Book of Common Prayer
50 The psalm of Asaph. God, the Lord of gods, spake/God, the God of gods, spake; and called the earth, from the rising of the sun till to the going down. (The song of Asaph. God, the Lord of gods, spoke/God, the God of gods, spoke; and called to the people of the earth, from the rising of the sun unto the going down of it.)
2 The shape of his fairness from Zion, God shall come openly; (God shineth from Zion, perfect in beauty;)
3 our God, and he shall not be still. Fire shall burn on high in his sight; and a strong tempest in his compass. (our God shall come, and he shall not be silent. Fire shall burn on high before him; and it shall be a strong tempest surrounding him/and a strong tempest shall surround him.)
4 He called heaven above; and the earth, to (witness him) deem his people. (He calleth heaven above, and the earth beneath, to the judgement of his people.)
5 Gather ye to him his saints; that ordain his testament above sacrifices. (And he saith, Gather my saints to me; those who have made a covenant with me, by offering a sacrifice.)
6 And heavens shall show his rightwiseness/And heavens shall tell his rightfulness; for God is the judge. (And the heavens shall tell out his righteousness; for God himself is the judge.)
7 My people, hear thou, and I shall speak to Israel; and I shall witness to thee, I am God, thy God. (My people, hear thou, and I shall speak; Israel, I shall testify against thee; I am God, thy God.)
8 I shall not reprove thee in thy sacrifices; and thy burnt sacrifices be ever[more] before me. (I shall not rebuke thee for thy sacrifices, and for thy burnt sacrifices, that be before me forevermore./Shall I not rebuke thee for thy sacrifices, and for thy burnt sacrifices, that be before me forevermore?)
9 I shall not take calves of thine house; neither goat bucks of thy flocks. (But I do not need calves from thy house, or thy farm; or goat bucks from thy flocks.)
10 For all the wild beasts of (the) woods be mine; work beasts, and oxes in hills (and the work beasts as well, and the oxen on the hills).
11 I have known all the volatiles of the firmament; and the fairness of the field is with me. (I know all the birds on those hills; and the wild beasts of the fields be mine.)
12 If I shall be hungry, I shall not say to thee; for the world and the fullness thereof is mine. (If I am hungry, I have no need to tell thee; for the world and its fullness be mine.)
13 Whether I shall eat the flesh of bulls? either shall I drink the blood of goat bucks? (Shall I eat the flesh of bulls? or drink the blood of goat bucks? Nay!)
14 Offer thou to God the sacrifice of praising; and yield thine avows to the highest God. (Offer, or give, thou to God the sacrifice of praise; and pay thy vows to the Most High God.)
15 And inwardly call thou me in the day of tribulation; and I shall deliver thee, and thou shalt honour me. (And call thou on me in the day of trouble; and I shall save thee, and then thou shalt honour me.)
16 But God said to the sinner, Why tellest thou out my rightfulnesses; and takest my testament by thy mouth? (But God said to the sinner, Why should thou tell out my statutes? and why hast thou my covenant in thy mouth?)
17 Soothly thou hatedest lore, or discipline; and hast cast away my words behind (thee). (Truly thou hatedest chastisement; and hast thrown away my words behind thee.)
18 If thou sawest a thief, thou rannest with him; and thou settedest thy part with adulterers.
19 Thy mouth was plenteous of malice; and thy tongue meddled together guiles. (Thy mouth is full of malice; and thy tongue mixeth up batches of lies.)
20 Thou sitting spakest against thy brother, and thou settedest slander against the son of thy mother; (And thou sitteth down, and speakest against thy brother, yea, thou settest forth slander against thy mother’s son;)
21 thou didest these things, and I was still. Thou guessedest wickedly, that I shall be like thee; I shall reprove thee, and I shall set (them) against thy face. (thou didest these things, and I was silent. And thou wickedly guessedest that I was just like thee; but I shall rebuke thee, and I shall do it to thy face.)
22 Ye that forget God, understand these things; lest sometime he ravish, and none be that shall deliver. (Ye who forget God, understand these things; lest sometime I tear thee in pieces, and there be no one who shall save thee.)
23 The sacrifice of praising shall honour me; and there is the way, wherein I shall show to him the health of God. (The sacrifice of praise shall honour me; and to those who follow my way/and to those who obey me, I shall give them the salvation of God.)
59 To the overcomer, lose thou not the seemly song of David (destroy thou not David’s comely song), when Saul sent and kept the house, to slay him. My God, deliver thou me from mine enemies; and deliver thou me from them that rise against me.
2 Deliver thou me from them that work wickedness; and save thou me from men-quellers. (Rescue thou me from those who do evil; and save thou me from these murderers.)
3 For lo! they have taken my soul; strong men fell in on me. Neither (for) my wickedness, neither (for) my sin; (For lo! they lie in wait for me; strong men have fallen in on me. But not because of my wickedness, nor for my sin.)
