Book of Common Prayer
87 The psalm of the song of the sons of Korah. The foundaments thereof be in holy hills; (The psalm of the song for the sons of Korah. Its foundations be upon the holy hill/s;)
2 (and) the Lord loveth the gates of Zion, more than all the tabernacles of Jacob.
3 Thou city of God, without end; glorious things be said of thee. (Thou city of God; may glorious things be said of thee forever.)
4 I shall be mindful of Rahab, and Babylon; knowing me. Lo! aliens, and Tyre, and the people of Ethiopians; they were there. (I shall remember the people of Rahab, and of Babylon; they all know me. Lo! Philistia, and Tyre, and the Ethiopian people; they all were there.)
5 Whether a man shall say to Zion, And a man is born therein; and that man, (the) alder Highest, founded it? (And of Zion it shall be said, This person, and that person, were born there; and the Most High himself founded it.)
6 The Lord shall tell in the scriptures of (these) peoples; and of these princes, that were therein. (The Lord shall write of these peoples; and of their princes, or their leaders, who all were there.)
7 As the dwelling of all that be glad; is in thee. (And they all shall dance; and they shall sing, In Zion is the Source of all our blessings.)
90 The prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, thou art made (a) help to us; from generation into generation. (Lord, thou hast helped us; from generation unto generation.)
2 Before that (the) hills were made, either the earth and the world was formed; from the world and into the world, thou art God (forever and ever, thou art God).
3 Turn thou not away a man into lowness; and thou saidest, Ye sons of men, be turned again. (Thou hast turned people back to the lowness from whence they came; yea, thou sayest, Ye sons and daughters of men, return to dust.)
4 For a thousand years be before thine eyes; as yesterday, which is passed, and as [the] keeping in the night. (For in thine eyes a thousand years be like yesterday, which is just passed; yea, as fleeting as the night watch.)
5 The years of them shall be; that be had for nought. Early pass he, as an herb, (And their years shall be as if nothing. In the morning they shall come forth, like a blade of grass,)
6 early flourish he, and pass; in the eventide fall he down, be he hard, and wax he dry. (yea, that flourisheth in the morning, and groweth up; and then, in the evening, it falleth down, and hardeneth, and groweth dry.)
7 For we have failed in thine ire; and we be troubled in thy strong vengeance. (For we be brought to an end by thy anger; and we be dis-eased, or distressed, by thy fury.)
8 Thou hast set our wickednesses in thy sight; our world in the lightening of thy cheer. (Thou hast set our wickednesses before thee; our secret sins in the full light of thy face.)
9 For all our days have failed; and we have failed in thine ire. Our years (we) shall bethink upon as a spider; (For all our days be brought to an end by thy anger. All our years we shall remember as but a whisper;)
10 the days of our years be those seventy years. Forsooth, if fourscore years/if eighty years be in mighty men; and (yet) the more time of them is travail and sorrow. For mildness came above; and we shall be chastised. (and the days of our years be those seventy years. For strong people, they be eighty years; yet most of that time is trouble, or labour, and sorrow. For life is short; and then we be gone.)
11 Who knew the power of thine ire; and durst number thine ire for thy dread? (Who knoweth the power of thy anger? and who knoweth thy anger better than those who fear thee?)
12 Make thy right hand so known; and make men learned in heart by wisdom. (Make thy right hand, or thy power, known to us/Teach us that our days be short; and so make people learned in their hearts with thy wisdom.)
13 Lord, be thou converted some-deal; and be thou able to be prayed of (by) thy servants. (Lord, how long until thou be turned somewhat; and then thou be able to be prayed to, or petitioned by, thy servants?)
14 We were [ful]filled early with thy mercy; we made full out joy, and we delighted in all our days. (Fulfill us/Fill us full each morning with thy love; so that we can rejoice, and be glad, in all our days.)
