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.)

8 To the overcomer, for pressers, the psalm of David. Lord, thou art our Lord; thy name is full wonderful in all [the] earth. For thy great doing is raised up, above (the) heavens. (To the overcomer, at the winepresses, the song of David. Lord, thou art our Lord; thy name is most wonderful in all the earth. And thy great doing is raised up, above the heavens.)

² Of the mouth of young children, not speaking and sucking milk, thou hast made perfect praising, for thine enemies; that thou destroy the enemy and the avenger. (Out of the mouths of young children, who do not speak, but who suck milk, thou hast rebuked thy mighty enemies; yea, thou hast destroyed the enemy and the avenger.)

³ For I shall see thine heavens, the works of thy fingers; the moon and the stars, which thou hast founded.

⁴ What is a man, that is mankind, that thou art mindful of him; either the son of a virgin [or the son of man], for thou visitest him? (What is a man, that is humankind, that thou art mindful of him; or who is the son of a man, that thou should care about him?)

⁵ Thou hast made him a little less than (the) angels; (but) thou hast crowned him with glory and honour,

⁶ and thou hast ordained him above the works of thine hands. Thou hast made subject all things under his feet; (and thou hast ordained him over all thy creatures. Yea, thou hast put all things under his feet;)

⁷ all sheep and oxen, furthermore and the beasts of the field; (all the sheep and the oxen, and furthermore, the beasts of the fields, that is, the wild beasts;)

⁸ the birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, (and all the other creatures) that pass by the paths of the sea. (and the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and all the other creatures that go along the paths of the sea.)

⁹ Lord, our Lord; how wonderful is thy name in all [the] earth.

84 To victory, on the pressers. The psalm of the sons of Korah. Lord of virtues, thy tabernacles be greatly loved; (To victory, for those at the winepresses. The song for the sons of Korah. Lord of hosts, how greatly loved be thy tabernacles/how beautiful is thy dwelling place;)

² my soul coveteth, and faileth into the porches of the Lord. Mine heart, and my flesh; full out joyed into quick God. (my soul desireth, and longeth for, the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. My heart, and my flesh, rejoiced in the living God.)

³ For why a sparrow findeth an house to itself; and a turtle(dove) findeth a nest to itself, where it shall keep his birds. Lord of virtues, thine altars; my king, and my God. (For there a sparrow findeth a house for itself; and a turtledove findeth a nest for itself, where it shall keep its young. Yea, beside thy altars, Lord of hosts; my King, and my God.)

⁴ Lord, blessed be they that dwell in thine house; they shall praise thee into the worlds of worlds. (Lord, happy be those who live in thy House; they shall praise thee forever.)

⁵ Blessed is the man, whose help is of thee; he hath ordained (thy) goings in his heart, (Happy be those whose help is in thee/whose strength is in thee; they have ordained thy ways in their hearts.)

⁶ in the valley of tears, in the place which he hath set. For the giver of the law shall give blessing, (And as they pass through the dry Baca Valley, they shall find water from a spring. For the Giver of the Law shall give them a blessing.)

⁷ they shall go from virtue into virtue; God of gods shall be seen in Zion. (They shall go from strength to strength; and the God of gods shall be seen in Zion.)

⁸ Lord God of virtues, hear thou my prayer; God of Jacob, perceive thou with ears. (Lord God of hosts, hear thou my prayer; God of Jacob, please listen thou to me.)

⁹ God, our defender, behold thou; and behold into the face of thy christ (and look upon the face of thy anointed king).

¹⁰ For why one day in thine halls is better; than a thousand (elsewhere). I choose to be abject, either an outcast, in the house of my God; more than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. (For one day in thy courtyards, is better than a thousand days elsewhere. I would rather choose to be a doorkeeper in the House of my God; than to live in the tents, or in the homes, of the sinners.)

¹¹ For God loveth mercy and truth; the Lord shall give grace and glory. He shall not deprive them from goods, that go in innocence; (For God loveth mercy and faithfulness; and the Lord giveth favour and glory. He will not hold back any good thing, from those who go in innocence/from those who do what is right.)

¹² Lord of virtues, blessed is the man, that hopeth in thee. (Lord of hosts, happy is the person, who trusteth in thee.)

¹⁸ Thou shalt ordain judges, and exactors, in all thy gates which thy Lord God shall give to thee, by each of thy lineages, that they deem the people by just doom, (Thou shalt ordain judges, and exactors, in all thy gates which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in each of thy tribes, and they shall judge the people with fair judgements,)

¹⁹ and bow they not into the other part for favour, either gift. Thou shalt not take a person, neither gifts, for why gifts blind the eyes of wise men, and change the words of just men (Thou shalt not show favour to anyone, nor take a bribe, or a gift, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of the just).

²⁰ Thou shalt pursue justly that that is just, that thou live, and wield the land which thy Lord God shall give to thee. (Thou shalt only pursue what is right, or just, so that thou can live, and possess the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.)