4 Lord, I ran without wickedness, and (ad)dressed my works. Rise up into my meeting, and see; (Lord, though I am innocent, they run into position against me. Rise up to help me, and see;)
5 and thou, Lord God of virtues, art God of Israel. Give thou attention to visit all folks; do thou not mercy to all that work wickedness. (for thou, Lord God of hosts, art the God of Israel. Give thou attention to punishing all the nations; do not thou give mercy to any who do evil.)
6 They shall be turned (again) at eventide, and they as dogs shall suffer hunger; and they shall compass, that is, go abegging, (in) the city. (They shall return in the evening, and they shall suffer hunger like dogs; and they shall go about begging in the city.)
7 Lo! they shall speak in their mouth, and a sword in their lips; for who heard? (Lo! they shall speak out insults with their mouths, and their lips, or their tongues, shall be like swords; for they say, Who shall hear us?)
8 And thou, Lord, shalt scorn them; thou shalt bring all folks to nought. (But thou, Lord, shalt scorn them; thou shalt bring down all these nations to nothing.)
9 I shall keep my strength to thee; for God is mine up-taker, (O my strength, I shall turn to thee; for God is my defender,)
10 my God, his mercy shall come before me. God showed to me (my desire) on mine enemies, (my God, his love shall come to me. God shall show me my heart’s desire for all my enemies.)
11 slay thou not them; lest any time my peoples forget. Scatter thou them in thy virtue; and, Lord, my defender, put thou them down. (But kill thou them not; lest any time my people forget. Rather, scatter thou them by thy strength; and, O Lord, my defender, put thou them down.)
12 Put down the trespass of their mouth, and the word of their lips; and be they taken in their pride. And of cursing and of leasing; they shall be showed (up) in the ending. (And for the trespasses of their mouths, and the words of their lips; let them be taken in their pride. And for their cursing and their lies; let them be shown up in the end.)
13 (Destroy thou them) In the ire of ending, and they shall not be; and they shall know, that the Lord shall be Lord of Jacob, and of the ends of earth. (Destroy thou them in thy anger, yea, destroy them altogether, and they shall be no more; and then they shall know, that the Lord is the lord, or the ruler, in Jacob, and unto the ends of the earth.)
14 They shall be turned (again) at eventide, and they as dogs shall suffer hunger; and they shall compass, that is, go abegging, (in) the city. (They shall return in the evening, and they shall suffer hunger like dogs; and they shall go about begging in the city.)
15 They shall be scattered abroad, for to eat; soothly if they be not [ful]filled, and they shall grutch. (They shall be scattered abroad, searching for food; and truly they shall grumble, if they be not satisfied, or fulfilled.)
16 But I shall sing (of) thy strength; and early I shall enhance thy mercy. For thou art made mine up-taker; and my refuge, in the day of my tribulation. (But I shall sing of thy strength; and in the morning I shall sing of thy love. For thou art my defender; and my refuge, in the days of my trouble.)
17 Mine helper, I shall sing to thee; for thou art God, mine up-taker, my God, my mercy. (My helper, I shall sing to thee; for thou art God, my defender, the God who loveth me.)
60 To victory, on the witnessing of (the) rose, the sweet song of David, to teach men, when he fought against Aram of floods, and Syria of Zobah; and Joab turned again, and smote Edom in the valley of salt pits, twelve thousand. God, thou hast put away us, and thou hast destroyed us; thou were wroth, and thou hast done mercy to us. (To victory, on the teaching of the lily, the sweet song of David, to teach men, when he fought against Aramnaharaim, and Aramzobah; and Joab returned, and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of the Salt Pits. God, thou hast cast us away, and thou hast destroyed us; thou were angry, but now, show thou thy mercy to us/show thou us thy mercy.)
2 Thou movedest the earth, and thou troubledest it; make thou whole (again) the sorrows thereof, for it is moved. (Thou hast shaken the earth, and thou hast troubled it; but now heal thou its wounds, for it is broken in pieces.)
3 Thou showedest hard things to thy people; thou gavest drink to us with the wine of compunction. (Thou hast shown thy people hard times; and thou hast made us stagger, as though we were drunk with wine.)
4 Thou hast given a signifying to them that dread thee; that they flee from the face of the bow. (Thou hast given a sign, or a warning, to those who fear thee/to those who revere thee; so that they can flee, or escape, from the face of the bow.)
5 That thy darlings be delivered; make thou safe with thy right hand, and hear thou me. (Save thy dear ones; yea, save thou us with thy right hand, and answer thou me.)[a]
6 God spake by his holy (place); I shall be glad, and I shall part Shechem, and I shall mete the great valley of tabernacles. (God spoke in his holiness/God spoke from his sanctuary, and he said, I shall be glad, and I shall divide Shechem; and I shall measure out the Succoth Valley.)
