Book of Common Prayer
88 The song of the psalm, to the sons of Korah, to victory on Mahalath, for to answer the learning of Heman, (the) Ezrahite. Lord God of mine health; I cried in day and night before thee. (The song of the psalm, for the sons of Korah, to victory on Mahalath, to answer the teaching of Heman, the Ezrahite. Lord God of my salvation; I have cried day and night before thee.)
2 My prayer enter before thy sight (Let my prayer come before thee); bow down thine ear to my prayer.
3 For my soul is [full-]filled with evils; and my life nighed to hell. (For my soul is filled full of evils; and my life came near to Sheol, that is, the land of the dead/and my life nighed to the grave.)
4 I am guessed with them that go down into the pit; I am made as a man without help,
5 and free among dead men. As men wounded sleeping in sepulchres, of which men none (thou) is mindful (of) after; and they be put away from thine hand. (and free among the dead. Like the slain who sleep in tombs, or graves, of whom there is no one thou remembereth any more; yea, they all be cut off from thy help, or thy care.)
6 They have put me in the lower pit; in dark places, and in the shadow of death.
7 Thy strong vengeance is confirmed on me (Thy fury hath raged against me); and thou hast brought in all thy waves on me.
8 Thou hast made far from me my known; they have set me (an) abomination to themselves. I am taken (in), and I went not out; (Thou hast taken all my friends far away from me; thou hast made me an abomination to them. I am enclosed, and I cannot go out;)
9 mine eyes were sick for poverty [mine eyes (were) (en)feebled for mis-ease]. Lord, I cried to thee; all day I spreaded abroad mine hands to thee. (my eyes have been weakened from suffering. Lord, I cried to thee; and every day I spread abroad my hands to thee.)
10 Whether thou shalt do marvels to dead men; either leeches shall raise (them up), and they shall acknowledge to thee? (Shalt thou do marvellous deeds for the dead? or shall physicians raise them up, and then they shall praise thee?)
11 Whether any man in sepulchre shall tell thy mercy; and thy truth in perdition? (Shall any man in the tomb, or in the grave, tell of thy love? or in perdition, tell of thy faithfulness?)
12 Whether thy marvels shall be known in darknesses; and thy rightfulness in the land of forgetting? (Shall thy marvellous deeds be known in the dark places? or thy righteousness in the land of the forgotten?/in the land of oblivion?)
13 And, Lord, I cried to thee; and early my prayer shall before come to thee. (But, Lord, I cried to thee; and every morning my prayer hath come before thee.)
14 Lord, why puttest thou away my prayer; thou turnest away thy face from me? (Lord, why puttest thou me away? why rejectest me? why turnest thou away thy face from me?)
15 I am poor, and in travails from my youth; soothly I am enhanced, and I am made low, and troubled. (I am poor, and have had troubles from my youth; truly I am abased, and greatly troubled.)
16 Thy wraths passed on me; and thy dreads troubled me. (Thy rages have swept over me/Thy anger hath come upon me; and thy terrors have made me afraid.)
17 They (en)compassed me as water all day; they (en)compassed me (al)together. (They surrounded me like water all day long; they have completely surrounded me.)
18 Thou madest far from me a friend and neighbour; and my known from wretchedness. (Thou hast taken my friends and my neighbours far away from me; and now wretchedness is my only companion.)
91 He that dwelleth in the help of the highest God; shall dwell in the protection of God of heaven. (He who dwelleth in the shelter of the Most High God, shall live under the protection of the God of heaven.)
2 He shall say to the Lord, Thou art mine up-taker, and my refuge; my God, I shall hope in him. (He shall say to the Lord, Thou art my defender, and my refuge; my God, I trust in thee.)
3 For he delivered me from the snare of hunters; and from a sharp word. (For he shall save me from the hunter’s snare; and from a sharp word.)
4 With his shoulders he shall make shadow to thee; and thou shalt have hope under his feathers. His truth shall (en)compass thee with a shield; (With his feathers he shall make a shadow for thee; and thou shalt have hope under his wings. His faithfulness shall surround thee like a shield.)
5 thou shalt not dread of the night’s dread. Of an arrow flying in the day, (Thou shalt not fear the terror in the night; nor an arrow flying in the day.)
6 of a goblin going in darknesses; of assailing, and of a midday fiend. (Nor the pestilence going in darkness; nor the assailing of the plague at midday.)
7 A thousand shall fall down from thy side, and ten thousand from thy right side; forsooth it shall not nigh to thee. (A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right side; but it shall not come even close to thee.)
8 Nevertheless thou shalt behold with thine eyes; and thou shalt see the yielding of sinners. (Nevertheless thou shalt see with thine eyes; yea, thou shalt see the punishment of the sinners.)
9 For thou, Lord, art mine hope; thou hast set thine help (to be the) alder-Highest. (For thou hast made the Lord to be thy hope; yea, the Most High to be thy help.)
