Book of Common Prayer

40 For victory, the psalm of David. I abiding abode the Lord; and he gave attention to me. And he heard my prayers; (To victory, the song of David. Patiently waiting, I waited for the Lord; and he gave attention to me. And he heard my prayers;)

² and he led out me from the pit of wretchedness, and from the filth of dregs. And he ordained my feet on a stone; and he (ad)dressed my goings. (and he led me out of the pit of wretchedness, and out of the filth of dregs. And he ordained my feet upon a stone; and he directed my goings.)

³ And he sent into my mouth a new song; a song to our God. Many men shall see, and dread; and shall hope in the Lord. (And he put a new song in my mouth; a song to our God. And many shall see this, and shall have fear/and shall be in awe; and then they shall put their trust in the Lord.)

⁴ Blessed is the man, of whom the name of the Lord is his hope; and he beheld not into vanities, and into false vengeances. (Happy is the person, for whom the Lord’s name is his hope; and he looketh not to idols, or to false gods.)

⁵ My Lord God, thou hast made thy marvels many; and in thy thoughts none is, that is like thee (toward us). I told and I spake; and they be multiplied above number. (My Lord God, thou hast done many marvellous deeds; and there is no one like thee, for all thy thoughts be for our benefit. I have told about them; yea, I have spoken about them, and they be multiplied far above number.)

⁶ Thou wouldest not sacrifice and offering; but thou madest perfectly ears to me. Thou askedest not burnt sacrifice, and other sacrifice for sin; (Thou desiredest not sacrifices and offerings; but thou hast given me ears to hear thee. Thou askedest not for burnt sacrifices, and other sacrifices for sin;)

⁷ then I said, Lo! I come. In the head of the book it is written of me, (and so I said, Lo! I am here. From the beginning, the Book of thy Law was written for me,)

⁸ that I should do thy will; my God, I would/I desired also to do (it); and thy law in the midst of mine heart. (so that I would do thy will; my God, I desire to do it; and thy Law is there in the midst of my heart.)

⁹ I told thy rightfulness in a great church; lo! I shall not refrain my lips, Lord, thou knewest. (I told of thy righteousness in the great congregation; lo! I shall not refrain my lips, Lord, thou knowest that.)

¹⁰ I hid not thy rightfulness in mine heart; I said thy truth and thine health. I hid not thy mercy, and thy truth, from a much council. (I kept not thy righteousness, or thy goodness, hidden in my heart; I spoke about thy faithfulness, and thy salvation, or thy deliverance. I hid not thy love, and thy faithfulness, from the great congregation.)

¹¹ But thou, Lord, make not far thy merciful doings from me; thy mercy and truth ever[more] take me up. (But thou, Lord, make not thy merciful doings to be far away from me; let thy love, and thy faithfulness, keep me safe forevermore.)

¹² For why evils, of which is no number, (en)compassed me; my wickednesses have taken me, and I might not, that I should (even) see. Those be multiplied above the hairs of mine head; and mine heart forsook me. (For evils, of which there is no number, surrounded me; my wickednesses have taken hold of me, and I can no longer see. Yea, they be multiplied far above the hairs of my head; and my heart hath deserted me.)

¹³ Lord, please it to thee, that thou deliver me; Lord, behold thou to help me. (Lord, may it please thee to save me; Lord, look thou to help me.)^[a]

¹⁴ Be they shamed, and ashamed together; that seek my life, to take away it. Be they turned aback, and be they shamed/and be they ashamed; that will evils to me. (Be they shamed, and ashamed; all who seek to take my life. Be they turned back, and be shamed/and be ashamed; all who desire evil for me.)

¹⁵ Bear they their confusion anon; that say to me, Well! well! in scorn. (Bear they their own shame at once/Be they ashamed at once; who scornfully say to me, Well! well!)

¹⁶ All men that seek thee, be fully joyful, and be glad in thee; and say they, that love thine health, The Lord be magnified ever[more]. (But let all those who seek thee, be very joyful, and be glad in thee; and let those who love thy salvation, or thy deliverance, say forevermore, The Lord be magnified.)

¹⁷ Forsooth I am a beggar and poor; the Lord is busy of me (But I am a poor and needy man, yea, a beggar; Lord, help thou me). Thou art mine helper and my defender; my God, tarry thou not.

