Book of Common Prayer
18 To victory, the word of the Lord to David; which spake the words of this song, in the day in which the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul; and he said: Lord, my strength, I shall love thee; (To victory, the word of the Lord to David; who spoke the words of this song, on the day in which the Lord rescued him from the power of all his enemies, and from the power of Saul; and he said, O Lord, my strength, I shall love thee;)[a]
2 the Lord is my steadfastness, and my refuge, and my deliverer. My God is mine helper; and I shall hope in him. My defender, and the horn of mine health; and mine up-taker (My God is my helper; and I shall trust him. My defender, and the horn of my salvation, or of my deliverance; and my rescuer).
3 I shall praise, and inwardly call the Lord; and I shall be safe from mine enemies. (I shall praise him, and I shall call on the Lord; and I shall be saved from my enemies.)
4 The sorrows of death (en)compassed me; and the strands of wickedness have troubled me. (The sorrows of death surrounded me; and the streams of wickedness have flowed over me.)
5 The sorrows of hell (en)compassed me; the snares of death before-occupied me. (The sorrows of Sheol, or of the land of the dead, surrounded me./The sorrows of the grave surrounded me; the snares of death were set for me.)
6 In my tribulation I inwardly called the Lord; and I cried to my God. And he heard my voice from his holy temple; and my cry in his sight entered into his ears. (In my trouble I called to the Lord; yea, I cried to my God. And he heard my voice in his holy Temple; yea, my cry came before him, and entered into his ears.)
7 The earth was moved (al)together, and trembled greatly; the foundaments of hills were troubled together, and moved together, for he was wroth to them. (The earth was altogether shaken, and greatly trembled; the foundations of the mountains were altogether troubled, and altogether shaken, for he was angry.)
8 Smoke went up in the ire of the Lord, and fire burnt out from his face; coals were kindled of him. (Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire came out of his mouth; and coals were kindled by it.)
9 He bowed down (the) heavens, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
10 And he ascended on cherubim, and flew; he flew over the pens of winds. (And he went up on cherubim, and flew; yea, he flew upon the wings of the wind.)
11 And he setted darknesses his hiding place, his tabernacle in his compass; and dark water was in the clouds of the air. (And he made the darkness his hiding place; and the clouds of the heavens, which were filled with water, surrounded him.)
12 Full clear clouds passed in his sight; hail and the coals of fire.
13 And the Lord thundered from heaven; and the highest gave his voice, hail and coals of fire. (And the Lord thundered from the heavens; yea, the Most High sent forth his voice, and hail, and coals of fire.)
14 And he sent his arrows, and destroyed those men; he multiplied lightnings, and troubled those men.
15 And the wells of waters appeared; and the foundaments of the earth were showed. Lord, of thy blaming; of the breathing of the spirit of thine ire. (And the seabed appeared; and the foundations of the earth were uncovered. Yea, by the Lord’s rebuke; by the blast of the breath from his nostrils.)
16 He sent from the highest place, and took me; and he took me from many waters. (He reached down from the highest place, and took hold of me; yea, he took me out of the deep waters.)
17 He delivered me from my strongest enemies; and from them that hated me, for they were comforted on me. (He rescued me from my strongest enemies; yea, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.)
18 They came before me in the day of my torment; and the Lord was made my defender.
19 And he led out me into breadth; he made me safe, for he would me. (And he led me out into an open place; he saved me, for he delighted in me.)
20 And the Lord shall yield to me by my rightfulness; and he shall yield to me by the cleanness of mine hands. (And the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; he rewarded me according to the cleanness of my hands.)
21 For I (have) kept the ways of the Lord; and I did not (go away) unfaithfully from my God.
22 For all his dooms be in my sight; and I putted not away from me his rightfulnesses. (For all his laws were before me; and I did not go away from his commands.)
23 And I shall be unwemmed with him; and I shall keep me from my wickedness. (And I was without blemish, or without fault, before him; for I have kept myself from my own wickedness.)
24 And the Lord shall yield to me by my rightfulness; and by the cleanness of mine hands in the sight of his eyes. (And so the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; and according to the cleanness of my hands before him.)
25 With the holy, thou shalt be holy; and with an innocent man, thou shalt be innocent. (With the holy, O Lord, thou shalt be holy; and with the innocent, thou shalt be innocent.)