10 Evil shall not come to thee; and a scourge shall not (come) nigh to thy tabernacle.
11 For God hath commanded to his angels of thee; that they keep thee in all thy ways. (For God hath commanded his angels to be all around thee; so that they keep thee safe on all thy ways.)
12 They shall bear thee in the hands; lest peradventure thou hurt thy foot at a stone. (They shall lift thee up with their hands; lest thou hurt thy foot on a stone.)
13 Thou shalt go upon a snake, and a cockatrice; and thou shalt defoul a lion, and a dragon (and thou shalt trample upon a lion, and a dragon).
14 (For God saith,) For he hoped in me, I shall deliver him (For God saith, Because he loved me, I shall save him); I shall defend him, for he knew my name.
15 He cried to me, and I shall hear him; I am with him in tribulation; I shall deliver him, and I shall glorify him. (When he crieth to me, I shall answer him; I shall be with him in all his troubles; I shall rescue him, and I shall honour him.)
16 I shall [ful]fill him with the length of days; and I shall show mine health to him. (I shall fulfill him with length of days, that is, with a long life; and I shall give my salvation, or my deliverance, to him/and I shall save him.)
92 The psalm of song, in the day of sabbath. It is good to acknowledge to the Lord; and to sing to thy name, thou Highest. (The psalm of the song, on the sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to the Lord; and to sing unto thy name, O Most High.)
2 To show early thy mercy; and thy truth by night. (To declare thy love in the morning; and thy faithfulness every night.)
3 In a psaltery of ten cords; with song in harp. (On a lute with ten strings; and with a song on the harp.)
4 For thou, Lord, hast delighted me in (the works of) thy making; and I shall make full out joy in the works of thine hands. (For thou, Lord, hast delighted me with thy deeds, or thy acts; and I shall rejoice over the works of thy hands.)
5 Lord, thy works be magnified greatly; thy thoughts be made full deep. (Lord, thy works be truly great; thy thoughts be so very deep!)
6 An unwise man shall not know; and a fool shall not understand these things. (But this is what the ignorant do not know; and what the foolish do not understand.)
7 When sinners come forth, as hay; and all they appear, that work wickedness. That they perish into the world of world; (That even though the sinners come forth like hay, or like grass, and that those who do evil prosper; they shall all utterly perish forever.)
8 forsooth thou, Lord, art the Highest, [into] without end. (But thou, Lord, art the Most High, forever.)
9 For lo! Lord, thine enemies, for lo! thine enemies shall perish; and all they shall be scattered that work wickedness (and all who do evil shall be destroyed).
10 And mine horn shall be raised as an unicorn; and mine eld (age shall be) in plenteous mercy. (But my head shall be raised up, like the horn of a wild ox; and I shall be richly anointed with oil.)
11 And mine eye despised mine enemies; and when wicked men rise against me, mine ear shall hear (their downfall). (And my eyes shall see my heart’s desire for my enemies/And my eyes shall see the defeat of my enemies; and my ears shall hear the downfall of the wicked people who rise up against me.)
12 A just man shall flower as a palm tree; he shall be multiplied as a cedar of Lebanon. (The righteous shall flourish like the palm trees; they shall be multiplied like the cedars of Lebanon.)
13 Men planted in the house of the Lord; shall flower in the porches of the house of our God. (Those who be planted in the House of the Lord; shall flourish in the courtyards of the House of our God.)
14 Yet they shall be multiplied in plenteous eld (age); and they shall be suffering well. (They shall be granted a plentiful old age; and they shall be strong, and vigorous/and they shall be prosperous, and flourishing.)
15 That they tell, that our Lord God is rightful; and no wickedness is in him. (And they shall declare that the Lord our God is righteous; and there is no wickedness in him.)
28 And it shall be, after these things I shall shed out my spirit on each man (And it shall be, after these things I shall pour out my spirit upon everyone); and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your eld men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
29 But also I shall shed out my spirit on my servants, and handmaids, in those days; (And I shall even pour out my spirit upon slaves, and slave-girls, in those days;)
30 and I shall give great wonders in heaven, and in earth, blood, and fire, and the heat of smoke. (and I shall give great wonders in the heavens, and upon the earth, yea, blood, and fire, and the heat of smoke.)
31 The sun shall be turned into darknesses, and the moon into blood, before that the great day and horrible of the Lord come. (The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that the great and terrible day of the Lord come.)
32 And it shall be, each that calleth to help the name of the Lord shall be safe; for why salvation, either saving, shall be in the hill of Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord said, and in the residue men, which the Lord calleth. (And it shall be, that everyone who calleth on the name of the Lord for help, shall be saved; for salvation, or saving, shall be on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, as the Lord hath said, and among those who remain, or those who survive, that is, the remnant, whom the Lord calleth.)