54 To victory in organs, either in psalms, the learning of David, when Ziphims came, and said to Saul, Whether David is not hid at us? God, in thy name, make thou me safe; and in thy virtue, deem thou me. (To victory, on instruments, or in songs, the teaching of David, when the Ziphims came, and said to Saul, David is hid with us! God, by the power of thy name, save thou me; and in thy strength, judge thou me.)

² God, hear thou my prayer; with ears perceive thou the words of my mouth. (God, hear thou my prayer; listen thou to the words of my mouth.)

³ For aliens have risen against me, and strong men sought my life; and they setted not God before their sight. (For foreigners, or strangers, have risen against me, and strong men sought to take my life; and they never have a thought about God.)

⁴ For, lo! God helpeth me; and the Lord is the up-taker of my soul (and the Lord is my defender).

⁵ Turn thou away evils to mine enemies; and lose thou them in thy truth. (O Lord, turn thou back their own evil upon my enemies; and destroy thou them by thy truth.)

⁶ Willfully I shall sacrifice to thee; and, Lord, I shall acknowledge to thy name, for it is good. (I shall willingly sacrifice to thee, Lord; and I shall praise thy name, for it is good.)

⁷ For thou deliveredest me from all tribulation; and mine eye despised on mine enemies. (For thou hast rescued me from every trouble; and I have seen come to pass what I desire for my enemies/and my eyes have seen the defeat of my enemies.)

51 To victory, the psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him, when he entered to Bathsheba. God, have thou mercy on me; by thy great mercy. And by the muchliness of thy merciful doings; do thou away my wickedness. (To victory, the song of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had slept with Bathsheba. God, have thou mercy on me; because of thy great love. And in the multitude of thy merciful doings; do thou away my wickedness.)

² Moreover wash thou me from my wickedness; and cleanse thou me from my sin.

³ For I acknowledge my wickedness; and my sin is ever[more] against me. (For I confess my sinfulness; yea, my sin is before me forevermore.)

⁴ I have sinned to thee alone, and I have done evil before thee; that thou be justified in thy words, and overcome when thou art deemed. (I have sinned against thee alone, and I have done evil before thee; so that thou art justified with thy words, and proved right when thou judgest me.)

⁵ For lo! I was conceived in wickednesses; and my mother conceived me in sins. (For lo! I was conceived in sinfulness; yea, my mother conceived me in sin.)

⁶ For lo! thou lovedest truth; thou hast showed to me the uncertain things, and privy things of thy wisdom. (For lo! thou lovedest the truth; and thou hast shown me the uncertain things, and the secret things, of thy wisdom.)

⁷ Lord, sprinkle thou me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; wash thou me, and I shall be made white more than snow (wash thou me, and I shall be made more white than snow).

⁸ Give thou joy, and gladness to mine hearing; and bones made meek shall full out make joy. (Let me hear the sounds of joy, and of gladness; and then the bones, which thou hast broken and bruised, shall make great joy, or rejoice.)

⁹ Turn away thy face from my sins; and do away all my wickednesses.

¹⁰ God, make thou a clean heart in me; and make thou new a rightful spirit in my entrails. (God, make my heart clean in me; and put thou a new and right spirit deep within me.)

¹¹ Cast thou me not away from thy face; and take thou not away from me thine holy spirit. (Do not throw thou me away from before thee; and take thou not away thy holy spirit from me/and take thou not away thy Holy Spirit from me.)

¹² Give thou to me the gladness of thine health; and confirm thou me with the principal spirit. (Give thou to me the gladness of thy salvation, or of thy deliverance; and give thou to me a spirit willing to obey thee.)

¹³ I shall teach wicked men thy ways; and unfaithful men shall be converted to thee. (I shall teach the wicked thy ways; and the unfaithful shall return to thee.)

¹⁴ God, the God of mine health, deliver thou me from bloods, or sins; and my tongue shall joyfully sing (of) thy rightfulness. (God, the God of my salvation/the God of my deliverance, save thou me from bloodshed, or from death; and my tongue shall joyfully sing of thy righteousness, or of thy justice.)

¹⁵ Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall tell (out) thy praising.

¹⁶ For if thou haddest would sacrifice, I had given it; truly thou shalt not delight in burnt sacrifice. (For if thou haddest desired a sacrifice, that is, an offering, I would have given it to thee; but truly thou delightest not in burnt sacrifice.)