15 We were glad for the days in which thou madest us meek; for the years in which we saw evils. (Make us glad now in recompense for the days in which thou hast humbled us; yea, for the years in which we endured evils.)
16 Lord, behold thou into thy servants, and into thy works; and (ad)dress thou, (or direct thou,) the sons of them. (Lord, let thy servants see thy mighty works; and our sons and daughters see thy glory.)
17 And the shining of our Lord God be on us; and (ad)dress thou the works of our hands on us; and (ad)dress thou the works of our hands. (And let the shining of the Lord our God be upon us, and direct thou the works of our hands for us; yea, direct thou the works of our hands.)
136 Alleluia. Acknowledge ye to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy is [into] without end. (Alleluia. Give ye thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his love is forever.)
2 Acknowledge ye to the God of gods. (Give ye thanks to the God of gods.)
3 Acknowledge ye to the Lord of lords. (Give ye thanks to the Lord of lords.)
4 Which alone maketh great marvels. (Who alone doeth marvellous deeds, or great miracles.)
5 Which made heavens by understanding. (Who made the heavens by his wisdom.)
6 Which made steadfast [the] earth on waters. (Who made the earth firm upon the waters.)
7 Which made great lights. (Who made the great lights.)
8 The sun into the power of the day. (The sun to have power over the day.)
9 The moon and the stars into power of the night. (The moon and the stars to have power over the night.)
10 Which smote Egypt with the first engendered things of them. (Who struck down the first-born of the Egyptians.)
11 Which led out Israel from the midst of them. (Who led out Israel from their midst.)
12 In a mighty hand, and in an high arm. (Yea, with a mighty hand, and a powerful arm.)
13 Which parted the Red Sea into partings. (Who divided the Red Sea, or the Sea of Reeds, in two.)
14 And led out Israel through the midst thereof.
15 And he cast adown Pharaoh and his power, or virtue, in the Red Sea. (And he threw down Pharaoh, and his host, or his army, into the Red Sea, or the Sea of Reeds.)
16 Which led over his people through desert. (Who led his people through the wilderness.)
17 Which smote great kings. (Who struck down great kings.)
18 And killed strong kings.
19 Sihon, the king of Amorites.
20 And Og, the king of Bashan.
21 And he gave the land of them to be heritage. (And he gave their land for an inheritance to his people.)
22 Heritage to Israel, his servant. (Yea, for an inheritance to his servant Israel.)
23 For in our lowness he had mind on us. (For he remembered us in our defeat./For he remembered us when we were brought down so very low.)
24 And he again-bought us from our enemies. (And he redeemed us, or he rescued us, from our enemies.)
25 Which giveth meat to each flesh. (Who giveth food to all his creatures.)
26 Acknowledge ye to the God of heaven. Acknowledge ye to the Lord of lords; for his mercy is [into] without end. (Give ye thanks to the God of heaven. Give ye thanks to the Lord of lords; for his love is forever.)
9 Cry ye this thing among heathen men, hallow ye battle (prepare ye for battle), raise ye (up) strong men; all men warriors, nigheth, and goeth up.
10 Beat ye together your plows[a] into swords, and your mattocks, either pickaxes, into spears; a feeble man say, that I am strong (let the weak say, I am strong).
11 All folks, break ye out, and come from compass (about), and be ye gathered together; there the Lord shall make thy strong men to die. (All the nations, break ye out, and come from all around, and be ye gathered together; and there the Lord shall make thy strong men to die.)
12 Folks rise together, and goeth up into the valley of Jehoshaphat; for I shall sit there, to deem all folks in compass. (Let all the nations rise up, and go into the Valley of Doom, or the Valley of Judgement; for there I shall sit, and judge all the nations around them.)
13 Send ye sickles, either scythes, for [the] ripe corn waxed; come ye, and go ye down, for the presser is full; pressers be plenteous, for the malice of them is multiplied. (Send ye sickles, or scythes, for the grain is ripe, or the harvest is ready; come ye, and go ye down, for the winepress is full; yea, the winepresses be overflowing, for their malice, or their wickedness, is multiplied.)
