Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹² Blessed is the folk, whose Lord is his God; the people which he chose into heritage to himself. (Happy is the nation, whose God is the Lord; the people whom he chose for his own inheritance.)

¹³ The Lord beheld from heaven; he saw all the sons of men. (The Lord looked down from heaven; he saw all the sons and daughters of men.)

¹⁴ From his dwelling place made ready before; he beheld on all men, that inhabit the earth (he looketh on all those who inhabit the earth).

¹⁵ Which made singularly, either each by himself, the souls of them; which understandeth all the works of them. (Who made each one of them individually; and who understandeth all their works, or their deeds.)

¹⁶ A king is not saved by much virtue, that is, strength; and a giant shall not be saved in the muchliness of his virtue. (A king is not saved by his large host, or his army; and a mighty man shall not be saved by his great strength.)

¹⁷ An horse is false to health; forsooth he shall not be saved in the abundance, either plenty, of his virtue. (A horse is an empty thing for salvation, or deliverance; for it shall not be able to save anyone by the abundance, or the plentifulness, of its strength.)

¹⁸ Lo! the eyes of the Lord be on men dreading him; and in them that hope in his mercy. (Lo! the eyes of the Lord be upon those who fear, or who obey, him; and upon those who hope for his mercy./Lo! the eyes of the Lord be upon those who revere him; and upon those who trust in his love.)

¹⁹ That he deliver their souls from death; and feed them in hunger. (So that he can save their souls from death; and feed them in times of famine.)

²⁰ Our soul suffereth the Lord, that is, abideth patiently his will (Our souls wait for the Lord, yea, we wait patiently for his will to be done); for he is our helper and defender.

²¹ For our heart shall be glad in him; and we shall have hope in his holy name. (And our hearts shall be glad in him; for we have trust in his holy name.)

²² Lord, thy mercy be made on us; as we hoped in thee. (Lord, let thy love rest upon us; for we have trusted in thee.)

6 Also another evil there is (There is also another evil), which I saw under the sun; and certainly it is oft used with men.

² A man is, to whom God gave riches, and chattel, and honour; and nothing faileth to his soul of all things which he desireth; and God giveth not power to him, that he eat thereof, but a strange man shall devour it^[a]. This is vanity, and a great wretchedness. (There is a person, to whom God gave riches, and possessions, and honour; and he lacketh nothing of all the things which he desireth; but God giveth him not the power to enjoy those things, but a stranger shall enjoy them. This is empty and futile, and a great wretchedness.)

³ If a man engendereth an hundred free sons, and hath many days of age, and his soul useth not the goods of his chattel, and wanteth burying; I pronounce of this man, that a dead-born child is better than he. (Yea, if a man begetteth a hundred sons, and hath many years of age, and yet he is not able to enjoy the good things in his life, and at the last he even lacketh a proper burial, or a proper tomb; I declare of this man, that a still-born child is better than he.)

⁴ For he cometh in vain, and goeth to darknesses; and his name shall be done away by forgetting.

⁵ He saw not the sun, neither knew the diversity of good and of evil;

⁶ also though he live two thousand years, and useth not goods; whether all things hasten not to one place? (even if he live two thousand years, he hath not enjoyed the good things in his life; and do not all hasten to one and the same place?)

7 And the prince of priests said to Stephen, Whether these things have them so?

² Which said, Brethren and fathers [Which saith, Men, brethren, and fathers], hear ye. [The] God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before that he dwelt in Charran [before he dwelt in Charran],

³ and said to him, Go out of thy land, and of thy kindred, and come into the land, which I shall show to thee.

⁴ Then he went out of the land of Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran. And from thence after that his father was dead, he translated him into this land, in which ye dwell now.

⁵ And he gave not to him heritage in it, neither a pace of a foot, but he promised to give [to] him it into possession, and to his seed after him, when he had not a son.

⁶ And God spake to him, That his seed shall be [a] comeling in an alien land, and they shall make them subject to servage, and shall evil treat them, four hundred years and thirty;^[a]

⁷ and I shall judge the folk, to whom they shall serve, saith the Lord. And after these things they shall go out, and they shall serve to me in this place.

⁸ And he gave to him the testament of circumcision; and so he engendered Isaac [and so he gendered Isaac], and circumcised him in the eighth day. And Isaac engendered Jacob, and Jacob engendered the twelve patriarchs [And Isaac gendered Jacob, and Jacob gendered the twelve patriarchs].