Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

57 To the victory, lose thou not the seemly song, either the sweet song, of David, when he fled from the face of Saul into the den. God, have mercy on me, have thou mercy on me; for my soul trusteth in thee. And I shall hope in the shadow of thy wings; till wickedness pass. (To victory, destroy thou not the comely song, or the sweet song, of David, when he fled from the face of Saul into the cave. God, have mercy on me, have thou mercy on me; for my soul trusteth in thee. And I shall trust in the shadow of thy wings, until all wickedness pass by.)

² I shall cry to God alder-highest; to God that did well to me. (I shall cry to the Most High God; to God who did so much good for me.)

³ He sent from heaven, and delivered me; he gave into shame them that defoul me. God sent his mercy and his truth, (He sent from heaven, and saved me; he shamed those who persecute me. God showed his love and his faithfulness,)

⁴ and delivered my soul from the midst of whelps of lions; I slept troubled, or disturbed. The sons of men, the teeth of them be armours and arrows; and their tongue is a sharp sword. (and saved me from the midst of those ravenous lions. Yea, those sons of men, whose teeth be like arms, or spears, and arrows; and whose tongues be like sharp swords.)

⁵ God, be thou enhanced above heavens; and thy glory above all earth. (God, be thou exalted above the heavens; and thy glory above all the earth.)

⁶ They made ready a snare to my feet; and they greatly bowed my life. They delved a ditch before my face; and they felled down into it. (They prepared a snare for my feet; and they greatly bowed down my life. They dug a ditch before me; but they themselves fell down into it.)

⁷ God, mine heart is ready, mine heart is ready; I shall sing, and I shall say psalm. (God, my heart is ready, my heart is ready; I shall sing, yea, I shall sing a song.)^[a]

⁸ My glory, rise thou up; psaltery and harp, rise thou up; I shall rise up early. (My spirit, rise thou up; lute and harp, rise thou up; yea, I shall rise up in the morning.)

⁹ Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee among peoples; and I shall say psalm [to thee] among heathen men. (Lord, I shall praise thee/Lord, I shall confess thee/Lord, I shall give thanks to thee among the peoples; and I shall sing a song to thee among the heathen.)

¹⁰ For thy mercy is magnified till to heavens; and thy truth till to the clouds. (For thy love reacheth above the heavens; and thy faithfulness up to the clouds.)

¹¹ God, be thou enhanced above heavens; and thy glory above all earth. (God, be thou exalted above the heavens; and let thy glory be over all the earth.)

² And in Maon there was a man, and his possession was in Carmel; and that man was full great, and there were to him three thousand sheep, and a thousand of goats; and it befelled that his flock was shorn in Carmel. (And in Maon there was a man, and his possession was in Carmel; and that man was very rich, and there were to him three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and it befell that his flock was clipped in Carmel.)

³ And the name of that man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail; and that woman was most prudent and fair, (and that woman was very intelligent, and beautiful); but her husband was hard and full wicked and malicious; and he was of the kin of Caleb.

⁴ Therefore when David had heard in desert, that Nabal clipped his flock, (And when David had heard in the wilderness, that Nabal clipped his flock,)

⁵ he sent ten young men, and said to them, Go ye up into Carmel, and ye shall come to Nabal, and ye shall greet him of my name peaceably (and ye shall give him a friendly greeting in my name);

⁶ and ye shall say thus (and so ye shall say), Peace be to my brethren and to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be to all things, whatever thou hast.

⁷ I have heard that thy shepherds, that were with us in desert, have shorn thy flocks; we were never dis-easeful to them, neither any time anything of the flock failed to them, in all the time in which they were with us in Carmel; (I have heard that thy shepherds, who were with us in the wilderness, have clipped thy flocks; we never threatened them, nor at any time did anything of theirs go missing, in all the time when they were with us in Carmel;)

⁸ ask thy young men, and they shall show to thee. Now therefore thy young men find grace in thine eyes; for in a good day we come to thee; whatever thing thine hand findeth, or (it) pleaseth to thee, give it to thy servants, and to thy son David. (ask thy young men, and they shall tell thee. And so now let my young men find favour in thine eyes, for we come to thee on a good day; and whatever thing that thy hand findeth, or it pleaseth thee, give it to thy servants, and to thy son David.)

⁹ And when the young men of David had come, they spake to Nabal all these words in the name of David, and held [their] peace (and then they were silent).