26 And with a chosen man, thou shalt be chosen; and with a wayward man, thou shalt be wayward. (And with the chosen, thou shalt be chosen; but to the wicked, thou shalt be vengeful, or punishing.)
27 For thou shalt make safe a meek people; and thou shalt make meek the eyes of proud men. (And thou shalt save, or help, the poor; but thou shalt humble those who be high in their own eyes/but thou shalt look with contempt upon the proud.)
28 For thou, Lord, lightenest my lantern; my God, lighten thou my darknesses. (For thou, Lord, brightenest my lantern; my God, thou lightest up my darknesses.)
29 For by thee I shall be delivered from temptation; and in my God I shall go over the wall. (For I shall be rescued, or saved, from temptation by thee; and by my God/and with God’s help, I shall go over the wall.)
30 My God, his way is undefouled; the speeches of the Lord be examined by fire; he is [the] defender of all men hoping in him. (My God, his way is undefiled; the words of the Lord be assayed by fire, that is, they be tried and tested, and found to be true; he is the defender of all who put their trust in him.)
31 For why, who is God, except the Lord? either who is God, except our God? (For who else is God, except the Lord? yea, who else is God, except our God?)
32 God that hath girded me with virtue; and hath set my way unwemmed. (God who hath girded me with strength; and hath made my way without blemish, or without fault.)
33 Which made perfect my feet as the feet of harts; and ordaining me on high things. (Who made my feet like the feet of harts; and hath ordained me upon the high places.)
34 Which teacheth mine hands to battle; and thou hast set mine arms as a brazen bow. (Who teacheth my hands in battle; and now my arms can break a bronze bow.)
35 And thou hast given to me the covering of thine health; and thy right hand hath up-taken me (And thou hast given me the covering of thy salvation, or thy deliverance; and thy right hand hath taken me up). And thy chastising amended me into the end; and that chastising of thee shall teach me.
36 Thou alargedest my paces under me; and my steps be not made unsteadfast. (Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet have not slipped, or stumbled.)
37 I shall pursue mine enemies, and I shall take (hold of) them; and I shall not turn (again) till they fail (and I shall not return until they fall).
38 I shall all-break them, and they shall not be able to stand; they shall fall under my feet.
39 And thou hast girded me with virtue to battle; and thou hast overturned under me men rising against me. (And thou hast girded me with strength for the battle; and thou hast put beneath me those who rose up against me.)
40 And thou hast given mine enemies aback to me; and thou hast destroyed men hating me/and thou hast destroyed them that hated me. (And thou hast given me the backs of my enemies; and I have destroyed those who hated me.)
41 They cried, and none there was that made them safe; they cried to the Lord, and he heard not them. (They cried, but there was no one to save them; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.)
42 And I shall all-break them, as dust before the face of the wind; I shall do them away, as the clay of streets. (And I broke them all in pieces, so that they became like the dust in the wind; I did them away, and trampled them underfoot, like the clay in the streets.)
43 Thou shalt deliver me from [the] against-sayings of the people; thou shalt set me into the head of folks. The people, which I knew not, hath served me; (Thou delivered me from the gainsaying of the people; thou put me as the head of the nations. The people, whom I knew not, now serve me.)
44 in the hearing of ear it obeyed to me. Alien sons lied (down) to me, (The sons of foreigners, or of strangers, now bow down to me; and after hearing me speak, they obey me.)
45 alien sons waxed eld; and (went) crooked from thy paths. (The courage of the sons of foreigners, or of strangers, faded away; and they slunk out of their strongholds together.)
46 The Lord liveth, and my God be blessed; and the God of mine health be enhanced. (The Lord liveth, and blessed is my God; let the God of my salvation be exalted!)
47 God, that givest vengeances to me, and makest subject peoples under me; (O God, who givest vengeance to me, and makest the nations subject under me;)
48 thou art my deliverer from my wrathful enemies. And thou shalt enhance me from them, that rise against me; thou shalt deliver me from a wicked man. (thou art my deliverer from all my enemies. And thou hast raised me up over those who rose up against me; thou hast rescued me from violent men.)
49 Therefore, Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee among nations; and I shall say psalm to thy name. (And so, Lord, I shall praise thee before the nations; and I shall sing to thy name.)
50 Magnifying the healths of his king; and doing mercy to his christ David, and to his seed till into the world. (He who giveth victories to his king; who showeth love to his anointed king, yea, to David, and to his children, or his descendants, forever.)