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; and Ephraim is the strength of mine head. Judah is my king; (Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, and Judah is my sceptre.)
8 Moab is the pot of mine hope. Into Idumea I shall stretch forth my shoe; aliens be made subject to me. (But Moab is my washbowl. And I shall throw my shoes at Edom; and Philistia shall be made subject to me.)
9 Who shall lead me into a city made strong; who shall lead me into Idumea? (Who shall lead me into the strengthened, or the fortified, city? who shall lead me unto Edom?)
10 Whether not thou, God, that hast put away us; and shalt thou not, God, go out in our virtues? (Shalt not thou, O God, even though thou hast cast us off, or rejected us? or shalt not thou, O God, go out with our hosts, or our armies, any more?)
11 Lord, give thou to us help (out) of tribulation; for the help of man is vain. (Lord, give thou us help in the time of trouble; for the help of man is worthless, yea, but an empty hope.)
12 In God we shall make virtue; and he shall bring to nought them that trouble us/that disturb us. (With God’s help, we shall do valiantly/we shall have the victory; and he shall bring down those who trouble us into nothing.)
33 Ye just men, have fully joy in the Lord; praising (al)together becometh rightful men. (Ye who be righteous, have full out joy, or rejoice, in the Lord; praising him becometh those who be upright, or obedient.)
2 Acknowledge ye to the Lord in an harp; sing ye to him in a psaltery of ten strings. (Praise ye the Lord on a harp; sing ye to him on a ten-stringed lute.)
3 Sing ye to him a new song; say ye well psalm to him in crying [out]. (Sing ye to him a new song; boldly say ye a psalm to him, and shout out loud.)
4 For the word of the Lord is rightful (For the word of the Lord is true); and all his works be (done) in faithfulness.
5 He loveth mercy and doom; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord. (He loveth righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the love of the Lord.)
6 Heavens be made steadfast by the word of the Lord; and all the virtue of those by the spirit of his mouth. (The heavens were made by the word of the Lord; yea, all the host of them, by the breath from his mouth.)
7 And he gathered together the waters of the sea as in a bouget/as in a bottle; and he setteth deep waters in treasures. (And he gathered the waters of the sea together, like in a bottle; and he put the deep waters in his treasuries, or in his storehouses.)
8 All earth dread the Lord; soothly all men inhabiting the world be moved of him. (Let all the earth fear the Lord/Let all the earth revere the Lord; let all those who inhabit the world be in awe of him.)
9 For he said, and things were made; he commanded, and things were made of nought (he commanded, and everything was made out of nothing!).
10 The Lord destroyeth the counsels of folks, forsooth he reproveth the thoughts of peoples; and he reproveth the counsels of princes. (The Lord destroyeth the plans of the nations; he thwarteth the plans of the rulers of the peoples.)
11 But the counsel of the Lord dwelleth (into) without end; the thoughts of his heart dwell in generation and into generation. (But the plans of the Lord shall stand forever; the thoughts of his heart shall remain for all generations.)
12 Blessed is the folk, whose Lord is his God; the people which he chose into heritage to himself. (Happy is the nation, whose God is the Lord; the people whom he chose for his own inheritance.)
13 The Lord beheld from heaven; he saw all the sons of men. (The Lord looked down from heaven; he saw all the sons and daughters of men.)
14 From his dwelling place made ready before; he beheld on all men, that inhabit the earth (he looketh on all those who inhabit the earth).
15 Which made singularly, either each by himself, the souls of them; which understandeth all the works of them. (Who made each one of them individually; and who understandeth all their works, or their deeds.)
16 A king is not saved by much virtue, that is, strength; and a giant shall not be saved in the muchliness of his virtue. (A king is not saved by his large host, or his army; and a mighty man shall not be saved by his great strength.)
17 An horse is false to health; forsooth he shall not be saved in the abundance, either plenty, of his virtue. (A horse is an empty thing for salvation, or deliverance; for it shall not be able to save anyone by the abundance, or the plentifulness, of its strength.)
18 Lo! the eyes of the Lord be on men dreading him; and in them that hope in his mercy. (Lo! the eyes of the Lord be upon those who fear, or who obey, him; and upon those who hope for his mercy./Lo! the eyes of the Lord be upon those who revere him; and upon those who trust in his love.)
19 That he deliver their souls from death; and feed them in hunger. (So that he can save their souls from death; and feed them in times of famine.)
20 Our soul suffereth the Lord, that is, abideth patiently his will (Our souls wait for the Lord, yea, we wait patiently for his will to be done); for he is our helper and defender.
21 For our heart shall be glad in him; and we shall have hope in his holy name. (And our hearts shall be glad in him; for we have trust in his holy name.)
