Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

49 To victory, a psalm to the sons of Korah. All ye folks, hear these things; all ye that dwell in the world, perceive with ears. (To victory, a song for the sons of Korah. All ye nations, hear these things; all ye who live in the world, listen!)

² All the sons of earth, and the sons of men; together the rich man, and the poor into one. (All the sons and daughters of the earth, the sons and daughters of men; yea, the rich and the poor, together as one.)

³ My mouth shall speak wisdom; and the thinking of mine heart shall speak prudence.

⁴ I shall bow down mine ear into a parable; I shall open my reason set forth in a psaltery. (I shall listen closely to a parable; then I shall set forth my understanding on a lute.)

⁵ Why shall I dread in the evil day? the wickedness of mine heel shall (en)compass me. (Why should I have fear, or be afraid, on the day of evil, when the wickedness of my enemies shall surround me?)

⁶ Which trust in their own virtue (They who trust in their wealth); and have glory in the multitude of their riches.

⁷ A brother again-buyeth not, shall a man again-buy? and he shall not give to God his pleasing. (No one shall ever be able to redeem himself; he shall never be able to pay God the price that he asketh for him.)

⁸ And he shall not (be able to) give the price of ransom for his soul; and he shall travail into without end, (Yea, he shall never be able to pay the price of ransom for his own soul; even if he could work forever,)

⁹ and he shall live yet into the end. He shall not see perishing, (so that he would live forever, and not see perishing, or corruption.)

¹⁰ when he shall see wise men dying; the unwise man and the fool shall perish together. And they shall leave their riches to aliens; (For he seeth that the wise die; and that the foolish and the ignorant perish together with them. But they all leave their riches to others, even strangers;)

¹¹ and the sepulchres of them be the houses of them without end. The tabernacles of them be in generation and in generation; they called their names in their lands. (and their tombs, or their graves, shall be their houses forever. Yea, their dwelling places for all generations; even though their lands were once called by their own names.)

¹² A man/Man, when he was in honour, understood not; he is comparisoned to unwise beasts, and is made like to those. (For anyone, even when he hath been given great honour, liveth not forever; he is comparable to the unthinking beasts, and soon is made like them.)

24 Follow thou not evil men (Do not thou follow evil people), desire thou not to be with them.

² For the soul of them bethinketh (on) ravens, and their lips speak frauds. (For their minds think about robberies, and their lips speak lies.)

³ An house shall be builded by wisdom, and it shall be made strong by prudence, (or by understanding).

⁴ [The] Cellars shall be filled in teaching, with all riches precious and full fair. (By knowledge and study, the cellars shall be filled with all precious and beautiful things of riches.)

⁵ A wise man is strong, and a learned man is stalworthy and mighty.

⁶ For why battle is begun with ordinance; and health shall be, where many counsels be. (For battle is begun with forethought; and victory shall be, where there be many plans, or much good advice.)

⁷ Wisdom is high to a fool; in the gate he shall not open his mouth. (Wisdom is too high for a fool to reach; in court/at the city gates, he shall not even dare to open his mouth.)

⁸ He that thinketh to do evils, shall be called a fool.

⁹ The thought of a fool is (a) sin; and a backbiter is abomination of men (and a backbiter is an abomination to everyone).

¹⁰ If thou hast slid, despairest (thou) in the day of anguish, (for) thy strength shall be made less.

¹¹ Deliver thou them, that be led to death (Rescue thou them, who be led to death); and cease thou not to deliver them, that be drawn to death.

¹² If thou sayest, Strongholds suffice not; he that is [the] beholder of the heart, understandeth, and nothing deceiveth the keeper of thy soul, and he shall yield to a man after his works.

¹⁷ Therefore I say and witness this thing in the Lord [Therefore this thing I say, and witness in the Lord], that ye walk not now, as heathen men walk, in the vanity of their wit;

¹⁸ that have understanding darkened with darknesses [having their understanding darkened], and be aliened from the life of God, by ignorance that is in them, for the blindness of their heart.

¹⁹ Which despairing betook themselves to unchastity, into the working of all uncleanness in covetousness.

²⁰ But ye have not so learned Christ,

²¹ if nevertheless ye heard him, and be taught in him, as is truth in Jesus.

²² Do ye away by the old living the old man, that is corrupt by the desires of error; [Do ye away after the first living the old man, that is corrupt after the desires of error;]

²³ and be ye renewed in the spirit of your soul;^[a]

²⁴ and clothe ye the new man, which is made after God in rightwiseness and holiness of truth. [and clothe ye the new man, which after God is made of nought in rightwiseness and holiness of truth.]