¹⁷ A sacrifice to God is a spirit troubled, that is, (one made) sorry for sin; God, thou shalt not despise a contrite heart, and made meek. (A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit, that is, one made sorry because of sinning; God, thou shalt not despise a contrite and humble heart.)

¹⁸ Lord, do thou benignly in thy good will to Zion; (so) that the walls of Jerusalem (may) be builded.

¹⁹ Then thou shalt take pleasantly the sacrifice of rightfulness, (with) offerings, and burnt sacrifices; then they shall put calves on thine altar. (Then thou shalt be pleased with a righteous sacrifice, yea, with offerings, and burnt sacrifices; and then they shall put calves upon thy altar.)

²⁰ Ahab sent to all the sons of Israel, and gathered together the prophets in the hill of Carmel. (And so Ahab sent for all the Israelites, and gathered together the prophets on Mount Carmel.)

²¹ Forsooth Elijah nighed to all the people of Israel, and said, How long halt ye into two parts? (How long shall ye waver between two paths?) If the Lord is God, follow ye him; and if Baal is God, follow ye him. And the people answered not one word to him.

²² And Elijah said again to the people, I dwelled alone a prophet of the Lord; soothly the prophets of Baal be four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the maumet woods be four hundred men. (And Elijah said to the people, I am the only prophet of the Lord still left; but there be four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and four hundred prophets of Asherah.)

²³ (Let) Twain oxes be given to us; and choose they one ox, and they shall cut (it) into gobbets, and put it on wood, but put they not fire under (it); and I shall make (ready) the tother ox into sacrifice (and I shall prepare the other ox for sacrifice), and I shall put (it) on the wood, and I shall not put fire under (it either).

²⁴ Call ye the name of your gods, and I shall call the name of my God; and the God that heareth by fire falling down, given from heaven to waste the sacrifice, be he God. And all the people answered, and said, The reason is best, that Elijah hath spoken. (Then call ye on the name of your god, and I shall call on the name of my God; and the God who answereth with fire falling down, that is, with fire given from heaven to consume the sacrifice, he is God. And all the people answered, and said, What Elijah hath spoken is reasonable.)

²⁵ Therefore Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose ye one ox to you, and make ye (ready) first your sacrifice, for ye be the more; and call ye the names of your gods, and put ye not fire under. (And so Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose ye one ox for yourselves, and prepare ye first your sacrifice, for ye be the more; and then call ye on the name of your god, but put ye no fire under it.)

²⁶ And when they had taken the ox, whom Elijah gave to them, they made (ready the) sacrifice, and called the name of Baal, from the morrowtide till to midday, and said, Baal, hear us! And no voice was, neither any that answered; and they skipped over the altar, which they had made. (And when they had taken the ox, which was given to them, they prepared the sacrifice, and called on the name of Baal, from the morning until midday, and said, Baal, hear us! But there was no voice, nor anyone who answered; even as they leapt all around the altar, which they had made.)

²⁷ And when it was then midday, Elijah scorned them, and said, Cry ye with [a] greater voice, for Baal is your god, and in hap he speaketh with another, either he is in a harbourgerie, either in the way, either certainly he sleepeth, that he be raised up. (And when it was midday, Elijah scorned them, and said, Cry ye with a greater voice, for Baal is your god, and perhaps he speaketh with another, or else he is at an inn, or is on the way, or certainly he sleepeth, so that he must be raised up.)

²⁸ Therefore they cried with [a] great(er) voice, and they cut themselves with knives and lancets, after their custom, till they were beshed with blood.

²⁹ But after that midday passed, and while they prophesied, or prayed, the time came, in which the sacrifice is wont to be offered, neither voice was heard of their gods, neither any answered, neither perceived them praying. (But after that midday had passed, and yet while they prophesied, and prayed, the time came, in which the evening sacrifice was wont to be offered, and still neither the voice was heard of their god, nor anyone answered them, nor anyone perceived their prayers.)

³⁰ [And] Elijah said to all the people, Come ye to me. And when the people came to him, he arrayed the altar of the Lord, that was destroyed. (And Elijah said to all the people, Come ye close to me. And when the people came close to him, he repaired the altar of the Lord that was destroyed.)

³¹ And he took twelve stones, by the number of the lineages of the sons of Jacob, to which Jacob the word of the Lord was made, and said, Israel shall be thy name.

³² And he builded an altar of stones, in the name of the Lord, and he made a leading-to of water, either a ditch (and he made a leading-to, or a ditch, for the water), as by two little ditches, or furrows, in the compass of the altar^[a].

