Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

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.)

¹⁰ And when thy Lord God hath brought thee into the land, for which he swore to thy fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he hath given to thee great cities, and best, which thou buildedest not (and he hath given thee the best and the greatest cities, yea, which thou hast not built),

¹¹ houses full of all riches, which thou madest not, and cisterns, which thou diggedest not, (and) vineyards, and olive places, which thou plantedest not, and when thou hast eaten, and art full-filled (and art filled full),

¹² beware diligently, lest thou forget the Lord, that led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servage. (be careful, lest thou forget the Lord, who led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude, or of slavery.)

¹³ Thou shalt dread thy Lord God (Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God/Thou shalt revere the Lord thy God), and thou shalt serve him alone, and thou shalt swear by his name.

¹⁴ Ye shall not go after alien gods, of all (the) heathen men that be in your compass/that be about you; (Ye shall not follow foreign, or other, gods, the gods of the heathen who be all around you;)

¹⁵ for God is a fervent lover, thy Lord God is in the midst of thee, lest any time the strong vengeance/the fierceness of thy Lord God be wroth against thee, and do away thee from the face of the earth. (for God is a jealous lover, the Lord thy God who is in the midst of thee, lest any time the Lord thy God be angry with thee, and in his strong vengeance he do thee away from off the face of the earth.)

¹⁶ Thou shalt not tempt thy Lord God, as thou temptedest him in the place of tempting. (Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou temptedest him at Massah.)

¹⁷ Keep thou the commandments of thy Lord God, and the witnessings, and ceremonies, which he hath commanded to thee; (Obey thou the commandments of the Lord thy God, and his testimonies, and statutes, which he hath commanded to thee;)

¹⁸ and do thou that that is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord, that it be well to thee (so that it shall be well with thee), and that thou enter, and wield the best land, of which the Lord swore to thy fathers,

¹⁹ that he should do away all thine enemies before thee, as he hath spoken. (and that he would do away all thy enemies before thee/and that thou would do away all thy enemies before thee, as he hath promised.)

²⁰ And when thy son shall ask thee tomorrow, that is, in time to coming, and shall say, What will these witnessings, and ceremonies, and dooms to themselves, which our Lord God commanded to us? (And when thy son, or thy daughter, shall ask thee tomorrow, that is, in the time to come, and shall say, What is the meaning of these testimonies, and statutes, and laws, or judgements, which the Lord our God hath commanded us to obey?)

²¹ thou shalt say to him, We were Pharaoh’s servants in Egypt, and the Lord led us out of Egypt, in a strong hand; (thou shalt say to them, We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, and the Lord led us out of Egypt, with a strong hand;)

²² and he did miracles, and great wonders, and worst, that is, most painful vengeances, in Egypt, against Pharaoh, and all his house, in our sight. (and he did miracles, and wonders, yea, the greatest and the worst, in Egypt, against Pharaoh, and all his household, right before our eyes.)

²³ And he led us out thereof, that he should give to us led in, the land of which he swore to our fathers. (And he led us out of there, to lead us into the land which he had promised to our fathers, that he would give us.)

²⁴ And the Lord commanded to us, that we do all these lawful things, and dread our Lord God, that it be well to us, in all the days of our life, as it is today. (And the Lord commanded us, to obey all these laws, and to fear the Lord our God/and to revere the Lord our God, so that it would be well with us, all the days of our life, as it is today.)

²⁵ And he shall be merciful to us, if we shall do and keep all his behests, before our Lord God, as he commanded to us. (And he shall be merciful to us, if we shall obey all these commandments, before the Lord our God, as he commanded us.)

¹⁷ to no man yielding evil for evil, but purvey ye good things, not only before God, but also before all men.

¹⁸ If it may be done, that that is of you, have ye peace with all men.

¹⁹ Ye most dear brethren, not defending yourselves, but give ye place to wrath [Ye most dear-worthy brethren, not defending, or venging, yourselves, but give ye place to ire, or wrath]; for it is written, The Lord saith, To me vengeance, and I shall yield [again].

²⁰ But if thine enemy hungereth, feed thou him; if he thirsteth, give thou drink to him; for thou doing this thing shalt gather together coals on his head. [But if thine enemy shall hunger, feed him; if he thirsteth, give drink to him; forsooth doing these things thou shalt gather together coals on his head.]

²¹ Do not thou be overcome of evil, but overcome thou evil by good.

⁸ To no man owe ye any thing, but that ye love together. For he that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law.

⁹ For, Thou shalt do no lechery [Thou shalt not do lechery], Thou shalt not slay, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not say false witnessing, Thou shalt not covet the thing of thy neighbour, and if there be any other commandment, it is enstored, or included [it is enstored, or enclosed], in this word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

¹⁰ The love of thy neighbour worketh not evil; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.