22 Lord, thy mercy be made on us; as we hoped in thee. (Lord, let thy love rest upon us; for we have trusted in thee.)
18 For why wickedness is kindled as fire; it shall devour the briars and thorns, and it shall be kindled in the thickness of the forest, and it shall be wrapped (al)together in the pride of smoke. (For wickedness is kindled like a fire; it shall devour the briars and thorns, and it shall be kindled in the thickness of the forest, and it shall be wrapped up in a pall, or in a column, of smoke.)
19 In the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land shall be troubled, and the people shall be as the meat of fire (and the people shall become food for the fire); a man shall not spare his brother.
20 And he shall bow to the right half, and he shall hunger, and he shall eat at the left half, and he shall not be [ful]filled; each man shall devour the flesh of his arm. (And one person shall turn to the right, and he shall still have hunger, and another shall eat on the left, and he shall not be fulfilled; and everyone shall devour the flesh of their own children.)
21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim shall devour Manasseh, and they together against Judah. In all these things the strong vengeance of him is not turned away, but yet his hand is stretched forth.
10 Woe to them that make wicked laws, and they writing have written unrightfulness, (Woe to them who make wicked laws, and they writing have written injustice,)
2 for to oppress poor men in doom, and to do violence to the cause of meek men of my people; that widows shall be the prey of them, and that they should ravish fatherless children. (and so they oppress the poor in judgement, and do violence to the cause of the humble among my people; and widows shall become their prey, and they shall rob fatherless children.)
3 What shall ye do in the day of visitation, and of wretchedness coming from [a]far? To whose help shall ye flee? and where shall ye leave your glory,
4 that ye be not bowed down under bond and fall not down with slain men? (so that ye be not bowed down in slavery, and fall not down with the slain?) On all these things his strong vengeance is not turned away, but yet his hand is stretched forth.
10 but more them that walk after the flesh, in coveting of uncleanness, and despise lordshipping, and be bold, pleasing themselves, and dread not to bring in sects, blaspheming;
11 where angels, when they be more in strength and virtue, bear not the execrable doom against them [bear not against them the execrable, or cursed, doom].
12 But these be as unreasonable beasts, naturally into taking [by kind into taking], and into death, blaspheming in these things that they know not, and shall perish in their corruption,
13 and receive the hire of unrightwiseness. And they guess delights of defouling and of wem, to be likings of the day, flowing in their feasts with delights, doing lechery with you, [receiving the hire of unrightwiseness, guessing the volupties of the day delights of defouling and of wem, with delights flowing, in their feasts doing lechery with you,]
14 and have eyes full of adultery, and unceasing trespass, deceiving unsteadfast souls, and have the heart exercised to covetousness; the sons of cursing, [having eyes full of adultery, and unceasing trespass, deceiving unsteadfast souls, having the heart exercised in covetousness, the sons of cursing,]
15 that forsake the right way, and erred, following the way of Balaam of Bosor, which loved the hire of wickedness.
16 But he had reproving of his madness; a dumb beast under yoke, that spake with voice of man, that forbade the unwisdom of the prophet. [Soothly he had correction, or reproving, of his madness; a dumb beast under yoke, speaking with voice of a man, forbade the unwisdom of the prophet.]
3 In those days John Baptist came, and preached in the desert of Judaea, [In those days came John Baptist, preaching in the desert of Judaea,]
2 and said, Do ye penance, for the kingdom of heavens shall approach.[a]
3 For this is he, of whom it is said by Esaias, the prophet, saying, A voice of a crier in desert, Make ye ready the ways of the Lord; make ye right the paths of him.[b]
4 And this John [Forsooth that same John] had clothing of camel's hairs, and a girdle of skin about his loins; and his meat was honeysuckles [soothly his meat was locusts], and honey of the wood.
5 Then Jerusalem went out to him, and all Judaea, and all the country about Jordan;
6 and they were washed of him in Jordan [and were christened of him in Jordan], acknowledging their sins.
7 But he saw many of the Pharisees and of Sadducees coming to his baptism, and said to them, Generation of adders, who showed to you to flee from the wrath that is to come? [Soothly he seeing many of Pharisees and of Sadducees coming to his baptism, said to them, Generations of adders, who showed to you to flee from wrath to come?]
8 Therefore do ye worthy fruits of penance,
9 and do not ye say within you, We have Abraham to our father; for I say to you, that God is mighty to raise up of these stones the sons of Abraham.
10 And now the ax is put to the root of the tree; therefore every tree that maketh not good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire.
11 I wash you in water [Soothly I christen you in water], into penance; but he that shall come after me is stronger than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you [he shall baptize, or christen, you] in the Holy Ghost and [in] fire.
12 Whose winnowing cloth is in his hand, and he shall fully cleanse his corn floor, and shall gather his wheat into his barn; but the chaff he shall burn with fire that may not be quenched.[c]
2001 by Terence P. Noble