14 And so the Spirit of the Lord went away from Saul, and a wicked spirit of the Lord travailed Saul (and then a wicked spirit from the Lord tormented him).
15 And the servants of Saul said to him, Lo! an evil spirit of the Lord travaileth thee; (And Saul’s servants said to him, Lo! an evil spirit from the Lord tormenteth thee;)
16 our lord the king command, and thy servants, that be before thee, shall seek a man, that can sing with an harp, and when the evil spirit of the Lord taketh thee, he harp with his hand, and thou bear it more easily. (let our lord the king command, and then thy servants, who be before thee, shall seek out a man who can play a harp, and so when the evil spirit from the Lord taketh hold of thee, he shall play his harp, and then thou shalt be able to bear it more easily.)
17 And Saul said to his servants, Purvey ye to me some man singing well (Find ye some man for me who can play well), and bring ye him to me.
18 And one of his servants answered and said, Lo! I saw a son of Jesse of Bethlehem, cunning to sing (who knoweth how to play), and (a) most strong man, and a man able to (do) battle, and prudent in words, and a fair man; and the Lord is with him.
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send thou to me David thy son, that is keeping thy beasts. (And so Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send thou to me thy son David, who is keeping watch over thy sheep.)
20 And so Jesse took an ass charged with loaves, and a gallon of wine, and a goat kid; and he sent those by the hand of David his son to Saul. (And so Jesse took a donkey loaded with loaves, and a gallon of wine, and a goat kid; and he sent them to Saul with his son David.)
21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and Saul loved him greatly (and Saul greatly loved him), and he was made his squire.
22 And Saul sent to Jesse, and said, (Let) David stand in my sight, for he hath found grace in mine eyes.
23 Then whenever the evil spirit of the Lord travailed Saul (And whenever the evil spirit from the Lord tormented Saul), David took his harp, and harped with his hand, and Saul was comforted, and he had it more lightly; for (then) the evil spirit went away from him.
17 Soothly the Philistines gathered together their companies into battle, and came together in Shochoh of Judah, and they setted tents betwixt Shochoh and Azekah, in the coasts of Dammim (in Ephesdammim).
2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and came into the valley of Terebinth, and they dressed (the) battle array to fight against [the] Philistines. (And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and came into the Elah Valley, and they directed the battle array to fight against the Philistines.)
3 And the Philistines stood above the hill on this part, and Israel stood on the hill on the tother part of the valley, that was betwixt them. (And the Philistines stood on a hill on one side, and Israel stood on a hill on the other side, and the valley was between them.)
4 And a man in the midst, that is, a strong man, and hardy, that goeth before the host, and is ready to fight against one of the enemies in singular battle, (that is, man-to-man,) went out of the Philistines’ tents, Goliath by name, of Gath, of six cubits high and a span; (And a champion went out from the Philistines’ camp, whose name was Goliath, and was from Gath, and he was six cubits and a span in height;)
5 and a brazen basinet on his head; and he was clothed with a mailed habergeon; and the weight of his habergeon was five thousand shekels of brass; (and he had a bronze helmet on his head; and was clothed with a breastplate of mail; and the weight of his breastplate was equal to five thousand brass shekels;)
6 and he had on his thighs brazen boots, and a brazen shield covered his shoulders. (and he wore bronze boots up to his thighs, and a bronze shield covered his shoulders.)
7 Forsooth the shaft of his spear was as the beam of webs (And his spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam); and the iron of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his squire went before him.
8 And he stood, and cried (out) against the companies of (the) armed men of Israel, and said to them, Why came ye ready to (do) battle? Whether I am not a Philistine, and ye be the servants of Saul? Choose ye a man of you, and come he down to a singular battle, (that is, man-to-man);
9 if he may fight with me, and slay me, we shall be your servants; forsooth if I have the mastery, and slay him, ye shall be bond (ye shall be our bondsmen, or our slaves), and serve us.
10 And the Philistine said, I have said shame today to the companies of Israel; give ye [to me] a man, and begin he singular battle with me. (And the Philistine said, I have shamed Israel’s companies this day; now give ye to me a man, and let him fight with me man-to-man.)
11 Soothly Saul and all men of Israel heard such words of the Philistine, and they were astonished, and dreaded greatly (and were greatly afraid).
17 And while that Peter doubted within himself, what the vision was that he saw, lo! the men, that were sent from Cornelius, sought the house of Simon, and stood at the gate. [And the while Peter within himself doubted, what the vision was which he saw, lo! the men, that were sent from Cornelius, seeking the house of Simon, stood nigh at the gate.]
