Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord be on just men (The eyes of the Lord be on the righteous); and his ears be to their prayers.

¹⁶ But the cheer of the Lord is on men doing evils; that he lose the mind of them from [the] earth. (But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil; and he shall blot out the memory of them from off the earth.)

¹⁷ Just men cried [The rightwise cried], and the Lord heard them; and delivered them from all their tribulations (and he rescued, or saved, them from all their troubles).

¹⁸ The Lord is nigh [to] them that be of troubled heart; and he shall save meek men in spirit. (The Lord is near to those who have a troubled heart; and he saveth those whose spirit is meek, or is humble.)

¹⁹ Many tribulations be of just men; and the Lord shall deliver them from all these. (Many troubles be to the righteous; but the Lord shall rescue, or save, them out of all of them.)

²⁰ The Lord keepeth all the bones of them; one of those shall not be broken. (The Lord guardeth, or keepeth safe, all their bones; not one of them shall be broken.)

²¹ The death of sinners is worst; and they that hate a just man shall trespass. (The death of sinners is brought about by the Worst/Evil bringeth about the death of sinners; and those who hate the righteous shall be punished.)

²² The Lord shall again-buy the souls of his servants; and all, that hope in him, shall not trespass. (But the Lord redeemeth, or ransometh, the souls of his servants; and all who trust in him, shall not go astray.)

²¹ And the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of half the lineage of Manasseh, answered to the princes of the message of Israel, (And the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh, answered to the leaders of the families of Israel, and said,)

²² The strongest Lord God himself of Israel knoweth, and Israel shall understand altogether; (The most strong Lord God of Israel himself knoweth, and Israel must also understand;)

²³ if we builded this altar for intent of trespassing, that is, of idolatry, the Lord keep not us, but punish he us in this present time; and if we did by that mind, that we should put thereon burnt sacrifice[s], and sacrifice(s), and peaceable sacrifices, he seek, and deem; (that if we have built this altar with the intention of trespassing, that is, for idolatry, the Lord should not allow us to live, and he should punish us right now; yea, if we did it for this purpose, so that we could put on it burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices, and peace offerings, or grain offerings, let him seek it out, and judge us right now;)

²⁴ and not more, rather, (that) we did it with this thinking and treating, that we should say thus, (If) Your sons hereafter shall say to our sons, What is to you and to the Lord God of Israel? or, What claim (have) ye to be of his people?

²⁵ O! ye sons of Reuben, and ye sons of Gad, the Lord hath set a term, the flood Jordan, betwixt us and you; and therefore ye have no part in the Lord; and by this occasion your sons shall turn away our sons from the dread of the Lord. (and they say, O! ye sons of Reuben, and ye sons of Gad, the Lord hath set a border, the Jordan River, between us and you; and so ye have no part in the Lord; and in this way your sons and daughters shall turn away our sons and daughters from the fear of the Lord/from reverence for the Lord.)

²⁶ Therefore we guessed (it) better, and we said, Build we an altar to us, not into burnt sacrifices, neither to sacrifices to be offered, (And so we thought about it, and we said to each other, Let us build an altar for ourselves, not for burnt sacrifices, nor for sacrifices to be offered,)

²⁷ but into witnessing betwixt us and you, and betwixt our children and your generation, that we serve the Lord, and that it be of our right to offer burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices, and peaceable sacrifices; and that your sons say not tomorrow to our sons, No part in the Lord is to you. (but as a witness between us and you, and between our children and your children, that we serve the same Lord, and that it be our right to offer burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices, and peace offerings, or grain offerings; and so your children shall not be able to say to our children tomorrow, and the next day, There is no part for you in the Lord.)

²⁸ And if your sons will say this, our sons shall answer (to) them, Lo! the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not into burnt sacrifices, neither into slain sacrifices, but into our and your witnessing everlasting (not for burnt sacrifices, nor for slain sacrifices, but for an everlasting witness between us and you).

²⁹ Far be this trespass from us, that we go away from the Lord, and forsake his steps, by an altar builded to burnt sacrifices, and slain sacrifices, and sacrifices of praising to be offered thereon, besides the altar of the Lord our God, that is builded before his tabernacle. (So let this trespass be far from us, that we would ever go away from the Lord, and forsake to follow his steps, with an altar built for burnt sacrifices, and slain sacrifices, and grain offerings to be offered on it, in addition to the altar of the Lord our God, that standeth before his Tabernacle.)

³⁰ And when these things were heard, Phinehas, [the] priest, and [the] princes of the message of Israel, that were with him, were pleased; and they received gladly the words of the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the half lineage of Manasseh. (And when these words were heard, Phinehas, the priest, and the leaders of the families of Israel who were with him, were pleased; and they gladly received the words of the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh.)

³¹ And Phinehas, the priest, the son of Eleazar, said to them, Now we know, that the Lord is with you; for ye be alien, or guiltless, from this trespassing, and ye have delivered the sons of Israel from the hand, or punishing, of the Lord.

³² And Phinehas turned again with the princes from the sons of Reuben and of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the coast of Canaan, to the sons of Israel; and he told these things to them.

³³ And the word pleased to all men hearing it; and the sons of Israel praised God, and said, that they would no more ascend against them, and fight, and do away the land of their possession. (And this word pleased all who heard it; and the Israelites praised God, and agreed that they would talk no more about going up against the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and fighting them, and destroying the land of their possession.)

³⁴ And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called the altar, which they had builded, Our Witnessing that the Lord Himself is God.

⁵ And he said to them, Who of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and shall say to him, Friend, lend to me three loaves;

⁶ for my friend cometh to me from the way [for my friend cometh to me of the way], and I have not what I shall set before him.

⁷ And he withinforth answer and say, Do not thou be heavy to me; the door is now shut, and my children be with me in bed; I may not rise, and give to thee.

⁸ And if he shall dwell still knocking, I say to you, though he shall not rise, and give to him, for that that he is his friend, nevertheless for his continual asking he shall rise, and give to him [And if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, though he shall not give to him, for he is his friend, nevertheless for his improbity, or continual asking, he shall rise, and give to him], as many as he hath need to.

⁹ And I say to you, ask ye, and it shall be given to you; seek ye, and ye shall find; knock ye, and it shall be opened to you.

¹⁰ For each that asketh, taketh, and he that seeketh, findeth; and to a man that knocketh, it shall be opened.

¹¹ Therefore who of you asketh his father bread, whether he shall give him a stone? or if he asketh fish, whether he shall give him a serpent for the fish?

¹² or if he asketh an egg [or if he shall ask an egg], whether he shall areach him a scorpion?

¹³ Therefore if ye, when ye be evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father of heaven shall give a good Spirit to men that ask him.