Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

²³ The going(s) of a man shall be (ad)dressed with the Lord; and he shall delight in his way. (The goings of a man be directed by the Lord; and he guardeth him on his way.)

²⁴ When he falleth, he shall not be hurtled down/he shall not be hurled down; for the Lord undersetteth his hand.

²⁵ I was younger, and soothly I waxed eld; and I saw not a just man forsaken, neither his seed seeking bread. (I was young, and then I grew old; and I never saw a righteous person abandoned, nor his children seeking bread.)

²⁶ All day he hath mercy, and lendeth; and his seed shall be in blessing. (All day long he hath love, and lendeth to others; and his children, or his descendants, shall be blessed.)

²⁷ Bow thou away from evil, and do good; and dwell thou into the world of world. (Turn thou away from evil, and do good; and thou shalt live forever.)

²⁸ For the Lord loveth doom, and shall not forsake his saints; they shall be kept [into] without end. Unjust men shall be punished; and the seed of wicked men shall perish. (For the Lord loveth justice, and shall not forsake his saints; they shall be kept safe forever. The unjust, or the unrighteous, shall be punished; and the descendants of the wicked shall perish.)

²⁹ But just men shall inherit the land; and shall inhabit thereon into the world of world. (But the righteous shall inherit the land; and shall inhabit it forever.)

³⁰ The mouth of a just man shall bethink wisdom; and his tongue shall speak doom. (The righteous person speaketh wisdom; yea, his tongue shall speak of justice, or fairness.)

³¹ The law of his God is in his heart; and his steps shall not be deceived. (The Law of God is in his heart; and his steps shall not slip/and his feet shall not stumble.)

³² A sinner beholdeth a just man; and seeketh to slay him.

³³ But the Lord shall not forsake him in his hands; neither he shall condemn him, when it shall be deemed against him.

³⁴ Abide thou the Lord, and keep thou his way, and he shall enhance thee, that by heritage thou take the land; when sinners shall perish, thou shalt see. (Wait thou for the Lord, and keep thou to his way, and he shall raise thee up, or shall exalt thee, so that thou take the land by inheritance; and when the sinners shall perish, thou shalt see it.)

³⁵ I saw the wicked man enhanced above; and raised up as the cedars of Lebanon. (Once I saw a wicked man exalted; yea, raised up as high as the cedars in Lebanon.)

³⁶ And I passed (And then I passed by later), and lo! he was not (there); I sought him, and his place was not found.

³⁷ Keep thou innocence, and see equity; for those be relics to a peaceable man. (Mark thou the innocent, and look upon the righteous; for they be the progeny of peaceful people.)

³⁸ Forsooth unjust men shall perish; the remnants/the relics of wicked men shall perish (al)together. (But the unjust, or the unrighteous, shall perish; yea, the progeny of the wicked shall altogether perish.)

³⁹ But the health of just men is of the Lord; and he is their defender in the time of tribulation. (But the salvation, or the deliverance, of the righteous is from the Lord; and he is their defender in their time of trouble.)

⁴⁰ And the Lord shall help them, and shall make them free, and he shall deliver them from sinners; and he shall save them, for they hoped in him (and he shall save them, for they trusted in him).

8 And it was done, when Samuel waxed eld, he set his sons to be judges of Israel. (And it was done, when Samuel grew old, he made his sons to be judges in Israel.)

² And the name of his first begotten son was Joel, and the name of the second was Abiah, that were judges in Beersheba (and they were judges in Beersheba).

³ And his sons went not in his ways, but they bowed after avarice, and they took gifts, and perverted doom (and perverted justice, or judgement).

⁴ Therefore all the greater men in birth of Israel were gathered together, and came to Samuel into Ramah. (And so all the men of great age, that is, the elders, of Israel gathered together, and came to Samuel in Ramah.)

⁵ And they said to him, Lo! thou hast waxed eld, and thy sons go not in thy ways; ordain thou a king to us, that he deem us, as also all other nations have. (And they said to him, Lo! thou hast grown old, and thy sons do not go in thy ways; ordain thou a king for us, so that he can judge, or can rule, us, like all the other nations have.)