¹⁴ When thou hast entered into the land, which thy Lord God shall give to thee, and wieldest it, and dwellest therein, and sayest, I shall ordain a king on me, as all nations by compass have (and sayest, We shall ordain a king over us, like all the nations around us have);

¹⁵ thou shalt ordain him, whom thy Lord God chooseth, (out) of the number of thy brethren. Thou shalt not be able to make king a man of another folk, which man is not thy brother (Thou shalt not ordain a man from another nation to be your king, yea, a man who is not thy brother, that is, thy kinsman).

¹⁶ And when the king is ordained, he shall not multiply horses to him(self), neither he shall lead again the people into Egypt, neither he shall be raised into pride, or tyranny, by the number of knights, mostly since the Lord commanded to you, that ye turn no more again by the same way. (And when the king is ordained, he shall not multiply horses unto himself, nor shall he lead the people back to Egypt, in order to add to his horses, for the Lord hath commanded that ye never go back there.)

¹⁷ The king shall not have many wives, that draw his mind to lusts, neither he shall have great weights of silver and of gold. (The king shall not have many wives, who would draw away his mind to lust, or too much fleshliness, nor shall he have great quantities of silver and gold.)

¹⁸ Forsooth after that he hath set in the throne of his realm, he shall write to himself, that is, shall make to be written, the deuteronomy, that is, declaration, of this law in a book, and he shall take (the) exemplar of (the) priests of the kin of Levi; (And after that he hath sat on the throne of his kingdom, he shall have written for himself the deuteronomy, or the declaration, of this law in a book, and his copy shall be made from the original held by the levitical priests;)

¹⁹ and he shall have it with him, and he shall read it in all the days of his life, that he learn to dread his Lord God, and to keep his words and his ceremonies, that be commanded in the law; (and he shall have it with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he can learn to fear the Lord his God/so that he can learn to revere the Lord his God, and obey all his words and his statutes, that be commanded in the law;)

²⁰ neither his heart be raised into pride on his brethren, neither bow he into the right side, either left side, that he reign long time, he and his sons on Israel. (and then his heart shall not be raised up in pride above his brothers, or his kinsmen, nor shall he turn from these commandments to the right, or to the left, and then he and his sons shall reign a long time over Israel.)

8 But, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God, that is given in the churches of Macedonia,

² that in much assaying of tribulation, the plenty of the joy of them was [the abundance, or plenty, of the joy of them was], and the highest poverty of them was plenteous into the riches of the simpleness of them.

³ For I bear witnessing to them, after might and above might they were willful [after virtue, or power, and above virtue they were willful],

⁴ with much admonishing beseeching us the grace and the communing of [the] ministering, that is made to holy men.

⁵ And not as we hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, afterward to us by the will of God.

⁶ So that we prayed Titus, that as he began, so also he perform in you this grace.

⁷ But as ye abound in all things, in faith, and word, and knowing [and science, or knowing], and all busyness, moreover and in your charity into us, that also in this grace ye abound.

⁸ I say not as commanding, but by the busyness of other men proving also the good wit of your charity.

⁹ And ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he was made needy for you, when he was rich, that ye should be made rich by his neediness [that ye should be made rich by his mis-ease, or neediness].

¹⁰ And I give counsel in this thing; for this is profitable to you, that not only have begun to do, but also ye began to have will from the former year [but and to desire from the former year].

¹¹ But now [Now forsooth] perform ye in deed, that as the discretion of will is ready [to desire good], so be it also of performing of that that ye have.

¹² For if the will be ready, it is accepted after that that it hath, not after that that it hath not.

¹³ And not that it be remission to other men^[a], and to you tribulation;

¹⁴ but of evenness in the present time your abundance fulfill the need of them, that also the abundance of them be a fulfilling of your need, that evenness be made; [but of evenness, in this present time your abundance fulfill the mis-ease of them, that and the abundance of them be supplement, or fulfilling, of your mis-ease, or need, that evenness be made;]

¹⁵ as it is written, He that [hath] gathered much, was not increased, and he that [had] gathered little, had not less.

¹⁶ And I do thankings to God, that gave the same busyness for you in the heart of Titus,

18 And he said to them also a parable, that it behooveth to pray evermore, and not [to] fail; [Forsooth he said also a parable to them, for it behooveth to pray ever, and not to fail;]

² and said, There was a judge in a city, that dreaded not God, neither shamed of men.^[a]

³ And a widow was in that city, and she came to him, and said [saying], Venge me of mine adversary;

⁴ and he would not long time [and he would not by much time]. But after these things he said within himself, Though I dread not God, and shame not of man,

⁵ nevertheless for this widow is heavy to me, I shall venge her; lest at the last she coming condemn me [lest at the last she coming strangle me].

⁶ And the Lord said, Hear ye, what the doomsman of wickedness saith;

⁷ and whether God shall not do [the] vengeance of his chosen, crying to him day and night, and shall have patience in them?

⁸ Soothly I say to you, for soon he shall do [the] vengeance of them. Nevertheless guessest thou, that man's Son coming shall find faith in earth?