18 And when they had called, they asked if Simon, that is named Peter [that was named Peter], had there harbour.
19 And while Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said to him, Lo! three men seek thee.
20 Therefore rise thou, and go down, and go with them, and doubt thou nothing [and go with them, nothing doubting], for I sent them.
21 And Peter came down to the men, and said, Lo! I am, whom ye seek; what is the cause, for which ye be come [for which ye have come]?
22 And they said, Cornelius, the centurion, a just man, and dreading God, and having good witnessing of all the folk of Jews, took answer of an holy angel, to call thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.
23 Therefore he led them in, and received in harbour; and that night they dwelled with him. And in the day following he rose, and went forth with them; and some of the brethren followed him from Joppa [and some of brethren from Joppa followed him], that they be witnesses to Peter.
24 And the tother day he entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius abode them, with his cousins, and necessary friends, that were called together [Forsooth Cornelius abode them, with his cousins, and necessary friends called together].
25 And it was done, when Peter was come in [when Peter had entered], Cornelius came meeting him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
26 But Peter raised him, and said, Arise thou, also I myself am a man, as thou. [Peter soothly raised him, saying, Rise, and I myself am a man, as and thou.]
27 And he spake with him, and went in, and found many that were come together. [And he speaking with him, entered in, and found many that came together.]
28 And he said to them, Ye know, how abominable it is to a Jew, to be joined either to come to an alien [Ye know, how abominable it is to a man Jew, to be joined or to come to an alien]; but God showed to me, that no man say a man common, either unclean [or unclean].
29 For which thing I came, when I was called, without doubting. Therefore I ask you, for what cause have ye called me?
30 And Cornelius said, To day, four days into this hour, I was praying and fasting in the ninth hour in mine house. And lo! a man stood before me in a white cloak, [And Cornelius saith, From the fourth day passed till to this hour, I fasting was praying in the ninth hour in mine house. And lo! a man stood before me in a white cloth,]
31 and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine almsdeeds be in mind in the sight of God.
32 Therefore send thou into Joppa [Therefore send into Joppa], and call Simon, that is named Peter; this is harboured in the house of Simon currier, beside the sea. This, when he shall come, shall speak to thee.
33 Therefore at once [Therefore anon] I sent to thee, and thou didest well in coming to us. Now therefore we all be present in thy sight, to hear the words, whatever be commanded to thee of the Lord.
36 And while they spake these things, Jesus stood in the middle of them, and said to them, Peace to you; I am, do not ye dread.
37 But they were afraid and aghast, and guessed them to see a spirit.
38 And he said to them, What be ye troubled, and thoughts come up into your hearts [and thoughts ascend up into your hearts]?
39 See ye my hands and my feet, for I myself am. Feel ye, and see ye; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see that I have [as ye see me to have].
40 And when he had said this thing, he showed hands and feet to them.
41 And yet while they believed not, and wondered for joy, he said, Have ye here any thing that shall be eaten [Have ye any thing here that shall be eaten]?
42 And they proffered to him [And they offered to him] a part of a fish roasted, and an honeycomb.
43 And when he had eaten before them, he took that that (was) left, and gave to them; [And when he had eaten before them, he taking the reliefs, gave to them;]
44 and [he] said to them, These be the words that I spake to you [and he said to them, These be the words which I spake to you], when I was yet with you; for it is need that all things be fulfilled, that be written in the law of Moses [which be written in the law of Moses], and in prophets, and in psalms, of me.
45 Then he opened to them wit [Then he opened wit to them], that they should understand [the] scriptures.
46 And he said to them, For thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and rise again from death the third day [and to rise again from dead the third day];
47 and penance and remission of sins to be preached in his name to all folks, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye be witnesses of these things.
49 And I shall send the promise of my Father into you [And I send the promise of my Father into you]; but sit ye in the city, till ye be clothed with virtue from on high.
50 And he led them forth into Bethany, and when his hands were lifted up [and, his hands lifted up], he blessed them.
51 And it was done, the while he blessed them [while he blessed them], he departed from them, and was borne into heaven.
52 And they worshipped, and went again into Jerusalem with great joy, [And they worshipping went again to Jerusalem with great joy;]
53 and were evermore in the temple [and were ever in the temple], praising and blessing God.
2001 by Terence P. Noble