⁶ And the word displeased in the eyes of Samuel, for they had said, Give thou to us a king, that he deem us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. (And this request displeased Samuel, for they had said, Give thou a king to us, so that he can judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.)

⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, Hear thou the voice of the people in all things that they speak to thee; for they have not cast away thee (for they have not thrown thee away), but me, (so) that I reign not upon them.

⁸ By all the works that they have done, from the day in which I led them out of Egypt unto this day, as they have forsaken me, and they have served alien gods, so they do also to thee (and they have served foreign, or other, gods, and now they also do to thee).

⁹ Now therefore hear thou their voice; nevertheless witness thou to them; and before-say thou to them the right of the king, that shall reign upon them (and tell thou them, the rights of the king who shall reign over them).

¹⁰ Then Samuel said all the words of the Lord to the people, that had asked of him a king (who had asked him for a king);

¹¹ and he said, This shall be the right of the king, that shall command to you; he shall take your sons, and he shall set them in his chariots; and he shall make them to himself riders, and before-goers of his carts (and he shall make them to be his horsemen, or his riders, and to run before his chariots);

¹² and he shall ordain to him tribunes, that is, sovereigns of a thousand, and centurions, that is, sovereigns of an hundred, and earers/tillers of his fields, and reapers of his corns, and smiths of his armours, and (smiths) of his chariots. (and he shall ordain his tribunes, that is, the rulers of a thousand, and his centurions, that is, the rulers of a hundred, and the tillers of his fields, and the reapers of his harvest, and the smiths of his arms, or of his weapons, and the smiths of his chariots.)

¹³ Also he shall make your daughters (to be) makers of his ointments, and his fire-makers (and his cooks), and (his) bakers/his makers of bread.

¹⁴ And he shall take your fields, and your vineries (and your vineyards), and the best places of olives, and he shall give those to his servants.

¹⁵ But also he shall take the tenth part of your corns, and (of) the rents of your vineries, that he give those to his chamberlains, and [to his] servants.

¹⁶ And he shall take away your servants, and your handmaids, and your best young men, and your asses, and he shall set these in his work. (And he shall take away your servants, and your servantesses, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and he shall make them do his bidding/and he shall make them work for him.)

¹⁷ Also he shall take the tenth part of your flocks; and ye shall be his servants.

¹⁸ And ye shall cry in that day from the face of your king, whom ye have chosen to you; and the Lord shall not hear you in that day; for ye [have] asked (for) a king to you. (And ye shall cry out on that day because of your king, whom ye have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord shall not hear you on that day; for ye have asked for a king for yourselves.)

6 Therefore we bringing in a word of the beginning of Christ, be we born to the perfection of him, not again laying the foundament of penance from dead works, and of the faith to God,^[a]

² and of teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of rising again of dead men, and of everlasting doom.

³ And this thing we shall do, if God shall suffer.

⁴ But it is impossible, that they that be once lightened [them that once be illumined], and have tasted also an heavenly gift, and be made partners of the Holy Ghost,

⁵ and nevertheless have tasted the good word of God, and the virtues of the world to coming [and virtues of the world to come],

⁶ and be slid far away, that they be renewed again to penance. Which again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and have him to scorn.

⁷ For the earth that drinketh rain oft coming on it, and bringeth forth suitable herb to them of which it is tilled [Forsooth the earth drinking rain oft coming upon it, and bringing forth covenable herb to them of whom it is tilled], taketh blessing of God.

⁸ But that that is bringing forth thorns and briers, is reprovable, and next to curse, whose ending shall be into burning.

⁹ But, ye most dear-worthy, we trust of you better things, and near(er) to health, though we speak so.

¹⁰ For God is not unjust, that he forget your work and love, which ye have showed in his name; for ye have ministered to saints, and minister.

¹¹ And we covet that each of you show the same busyness to the filling of hope [to the full-filling of hope] into the end;

¹² that ye be not made slow, but also followers of them, which by faith and patience shall inherit the promises.