14 Peoples, peoples in the valley of cutting down; for the day of the Lord is nigh in the valley of cutting down. (Peoples, peoples in the Valley of Doom, or the Valley of Judgement; for the day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Doom!)
15 The sun and the moon be made dark, and (the) stars withdraw their shining.
16 And the Lord shall roar from Zion, and shall give his voice from Jerusalem, and (the) heavens and (the) earth shall be moved; and the Lord is the hope of his people, and the strength of the sons of Israel (and the Lord is the hope of his people, and the defender of the Israelites).
17 And ye shall know, that I am your Lord God, dwelling in Zion, in mine holy hill; and Jerusalem shall be holy, and aliens shall no more pass by it. (And ye shall know, that I am the Lord your God, living in Zion, on my holy hill/living upon Mount Zion, my holy hill; and Jerusalem shall be holy, and foreigners shall no more pass through, or invade, it.)
2 My brethren, do not ye have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, in acception of persons [in acception, or taking, of persons].
2 For if a man that hath a golden ring, and in a fair clothing, cometh in your company, and a poor man entereth in a foul clothing, [Forsooth if there shall enter into your covent, or gathering together, a man having a gold ring, in white, or fair, cloth, forsooth and a poor man shall enter in foul habit, or cloth,]
3 and if ye behold into him [and ye behold into him] that is clothed with clear clothing, and if ye say to him, Sit thou here well; but to the poor man ye say, Stand thou there, either sit under the stool of my feet [Stand thou there, or sit under the stool of my feet];
4 whether ye deem not with yourselves, and be made doomsmen of wicked thoughts?
5 Hear ye, my most dear-worthy brethren, whether God chose not poor men in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, that God promised to men that love him?
6 But ye have despised the poor man. Whether rich men oppress not you by power, and they draw you to dooms [and draw you to dooms]?
7 Whether they blaspheme not the good name, that is called to help on you [that is in-called of you]?
8 Nevertheless if ye perform the king's law, by scriptures[a], Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.
9 But if ye take persons, ye work sin, and be reproved of the law, as trespassers [as transgressors].
10 And whoever keepeth all the law, but offendeth in one [Forsooth whoever shall keep all the law, soothly offend in one], he is made guilty of all.
11 For he that said, Thou shalt do no lechery [Thou shalt not do lechery], said also, Thou shalt not slay; that if thou doest no lechery, but thou slayest, thou art made [a] trespasser of the law.
12 Thus speak ye, and thus do ye, as beginning to be deemed by the law of freedom.
13 For why doom without mercy is to him, that doeth no mercy; but mercy above raiseth doom.
10 He that is true in the least thing, is true also in the more [He that is faithful in the least thing, is faithful also in the more]; and he that is wicked in a little thing, is wicked also in the more.
11 Therefore if ye were not true in the wicked thing of riches [Therefore if ye were not true in the wicked riches], who shall betake to you that that is very?
12 And if ye were not true in other men's thing, who shall give to you that that is yours?
13 No servant may serve to two lords; for either he shall hate the one, and love the other; either he shall draw to the one, and despise the other. Ye be not able to serve to God and to riches.[a]
14 But the Pharisees, that were covetous, heard all these things, and they scorned him.
15 And he said to them, Ye it be, that justify you before men; but God hath known your hearts [soothly God knoweth your hearts], for that that is high to men, is abomination before God.
16 The law and the prophets till to John; from that time the realm of God is evangelized [from that time the realm of God is preached], and each man doeth violence into it.
17 Forsooth it is lighter heaven and earth [for] to pass, than that one tittle fall from the law [than one tittle fall of the law].
18 Every man that forsaketh his wife, and weddeth another, doeth lechery [doeth adultery]; and he that weddeth the wife forsaken of the husband, doeth adultery.
2001 by Terence P. Noble