3 For lo! in those days, and in that time, when I shall turn the captivity of Judah and of Jerusalem, (For lo! in those days, and at that time, when I shall restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem,)
2 I shall gather all folks, and I shall lead them [forth] into the valley of Jehoshaphat[a]; and I shall dispute there with them on my people, and mine heritage Israel, which they scattered among nations; and they parted my land, (I shall gather all the nations, and I shall lead them forth into the Valley of Doom, that is, the Valley of Judgement; and I shall judge them there on behalf of my people Israel, my own inheritance, whom they have scattered among the nations; for they have divided up my land,)
3 and sent lot on my people; and they setted a knave child in the bordel house, and sold a damsel for wine, that they should drink. (and cast lots for my people; and they put a boy child in the bordellery, and sold a young girl for wine, so that they could have something to drink.)
4 But what to me and to you, thou Tyre, and Sidon, and each end of Palestine? Whether ye shall yield venging to me? and if ye venge you against me, soon swiftly I shall yield while to you on(to) your head. (But what be you to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all of Philistia? Shall ye avenge yourselves against me? if ye do avenge yourselves against me, soon and swiftly I shall turn back your despicable deeds upon your own heads.)
5 Ye took away my silver and gold, and ye brought my desirable things and fairest things into your temples of idols. (Ye took away my silver and gold, and ye brought my most desired and beautiful things into your temples of idols.)
6 And ye sold the sons of Judah, and the sons of Jerusalem, to the sons of (the) Greeks, that ye should make them far from their coasts. (And ye sold the people of Judah, and of Jerusalem, to the Greeks, so that ye could send them far away from their own coasts.)
7 Lo! I shall raise them from the place in which ye sold them; and I shall turn your yielding into your head. (Lo! I shall raise them up from the place into which ye sold them; and I shall turn back your despicable deeds upon your own heads.)
8 And I shall sell your sons and your daughters in(to) the hands of the sons of Judah, and they shall sell them to (the) Sabeans, a far(-off) folk, for the Lord spake.
16 Therefore [And so], my most dear-worthy brethren, do not ye err.
17 Each good gift, and each perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is none other changing, nor overshadowing of reward.[a]
18 For willfully he begat us by the word of truth [Forsooth willfully he gendered us with the word of truth], that we be a beginning of his creature.
19 Know ye, my brethren most loved, be each man swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man worketh not the rightwiseness of God.
21 For which thing cast ye away all uncleanness, and plenty of malice, and in mildness receive ye the word that is planted[b], that may save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if any man is an hearer of the word, and not a doer, this shall be likened to a man that beholdeth the face of his birth in a mirror [this shall be comparisoned, or likened, to a man beholding the cheer of his birth in a mirror];
24 for he beheld himself, and went away, and at once he forgot which he was. [for he beheld himself, and went away, and anon he forgot what manner man he was.]
25 But he that beholdeth into the law of perfect freedom, and dwelleth in it, and is not made a forgetful hearer, but a doer of work, this shall be blessed in his deed.
26 And if any man guesseth himself to be religious, and refraineth not his tongue, but deceiveth his heart, the religion of him is vain.
27 A clean religion, and unwemmed with God and the Father, is this, to visit fatherless and motherless children, and widows in their tribulation, and to keep himself undefouled from this world [and to keep himself undefouled from the world].
16 He said also to his disciples, There was a rich man, that had a bailiff [There was some rich man, that had a farmer, or bailee]; and this was denounced to him, as he had wasted his goods.
2 And he called him, and said to him, What hear I this thing of thee? yield reckoning of thy bailiffship, for thou might not now be bailiff[a].
3 And the bailiff said within himself, What shall I do, for my lord taketh away from me the bailiffship? delve may I not, I shame to beg. [Forsooth the farmer said within himself, What shall I do, for my lord taketh away from me the farm? I may not delve, I am ashamed to beg.]
4 I know what I shall do, that when I am removed from the bailiffship [that when I shall be removed from the farm], they receive me into their houses.
5 Therefore when all the debtors of his lord were called together [And so all the debtors of his lord called together], he said to the first, How much owest thou to my lord?
6 And he said, An hundred barrows of oil. And he said to him, Take thy caution [Take thy caution, or obligation], and sit soon, and write fifty.
7 Afterward he said to another, And how much owest thou? Which answered, An hundred cors of wheat [Which said, An hundred measures of wheat]. And he said to him, Take thy letters, and write fourscore.
8 And the lord praised the bailiff of wickedness [And the lord praised the farmer of wickedness], for he had done prudently; for the sons of this world be more prudent in their generation than the sons of light.
9 And I say to you, make ye to you friends of the riches of wickedness [make to you friends of the riches of wickedness], that when ye shall fail, they receive you into everlasting tabernacles.
2001 by Terence P. Noble