Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

130 The song of degrees. Lord, I cried to thee from the depths;

² Lord, hear thou my voice. Thine ears be made attentive into the voice of my beseeching (Let thy ears be made attentive to the words of my plea).

³ Lord, if thou keepest wickednesses; Lord, who shall sustain, or abide? (Lord, if thou keepest a record of our wickednesses; then Lord, who shall survive?/then Lord, who will not be condemned?)

⁴ For mercy is at thee; (But there is mercy with thee, and I stand in awe of thee;)

⁵ and, Lord, for thy law I abode thee. My soul sustained in his word; (yea, Lord, I wait for thee. My soul is sustained, and I hope, and I trust, in his word.)

⁶ my soul hoped in the Lord. From the morrowtide keeping till to the night; (My soul waiteth for the Lord, more eagerly than those who wait for the morning light; yea, more eagerly than those who stand guard, or be on watch, until the morning light.)

⁷ Israel hope in the Lord. For why mercy is at the Lord; and plenteous redemption is at him. (Israel, trust in the Lord. For there is always love with the Lord; and there is plentiful redemption with him.)

⁸ And he shall again-buy Israel; from all the wickednesses thereof. (And he shall redeem the people of Israel; from all their wickednesses.)

⁴ These be the generations of heaven and of earth, in the day wherein the Lord God made heaven and earth, (These be the generations, or the creation, of the heavens and the earth, in the days when the Lord God made the heavens and the earth,)

⁵ and each little tree of [the] earth before that it sprang out in [the] earth; and he made each herb of the field before that it burgeoned. For the Lord God had not (yet) rained on the earth, and no man there was that wrought the earth (and there was no man yet to work the earth);

⁶ but a well went out of [the] earth, and moisted all the higher part of the earth. (but a well, or a mist, went up out of the ground, and watered all the earth’s surface.)

⁷ Therefore the Lord God formed man of the slime of [the] earth, and breathed into his face the breathing of life; and man was made into a living soul. (And so the Lord God formed man out of the slime of the earth, and breathed into his face the breathe of life; and then the man was made into a living soul.)

⁸ Forsooth the Lord God planted at the beginning (the) paradise of liking, wherein he set man whom he had formed. (And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he put the man there whom he had formed.)

⁹ And the Lord God brought forth (out) of the earth each tree fair in sight, and sweet to eat; also he brought forth the tree of life in the midst of paradise, and the tree of knowing of good and of evil (and he brought forth the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

¹⁰ And a river went out from the place of liking to moist paradise, which river is parted from thence into four heads. (And a river went out from Eden to water the garden, and this river was parted from there into four rivers.)

¹¹ The name of the one river is Pishon, that it is that compasseth all the land of Havilah, where gold cometh forth, (The name of the first river is Pishon, and it encircleth all the land of Havilah, where gold cometh from,)

¹² and the gold of that land is the best, and there is found bdellium, that is, a tree of spicery, and the stone onyx; (and the gold of that land is the best, and bdellium, that is, a spice tree, is also found there, and the onyx stone as well;)

¹³ and the name of the second river is Gihon, that it is that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia (and it encircleth all the land of Ethiopia);

¹⁴ forsooth the name of the third river is Tigris, that goeth against Assyrians (which floweth east of Assyria); soothly the fourth river is that Euphrates.

⁴ And when much people was come together, and men hied to him from the cities, he said by a similitude, [Forsooth when full much company came together, and from cities hasted to him, he said by a likeness, or example,]

⁵ He that soweth, went out to sow his seed. And while he soweth, some fell beside the way, and was defouled, and birds of the air ate it.

⁶ And other fell on a stone, and it sprang up, and dried, for it had not moisture [for it had no moisture].

⁷ And other fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up together, and strangled it.

⁸ And other fell into good earth [And another fell down into good land], and it sprang up, and made an hundredfold fruit. He said these things, and cried, He that hath ears of hearing, hear he.

⁹ But his disciples asked him, what this parable was.

¹⁰ And he said to them, To you it is granted to know the private of the kingdom of God [To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God]; but to other men in parables, that they seeing see not, and they hearing understand not.

¹¹ And this is the parable. The seed is God's word;

¹² and they that be beside the way, be these that hear; and afterward the fiend cometh, and taketh away the word from their heart, lest they believing be made safe.^[a]

¹³ But they that fell on a stone, be these that when they have heard [be these men which when they have heard], receive the word with joy. And these have no roots [And these have not root]; for at a time they believe, and in time of temptation they go away.

¹⁴ But that that fell among thorns, be these that heard, and of busynesses, and riches, and lusts of life [and volupties of life] they go forth, and be strangled, and bring forth no fruit.

¹⁵ But that that fell into good earth, be these that, in a good heart, and best, hear the word, and hold, and bring forth fruit in patience. [Forsooth that that fell into good earth, be these which, in good heart and best, hearing the word hold, and bring forth fruit in patience.]