³³ And he dressed [the] wood, and he parted the ox by (its) members, and put it upon the wood, and said, Fill ye four pots with water, and pour ye it upon the burnt sacrifice (to be), and upon the wood.

³⁴ And again he said, Also the second time do ye this. And they did (it) the second time. And he said, Do ye the same thing the third time; and they did (it) the third time.

³⁵ And the waters ran about the altar, and the ditch, or rut, of [the] leading-to of water was filled. (And the water ran about the altar, and the ditch, or the rut, of the leading-to for the water, was completely filled.)

³⁶ And when the time was then, that the burnt sacrifice should be offered, Elijah the prophet nighed, and said, Lord God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, show thou today that thou art God of Israel, and that I am thy servant, and have done all these words by thy commandment. (And when it was the time, that the burnt sacrifice should be offered, Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, or Jacob, show thou today that thou art the God of Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things by thy commandment.)

³⁷ Lord, hear thou me; Lord, hear thou me; that this people learn, that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast converted again the heart of them. (Lord, hear thou me; Lord, hear thou me; so that this people shall learn that thou art the Lord God, and thou shalt turn their hearts back to thee again.)

³⁸ Soothly [the] fire of the Lord felled down then, and devoured the burnt sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, and it licked up also the powder, and the water that was in the leading-(to), (or the rut,) of (the) water. (Then the fire of the Lord fell down, and devoured the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and it also licked up the water that was in the ditch, or in the rut, for the water.)

³⁹ And when all the people had seen this, the people felled into his face (the people fell down on their faces), and said, The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.

⁴⁰ And Elijah said to them, Take ye the prophets of Baal; not one soothly escape of them. And when they had taken them, Elijah led them to the strand of Kishon, and killed them there. (And Elijah said to them, Take ye hold of the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape. And when they had taken hold of them, Elijah led them to the Kishon Stream/to the Kishon Gorge, and they killed them there.)

3 Henceforward, my brethren, have ye joy in the Lord. To write to you the same things, to me it is not slow, and to you it is necessary.

² See ye hounds, see ye evil workmen, see ye division [see ye concision].

³ For we be circumcision, which by spirit serve to God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have not trust in the flesh,

⁴ though I have trust, yea, in the flesh. If any other man is seen to trust in the flesh, I more,

⁵ that was circumcised in the eighth day, of the kin of Israel [circumcised in the eighth day, of the kindred of Israel], of the lineage of Benjamin, an Hebrew of Hebrews, by the law a Pharisee [after the law a Pharisee],

⁶ by love pursuing the church of God, by rightwiseness that is in the law living without plaint. [after love pursuing the church of God, after rightwiseness that is in the law living without plaint.]

⁷ But which things were to me winnings, I have deemed these impairings for Christ.

⁸ Nevertheless I guess all things to be impairment for the clear science of Jesus Christ my Lord. For whom I made all things impairment, and I deem as drit [and I deem as turds], that I win Christ,

⁹ and that I be found in him, not having my rightwiseness that is of the law, but that that is of the faith of Christ Jesus [but that that is of the faith of Christ], that is of God the rightwiseness in faith,

¹⁰ to know him, and the virtue of his rising again, and the fellowship of his passion, and to be made like to his death, [to know him, and the virtue of his rising again, and the fellowship of his passion, I configured, or made like, to his death,]

¹¹ if on any manner I come to the resurrection that is from death. [if on any manner I shall come to the resurrection that is of dead men.]

¹² Not that now I have taken, or now am perfect; but I follow, if in any manner I catch, in which thing also I am caught of Christ Jesus. [Not that now I have taken, or now am perfect; forsooth I follow, if on any manner I shall comprehend, in which thing also I am comprehended of Christ Jesus.]

¹³ Brethren, I deem me not that I have caught; but one thing, I forget those things that be behind, and stretching forth myself to those things that be before, [Brethren, I deem me not to have comprehended; one thing, forsooth, I forgetting soothly those things that be behind, stretching myself forsooth to those things that be the former,]

¹⁴ and pursue to the ordained meed of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [to the ordained thing, pursue to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.]

¹⁵ Therefore whoever we be perfect, feel we this thing. And if ye understand in other manner any thing, this thing God shall show to you.

¹⁶ Nevertheless to what thing we have come, that we understand the same thing, and that we perfectly dwell in the same rule.

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]