Book of Common Prayer

89 The learning of Ethan, (the) Ezrahite. I shall sing [into] without end; the mercies of the Lord. In generation and into generation; I shall tell thy truth with my mouth. (The teaching of Ethan, the Ezrahite. I shall sing of the Lord’s constant love forever. To all generations, I shall tell out thy faithfulness with my mouth.)

² For thou saidest, [Into] Without end mercy shall be builded in heavens; thy truth shall be made ready in those. (For thy love shall last forever; thy faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.)

³ I disposed a testament to my chosen men; I swore to David, my servant, (Thou saidest, I made a covenant with my chosen man; I swore to my servant David,)

⁴ Till into without end I shall make ready thy seed. And I shall build thy seat; in generation, and into generation. (that I shall establish thy children, or thy descendants, forever. And I shall preserve thy throne; for all generations.)

⁵ Lord, heavens shall acknowledge thy marvels; and thy truth in the church of saints. (Lord, the heavens shall praise thy marvellous deeds; and the council of the saints shall praise thy faithfulness.)

⁶ For who in the clouds shall be made even to the Lord; shall be like God among the sons of God? (For who in heaven shall be made equal to the Lord? who shall be like God among the heavenly beings?/who shall be like God in the council of heaven?)

⁷ God, that is glorified in the council of saints; is great, and dreadful over all that be in his compass. (God, thou art feared/thou art revered, in the council of the saints; thou art great, and glorified above all who surround thee.)

⁸ Lord God of virtues, who is like thee? Lord, thou art mighty, and thy truth is in thy compass. (Lord God of hosts, who is like thee? Lord, thou art mighty, and thy faithfulness surroundeth thee.)

⁹ Thou art Lord of the power of the sea; forsooth thou assuagest the stirring of the waves thereof.

¹⁰ Thou madest low the proud, as (those who be) wounded (and slain); in the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thine enemies. (Thou hast crushed Rahab to death; thou hast scattered thy enemies with thy strong arm, or with thy power.)

¹¹ (The) Heavens be thine, and the earth is thine; thou hast founded the world, and the fullness thereof;

¹² thou madest of nought the north and the sea. Tabor and Hermon shall make full out joy in thy name; (thou madest the north and the south out of nothing. Tabor and Hermon shall make full out joy, or shall rejoice, in thy name.)

¹³ thine arm with power. Thine hand be made steadfast, and thy right hand be enhanced; (Thy arm hath power; let thy hand be made firm, and thy right hand be lifted high.)

¹⁴ rightfulness and doom is the making ready of thy seat. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face; (Righteousness and judgement be the foundations of thy throne; love and faithfulness go forth before thee.)

¹⁵ blessed is the people that know (a) hearty song. Lord, they shall go in the light of thy cheer; (Happy be the people who know a hearty song; Lord, they shall go forth by the light of thy face.)

¹⁶ and in thy name they shall make full out joy all day; and they shall be enhanced in thy rightfulness. (And in thy name, they shall make full out joy, or shall rejoice, all day long; and they shall be exalted, or shall be lifted up, by thy righteousness.)

¹⁷ For thou art the glory of the virtue of them; and in thy good pleasance our horn shall be enhanced. (For thou art the glory of their strength/For thou art the strength in which they have glory; and in thy good favour our horn shall be exalted.)

¹⁸ For our taking up is of the Lord; and of the holy of Israel our king. (For the Lord is our defender; yea, the Holy One of Israel is our King.)

¹⁹ Then thou spakest in revelation to thy saints, and saidest, I have set help in the mighty (man); and I have enhanced the chosen man of my people. (Then thou spokest in revelation to thy saints, and saidest, I have given help to the mighty man; yea, I have exalted, or lifted up, the chosen man of my people.)

²⁰ I found David, my servant; I anointed him with mine holy oil. (I found my servant David; and I anointed him with my holy oil.)

²¹ For mine hand shall help him; and mine arm shall confirm him. (For my hand shall help him; and my arm, or my power, shall strengthen him.)

²² The enemy shall nothing profit in him (The enemy shall not gain any advantage over him); and the son of wickedness shall not lay to/shall not put to, for to harm him.

²³ And I shall slay his enemies from his face; and I shall turn into flight them that hate him. (And I shall kill all his enemies before his face; and I shall turn to flight, or make to flee, those who hate him.)

²⁴ And my truth and mercy shall be with him; and his horn shall be enhanced in my name. (And my faithfulness and love shall be with him; and in my name his horn shall be exalted/his head shall be lifted up on high.)

²⁵ And I shall set his hand in the sea; and his right hand in floods. (And I shall extend his power unto the Mediterranean Sea; and his right hand unto the Euphrates River.)

²⁶ He shall inwardly call me, (saying,) Thou art my father; my God, and the up-taker of mine health. (And he shall say to me, Thou art my father; yea, my God, and my defender, my saviour.)

²⁷ And I shall set him the first begotten son; higher than the kings of earth. (And I shall make him my first-born son; higher than all the kings of the earth.)

