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.)

²³ And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and went down off the ass; and she fell down before David on her face, and worshipped him on the earth (bowing low to the ground before him).

²⁴ And she felled down to his feet, and said, My lord the king, this wickedness be in me; I beseech thee, speak thine handmaid in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy servantess; (And she fell down at his feet, and said, My lord the king, let this wickedness be upon me; I beseech thee, let thy servantess speak to thee, and listen thou to the words of thy servantess;)

²⁵ I pray (thee), my lord the king, set not his heart on this wicked man Nabal, for by his name he is a fool, and folly is with him; but, my lord, I thine handmaid saw not thy young men, which thou sentest (but my lord, I thy servantess, did not see thy young men, whom thou sentest).

²⁶ Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, the which Lord hath forbidden thee, that thou shouldest come into blood, and the Lord saved thy life to thee; and now thine enemies, and they that seek evil to thee my lord, be they made as Nabal. (And so now, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, the which Lord hath forbidden thee, that thou shouldest come to shed blood, and so to avenge thyself with thy own hand; yea, now let thy enemies, and they who seek evil for thee my lord, be they made like Nabal.)

²⁷ Wherefore receive thou this blessing, (or this gift,) which thine handmaid [hath] brought to thee, my lord, and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord.

²⁸ (And) Do thou away the wickedness of thy servantess; for the Lord making shall make a faithful house to thee, my lord (for the Lord shall make a faithful family for thee, my lord), for thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord; therefore malice be not found in thee in all the days of thy life.

²⁹ For if a man riseth any time, and pursueth thee, and seeketh thy life, the life of my lord shall be kept (safe) as in a bundle of living trees, at thy Lord God (with the Lord thy God); but the soul of thine enemies shall be hurled round about as in [the] fierceness, and [the] circle of a sling.

³⁰ Therefore when the Lord hath done to thee, my lord, all these good things, which he hath spoken of thee, and hath ordained thee duke upon Israel (and hath ordained thee ruler upon Israel),

³¹ this shall not be into sighing, that is, into mourning of soul, and into remorse of conscience, and into doubt of heart to thee, my lord, that thou hast shed out guiltless blood, either that thou hast (a)venged thyself. And when the Lord hath done well to thee, my lord, thou shalt have mind on thine handmaid (thou shalt remember thy servantess), and thou shalt do well to her.

³² And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that sent thee today into my coming (who sent thee today to meet me),

³³ and blessed be thy speech; and blessed be thou, that hast forbade me, lest I went today to (shed) blood, and had venged me with mine hand (and had avenged myself with my own hands);

³⁴ else the Lord God of Israel liveth, which forbade me, lest I did evil to thee, if thou haddest not soon come into meeting to me, (yea, even) a pisser to the wall should not have (been) left to Nabal till to the morrow light. (else as the Lord God of Israel liveth, who forbade me, lest I did evil to thee, if thou haddest not swiftly come to meet me, yea, even a pisser on the wall would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light.)

³⁵ Therefore David received (out) of her hand all (the) things which she had brought to him; and he said to her, Go thou in peace into thine house; lo! I have heard thy voice, and I honoured thy face (and I grant thy request).

⁷ Therefore, brethren, be ye patient, till to the coming of the Lord. Lo! an earth-tiller abideth [the] precious fruit of the earth, patiently suffering, till he receive timeful and lateful fruit.

⁸ And be ye patient, and confirm ye your hearts, for the coming of the Lord shall approach. [And be ye patient, and confirm your hearts, for the coming of the Lord shall nigh.]

⁹ Brethren, do not ye be sorrowful each to other [Brethren, do not ye be scornful each to other], that ye be not deemed. Lo! the judge standeth nigh before the gate.

¹⁰ Brethren, take ye ensample of evil going out, and of long abiding, and travail [Brethren, take ye example of evil going out, and of long abiding of travail], and of patience, the prophets, that spake to you in the name of the Lord.

¹¹ Lo! we bless them that suffered. Ye have heard the patience of Job, and ye saw the end of the Lord, for the Lord is merciful, and doing mercy.

¹² Before all things, my brethren, do not ye swear, neither by heaven, neither by earth, neither by whatever other oath. But be your word Yea, yea, Nay, nay, that ye fall not under doom.