and what manner man is the governor of the city, such be also men dwelling therein.
3 An unwise king shall lose (or shall destroy) his people; and (or but) cities shall be inhabited by the wit of prudent men.
4 The power of (the) earth is in the hand of God, and all the wickedness of heathen men is abominable; and he shall raise (up) a profitable governor at a time on it. [In the hand of God the power of the earth, and abominable all wickednesses of the Gentiles; and a profitable governor in (due) time he shall rear upon it.]
5 The power of man is in the hand of God; and he shall set his honour on the face of a wise man in the law. [In the hand of God is the power of man; and upon the face of the scribe, or (the) man of (the) law, he shall put upon his worship.]
6 Have thou not mind on all the wrong of the neighbour; and do thou nothing in the works of wrong(-doing). [Of all the wrong of thy neighbour have thou not mind; and nothing do thou in the works of wrong.]
7 Pride is hateful before God and men; and all the wickedness of (the) heathen men [or of Gentiles] is abominable.
8 A realm is translated, either taken away, from a folk into folk for unrightfulnesses, and wrongs, and despisings, and diverse guiles. [Realm from folk into folk is borne over, for unrightwisenesses, and wrongs, and strives, and diverse treacheries.]
9 Nothing is curseder than an avarice man. What (or Why) art thou proud, thou earth and ashes? Nothing is worse, than for to love money; for why this man hath, yea, his soul set to (or for) sale, for in his life he hath cast away his innerest things. [Forsooth than the avarice man nothing is more full of hideous guilt. What pridest thou, earth and ashes? Nothing is more wicked, than to love money; this forsooth hath his soul sellable, or able to be sold, for in his life he threw away his inward things.]
10 Each power is short life (or is short-lived); long sickness grieveth the leech (or the physician). A leech (or The physician) cutteth away short sickness; so and a king is today, and tomorrow he shall die. [Of each mightihood short life; longer infirmity grieveth the leech. Short sickness the leech cutteth off; so and a king today is, and tomorrow shall die.]
11 Forsooth when a man shall die, he shall inherit serpents, and beasts, and worms.
12 The beginning of (the) pride of man was to be apostate from God; for his heart went away from him that made him. [The beginning of the pride of man to go backward from God; for from him that made him his heart went away.]
13 For why pride is the beginning of all sin; he that holdeth it, shall be filled with cursings, and it shall destroy him into the end. Therefore the Lord hath shamed the convents (or the gatherings) of evil men, and hath destroyed them unto the end. [For the beginning of all sin is pride; who shall hold it, shall be full-filled with curses, and it shall turn him upside-down into the end. Therefore the Lord despised the convents of evil men, and destroyed them unto the end.]
14 God destroyed the seats (or the thrones) of proud dukes; and made mild men to sit for them.
15 God made dry the roots of proud folks; and planted meek men of those folks.
16 The Lord destroyed the lands of folks; and lost those unto the foundament (or destroyed them unto the foundation of the earth). [The lands of Gentiles the Lord turned away; and destroyed them unto the foundament.]
17 He made dry the roots of them, and lost (or destroyed) them; and made the mind of them (or their memory) to cease from the earth. God lost the mind of proud men; and left the mind of meek men in wit (God destroyed the memory of the proud; but left the memory of the humble).
18 Pride was not made to (or for) men; neither wrathfulness to (or for) the nation of women, that is, to all men born of women.
9 And the fifth angel trumpeted; and I saw, that a star had fallen down from heaven into earth; and the key of the pit of deepness was given to it. [And the fifth angel sang in trump; and I saw that a star had fallen down from heaven into earth; and the key of the pit of deepness was given to him.]
2 And it opened the pit of deepness [And he opened the pit of deepness], and a smoke of the pit ascended up, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was darked, and the air, of the smoke of the pit.
3 And locusts went out of the smoke of the pit into earth [And of the smoke of the pit locusts went out into the earth]; and power was given to them, as scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded to them, that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only men, that have not the sign of God [that have not the mark of God] in their foreheads.
5 And it was given to them, that they should not slay them, but that they should be tormented five months; and the tormenting of them, as the tormenting of a scorpion, when he smiteth a man.
6 And in those days men shall seek death, and they shall not find it; and they shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7 And the likeness of locusts be like horses made ready into battle [And the likeness of locusts be like to horses made ready to battle]; and on the heads of them as crowns like gold, and the faces of them as the faces of men.
8 And they had hairs, as the hairs of women; and the teeth of them were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had habergeons, as iron habergeons, and the voice of their wings as the voice of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like [to] scorpions, and pricks were in the tails of them; and the might of them was to harm men five months.
11 And they had on [upon] them a king, the angel of deepness, to whom the name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but by Greek Apollyon, and by Latin he hath a name Exterminus, that is, Destroyer.
12 One woe is passed, and lo! yet come two woes.
25 And lo! a wise man of the law rose up, tempting him, and saying, Master, what thing shall I do to have everlasting life? [And lo! a wise man of law rose, tempting him, and saying, Master, what thing doing shall I wield everlasting life?]
26 And he said to him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 He answered, and said, Thou shalt love thy Lord God [He answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God] of all thine heart, and of all thy soul, and of all thy strengths, and of all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And Jesus said to him, Thou hast answered rightly; do this thing, and thou shalt live.
29 But he willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And Jesus beheld, and said, A man came down from Jerusalem into Jericho, and fell among thieves, and they robbed him[a], and wounded him, and went away, and left the man half alive.
31 And it befell, that a priest came down the same way, and passed forth, when he had seen him. [Forsooth it befell, that some priest came down in the same way, and, him seen, he passed forth.]
32 Also [and] a deacon, when he was beside the place, and saw him, passed forth.
33 But a Samaritan, going the way [Forsooth some Samaritan, making journey], came beside him; and he saw him, and had ruth on him;
34 and came to him, and bound together his wounds, and poured in oil and wine [pouring in oil and wine]; and laid him on his beast, and led him into an hostelry, and did the care of him.
35 And another day he brought forth two pence, and gave to the hosteler, and said, Have the care of him; and whatever thou shalt give over, I shall yield to thee, when I come again.
36 Who of these three, seemeth to thee, was neighbour to him, that fell among [the] thieves?
37 And he said, He that did mercy into him. And Jesus said to him, Go thou, and do thou in like manner.[b]
2001 by Terence P. Noble