²⁸ [Into] Without end I shall keep my mercy to him; and my testament faithful to him. (I shall hold onto my love for him forever; and faithfully keep my covenant with him.)

²⁹ And I shall set his seed into the world of world; and his throne as the days of heaven. (And I shall establish his descendants forever and ever; and his throne for as long as the days of the heavens, that is, for as long as the heavenly bodies endure.)

³⁰ Forsooth if his sons forsake my law; and go not in my dooms. (But if his sons abandon my Law; and do not go in my judgements.)

³¹ If they make unholy my rightfulnesses; and keep not my commandments. (If they break my statutes; and do not obey my commandments.)

³² I shall visit in a rod the wickednesses of them; and in beatings the sins of them. (Then I shall punish their wickednesses with a rod; and their sins with beatings.)

³³ But I shall not scatter my mercy from him; and in my truth I shall not harm him. (But I shall not take away my love from him; and I shall be faithful to him.)

³⁴ Neither I shall make unholy my testament; and I shall not make void those things that come forth of my lips. (Nor shall I break my covenant; and I shall not make void those things which come forth from my lips, that is, I shall not break my promises.)

³⁵ Once I swore in mine holiness, I shall not lie to David; (Once I swore by my holiness, that I would never lie to David;)

³⁶ his seed shall dwell [into] without end. And his throne as [the] sun in my sight, (his children, that is, his descendants, shall live forever. And his throne shall be before me like the sun,)

³⁷ and as a perfect moon without end; and a faithful witness in heaven. (and like the moon, which shall endure forever; yea, like a faithful witness in the heavens.)

³⁸ But thou hast put away, and despised; and hast delayed thy christ. (But thou hast rejected, and despised, and hast raged against thy anointed king.)

³⁹ Thou hast turned away the testament of thy servant; thou madest unholy his saintuary in earth. (Thou hast made void the covenant with thy servant; thou hast defiled his crown, and hast thrown it to the ground.)

⁴⁰ Thou destroyedest all the hedges thereof; thou hast set the steadfastness thereof (into) dread (thou hast brought his strongholds, or his fortresses, into ruin).

⁴¹ All men passing by the way ravished him; he is made (a) shame to his neighbours. (All who pass by him, on the way, rob him; he is shamed by his neighbours.)

⁴² Thou hast enhanced the right hand of men oppressing him; thou hast gladdened all his enemies.

⁴³ Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and thou helpedest not him in battle (and thou hast not helped him in the battle).

⁴⁴ Thou destroyedest him from cleansing; and thou hast hurled down his seat in earth. (Thou hast destroyed his purity; and thou hast thrown down his throne to the ground.)

⁴⁵ Thou hast made less the days of his time; thou hast beshed him with shame.

⁴⁶ Lord, how long turnest thou away, into the end; shall thine ire burn out as fire? (Lord, how long turnest thou away, forever? shall thy anger always burn like fire?)

⁴⁷ Bethink thou what is my substance; for whether thou hast ordained vainly all the sons of men? (Remember thou what my substance is/how short my time is; hast thou ordained all the sons of men in vain?)

⁴⁸ Who is a man, that shall live, and shall not see death; shall (he) deliver his soul from the hand of hell? (What man shall live, and shall not see death? can he save his soul from the power of Sheol, or the land of the dead?/from the power of the grave?)

⁴⁹ Lord, where be thine eld mercies; as thou hast sworn to David in thy truth? (Lord, where be the former acts, or the earlier proofs, of thy constant love? yea, those promises that thou hast sworn to David in thy faithfulness?)

⁵⁰ Lord, be thou mindful of the shame of thy servants; (of the curses) of many heathen men, which I held together in my bosom. (Lord, remember thy servant’s shame; remember the curses of many of the heathen, which I carried in my heart.)

⁵¹ Which thine enemies, Lord, did shamefully; for they despised the changing of thy christ. (Which thy enemies, Lord, spoke shamefully to me; for they despised the footsteps of thy anointed king/for they despised the successors of thy anointed king.)

⁵² Blessed be the Lord [into] without end (Blessed be the Lord forever); be it done, be it done.

5 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and bare it away from the stone of help into Ashdod. (And the Philistines took the Ark of God, and carried it away from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.)

² And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and setted it beside Dagon.

³ And when men of Ashdod had risen early in the tother day, lo! Dagon lay low in the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and restored him in his place. (And when the men of Ashdod had risen early the next day, lo! Dagon lay low on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and restored him to his place.)

⁴ And again they rose early in the tother day, and they found Dagon lying on his face upon the earth before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon, and the two palms of his hands, were broken off, (and were lying) upon the threshold; and the stock alone of Dagon (was) left in his place. (And they rose up early the next day, and they found Dagon lying on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon, and the two palms of his hands, were broken off, and were lying on the threshold; and only Dagon’s body was left in its place.)

⁵ For this cause the priests of Dagon, and all that enter into his temple, tread not upon the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

⁶ Forsooth the hand of the Lord was made grievous upon [the] men of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and he smote Ashdod and the coasts thereof in the privier part of [the] buttocks/in the more privy part of their tail ends.