¹⁰ Forsooth Nabal answered to the young men of David, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? Today servants [have] increased that flee their lords (Today too many servants have fled from their lords).

¹¹ Therefore shall I take my loaves, and my waters, and the flesh of (my) beasts, which I have slain to my shearers (which I have killed for my shearers), and shall I give (it) to men, that I know not of whence they be?

¹² Therefore the young men of David went again by their way; and they turned again, and came, and told to him all (the) words which Nabal had said.

¹³ Then David said to his young men, (Let) Each man be gird with his sword. And all (his) men were girded with their swords, and David also was girded with his sword; and as four hundred men followed David, for two hundred (were) left at the fardels (and about four hundred men followed David, for two hundred were left behind with the bundles, or the supplies).

¹⁴ And one of the young men told to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, and said, Lo! David sent messengers from desert, that they should bless our lord, and he turned them away (Lo! David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our lord, but he turned them away);

¹⁵ these men were good enough, and not dis-easeful to us, and nothing of ours perished in all the time in which we were with them in desert, (or in the wilderness);

¹⁶ they were to us for a wall, both in night and day, in all the days in which we pastured flocks with them. (they were like a wall for us, both night and day, all the days in which we pastured the flocks with them.)

¹⁷ Wherefore behold thou, and think, what thou shalt do; for malice is full-filled against thine husband, and against thine house (for malice is now filled full against thy husband, and against all thy family); and he is the son of Belial, so that no man may speak (sense) to him.

¹⁸ Therefore Abigail hasted, and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five wethers sodden, and seven bushels and an half of flour (and five roasted sheep, and seven and a half bushels of flour), and an hundred bundles of dried grapes, or raisins, and two hundred pieces of dried figs; and she put all this upon asses,

¹⁹ and said to her servants, Go ye before me; lo! I shall follow you behind your back. And she showed not this to her husband Nabal (But she did not say anything about this to her husband Nabal).

²⁰ Therefore when she had gone upon an ass, and came down to the foot of the hill, David and his men came down into her coming; the which she met (and she met them).

²¹ And (earlier) David (had) said, Verily in vain I have kept all these things that were of this Nabal in the desert, and nothing perished of all things that pertained to him, and (yet) he hath yielded to me evil for good. (And earlier David had said, Truly in vain have I kept watch over all those things that were Nabal’s in the wilderness, and though nothing perished of all the things that pertained to him, yet he hath yielded to me evil for good.)

²² The Lord do these things, and add he these things to the enemies of David, if I shall leave (anything) undestroyed of all things that pertain to him till tomorrow (yea, even) a pisser to a wall. (May the Lord do these things, and add he other things, to David’s enemies, if I leave anything unwasted until tomorrow out of all the things that pertain to him, yea, even a pisser on the wall.)

6 Dare any of you that hath a cause against another, be deemed at wicked men, and not at holy men? [Dare any of you, having a cause against another, be deemed at wicked men, and not at saints, or holy men?]

² Whether ye know not, that saints shall deem this world? And if the world shall be deemed by you, be ye unworthy to deem the least things?

³ Know ye not, that we shall deem angels? how much more worldly things?

⁴ Therefore if ye have worldly dooms, ordain ye those contemptible men [ordain ye those contemptible men, or of little reputation], that be in the church, to deem.

⁵ I say to make you ashamed. So there is not any wise man, that may deem betwixt a brother and his brother; [I say to your shame. So there is not any wise man, that may deem between a brother and his brother;]

⁶ but brother with brother striveth in doom, and that among unfaithful men.

⁷ And now trespass is always among you [Now forsooth trespass is all-gates in you], for ye have dooms among you. Why rather take ye not wrong? why rather suffer ye not deceit [why not more suffer ye fraud, or deceit]?

⁸ But also ye do wrong, and do fraud [and defraud], and that to brethren.

⁹ Whether ye know not, that wicked men shall not wield the kingdom of God? Do not ye err; neither lechers, neither men that serve maumets [neither men serving to idols], neither adulterers, neither lechers against kind, neither they that do lechery with men,

¹⁰ neither thieves, neither avaricious men [neither covetous men, or niggards], neither men full of drunkenness, neither cursers, neither raveners, shall wield the kingdom of God.

¹¹ And ye were sometime these things [And these things ye were sometime]; but ye be washed, but ye be hallowed, but ye be justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.