⁷ And men of Ashdod saw such a vengeance, and they said, The ark of God of Israel dwell not with us; for his hand is hard on us, and on Dagon our god. (And when the men of Ashdod saw such vengeance taken upon themselves, they said, The Ark of the God of Israel must not remain among us; for his hand is hard upon us, and upon our god Dagon.)

⁸ And they sent, and gathered all the wise men, either princes, of Philistines to them, and said, What shall we do of the ark of God of Israel? And the men of Gath answered, The ark of God of Israel be led about; and they led about the ark of God of Israel. (And they sent for, and gathered together, all the princes of the Philistines, and said to them, What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel? And the men answered, The Ark of the God of Israel should be taken to Gath; and so they took the Ark of the God of Israel there.)

⁹ And while they led it about, the hand of the Lord was made upon all the cities about, of full great slaughter; and he smote men of each city, from a little man till to the more, and the lower entrails of them waxed rotten, and came forth; and men of Gath took counsel, and they made to themselves seats of skins, either cushions. (And after they took it there, the hand of the Lord was made upon all the city with a full great slaughter; and he struck the men of the city, from a small, or a low, man unto a great man, and their lower entrails grew rotten, and came forth; and the men of Gath took counsel together, and then they made leather cushions for themselves.)

¹⁰ Therefore they sent the ark of the Lord into Ekron. And when the ark of the Lord had come into Ekron, men of Ekron cried [out], and said, They have brought to us the ark of God of Israel, that he slay us and our people. (And so they sent the Ark of the Lord to Ekron. And when the Ark of the Lord had come to Ekron, the men of Ekron cried out, and said, They have brought the Ark of the God of Israel to us, so that now he will kill us and our people!)

¹¹ Then they sent, and gathered together all the wise men, either princes, of Philistines; which said, Deliver ye the ark of God of Israel, and turn it again into his place, and slay not us with our people. For dread of death was made in all [the] cities, and the hand of the Lord was full grievous. (And they sent for, and gathered together, all the princes of the Philistines; and they said, Send the Ark of the God of Israel away, and let it return to its own place, so that it shall not kill us and our people. For the fear of death was made in all the city, and the hand of the Lord was very grievous there.)

¹² And the men, that were not dead (who did not die), were smitten in the privy parts of their buttocks, and the yelling of each city went up into heaven.

¹² And by the hands of the apostles signs and many wonders were made in the people. And all were of one accord in the porch of Solomon.

¹³ But no man of others durst join himself with them, but the people magnified them.

¹⁴ And the multitude of men and of women believing in the Lord was more increased,

¹⁵ so that they brought out sick men into streets, and laid in little beds and couches, that when Peter came, namely the shadow of him should shadow each of them, and they should be delivered from their sicknesses [that Peter coming, namely the shadow of him should shadow each of them, and they were delivered from all sicknesses].

¹⁶ And the multitude of cities nigh to Jerusalem ran, bringing sick men, and that were travailed of unclean spirits, which all were healed.

¹⁷ But the prince of priests rose up, and all that were with him, that is the heresy of Sadducees, and were filled with envy;

¹⁸ and they laid hands on the apostles, and put them in the common ward [and put them in common keeping].

¹⁹ But the angel of the Lord opened by night the gates of the prison [Forsooth the angel of the Lord by night opened the gates of the prison], and led them out, and said,

²⁰ Go ye, and stand ye, and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

²¹ Whom when they had heard, they entered early into the temple, and taught. And the prince of priests came, and they that were with him, and called together the council, and all the elder men of the children of Israel; and sent to the prison, that they should be brought forth.

²² And when the ministers came, and found them not, and for the prison was opened [Soothly when the ministers came, and, the prison opened, found them not], they turned again, and told,

²³ and said [saying], [Forsooth] We found the prison shut with all diligence, and the keepers standing at the gates; but we opened, and found no man therein.

²⁴ And as the magistrates of the temple, and the princes of priests heard these words, they doubted of them, what was done [what should be done].

²⁵ But a man came, and told to them, For lo! those men which ye have put into prison, be in the temple, and stand, and teach the people^[a].

²⁶ Then the magistrate went with the ministers, and brought them without violence; for they dreaded the people, lest they should be stoned.

²⁹ And he said to them a likeness, See ye the fig tree, and all trees,

³⁰ when they bring forth now of themselves fruit [when they bring forth fruit now of them], ye know that summer is nigh;

³¹ so [also] ye, when ye see these things to be done, know ye, that the kingdom of God is nigh.

³² Truly I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, till all things be done.

³³ Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.

³⁴ But take ye heed to yourselves [Forsooth perceive ye, or take heed, to yourselves], lest peradventure your hearts be grieved with gluttony, and drunkenness, and busynesses of this life, and that day come suddenly on you [and that day come sudden upon you];

³⁵ for as a snare it shall come on all men, that sit on the face of all the earth.

³⁶ Therefore wake ye, praying in each time, that ye be had worthy to flee all these things that be to come [that ye be worthy to flee all these things that shall come], and to stand before man's Son.