Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
50 The psalm of Asaph. God, the Lord of gods, spake/God, the God of gods, spake; and called the earth, from the rising of the sun till to the going down. (The song of Asaph. God, the Lord of gods, spoke/God, the God of gods, spoke; and called to the people of the earth, from the rising of the sun unto the going down of it.)
2 The shape of his fairness from Zion, God shall come openly; (God shineth from Zion, perfect in beauty;)
3 our God, and he shall not be still. Fire shall burn on high in his sight; and a strong tempest in his compass. (our God shall come, and he shall not be silent. Fire shall burn on high before him; and it shall be a strong tempest surrounding him/and a strong tempest shall surround him.)
4 He called heaven above; and the earth, to (witness him) deem his people. (He calleth heaven above, and the earth beneath, to the judgement of his people.)
5 Gather ye to him his saints; that ordain his testament above sacrifices. (And he saith, Gather my saints to me; those who have made a covenant with me, by offering a sacrifice.)
6 And heavens shall show his rightwiseness/And heavens shall tell his rightfulness; for God is the judge. (And the heavens shall tell out his righteousness; for God himself is the judge.)
7 My people, hear thou, and I shall speak to Israel; and I shall witness to thee, I am God, thy God. (My people, hear thou, and I shall speak; Israel, I shall testify against thee; I am God, thy God.)
8 I shall not reprove thee in thy sacrifices; and thy burnt sacrifices be ever[more] before me. (I shall not rebuke thee for thy sacrifices, and for thy burnt sacrifices, that be before me forevermore./Shall I not rebuke thee for thy sacrifices, and for thy burnt sacrifices, that be before me forevermore?)
9 I shall not take calves of thine house; neither goat bucks of thy flocks. (But I do not need calves from thy house, or thy farm; or goat bucks from thy flocks.)
10 For all the wild beasts of (the) woods be mine; work beasts, and oxes in hills (and the work beasts as well, and the oxen on the hills).
11 I have known all the volatiles of the firmament; and the fairness of the field is with me. (I know all the birds on those hills; and the wild beasts of the fields be mine.)
12 If I shall be hungry, I shall not say to thee; for the world and the fullness thereof is mine. (If I am hungry, I have no need to tell thee; for the world and its fullness be mine.)
13 Whether I shall eat the flesh of bulls? either shall I drink the blood of goat bucks? (Shall I eat the flesh of bulls? or drink the blood of goat bucks? Nay!)
14 Offer thou to God the sacrifice of praising; and yield thine avows to the highest God. (Offer, or give, thou to God the sacrifice of praise; and pay thy vows to the Most High God.)
15 And inwardly call thou me in the day of tribulation; and I shall deliver thee, and thou shalt honour me. (And call thou on me in the day of trouble; and I shall save thee, and then thou shalt honour me.)
16 But God said to the sinner, Why tellest thou out my rightfulnesses; and takest my testament by thy mouth? (But God said to the sinner, Why should thou tell out my statutes? and why hast thou my covenant in thy mouth?)
17 Soothly thou hatedest lore, or discipline; and hast cast away my words behind (thee). (Truly thou hatedest chastisement; and hast thrown away my words behind thee.)
18 If thou sawest a thief, thou rannest with him; and thou settedest thy part with adulterers.
19 Thy mouth was plenteous of malice; and thy tongue meddled together guiles. (Thy mouth is full of malice; and thy tongue mixeth up batches of lies.)
20 Thou sitting spakest against thy brother, and thou settedest slander against the son of thy mother; (And thou sitteth down, and speakest against thy brother, yea, thou settest forth slander against thy mother’s son;)
21 thou didest these things, and I was still. Thou guessedest wickedly, that I shall be like thee; I shall reprove thee, and I shall set (them) against thy face. (thou didest these things, and I was silent. And thou wickedly guessedest that I was just like thee; but I shall rebuke thee, and I shall do it to thy face.)
22 Ye that forget God, understand these things; lest sometime he ravish, and none be that shall deliver. (Ye who forget God, understand these things; lest sometime I tear thee in pieces, and there be no one who shall save thee.)
23 The sacrifice of praising shall honour me; and there is the way, wherein I shall show to him the health of God. (The sacrifice of praise shall honour me; and to those who follow my way/and to those who obey me, I shall give them the salvation of God.)
7 And it is made in the fourth year of Darius, king, the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, in the fourth day of the ninth month, that is Chisleu, that is, November. (And it was done in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, that is Chisleu, or November.)
2 And Sherezer, and Regemmelech, and men that were with them, sent to the house of the Lord, for to pray the face of the Lord; (And Sherezer, and Regemmelech, and the men who were with them, sent word to the House of the Lord, for them to pray to the Lord;)
3 that they should say to priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to prophets, and speak, Whether it is to weep to me in the fifth month, either I shall hallow me, as I did now many years? (and so that they could ask the priests of the House of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, Is it for me to weep and to consecrate, or to dedicate, myself in the fifth month, as I have done now for so many years?)
4 And the word of the Lord [of hosts] was made to me, and said,
5 Speak thou to all the people of the land, and to priests, and say thou, When ye fasted, and wailed in the fifth and seventh month(s), by these seventy years, whether ye fasted a fast to me? (Speak thou to all the people of the land, and to the priests, and say thou, When ye fasted, and wailed in the fifth month and in the seventh month, during those seventy years, did ye ever fast in honour of me?)
6 And when ye ate, and drank, whether ye ate not to you, and drank not to yourselves? (And when ye ate, and drank, did ye not eat, and drink, to please only yourselves?)
7 Whether the words of prophets be not, which the Lord spake in the hand of the former prophets, when yet Jerusalem was inhabited, and was full of riches, and it, and the cities thereof in compass thereof, and at the south and in field place was inhabited? (Were not these the words of the prophets, which the Lord spoke by the earlier prophets, or by the prophets of old, when Jerusalem was still inhabited, and was full of riches, and it, and the cities there all around it, and to the south, or in the Negeb, and on the lowlands, or on the Shephelah, were all inhabited?)
8 And the word of the Lord was made to Zechariah, and said,
9 The Lord of hosts saith these things, and speaketh, Deem ye true doom, and do ye mercy, and doings of mercy, each man with his brother. (The Lord of hosts speaketh these things, and saith, Judge ye with true justice, and do ye mercy, and doings of mercy, each man with his brother/each person with his neighbour.)
10 And do not ye falsely challenge a widow, and fatherless, either motherless, and comeling, and poor man; and a man think not in his heart evil to his brother. (And do not ye oppress a widow, or the fatherless, or the motherless, child, or a newcomer, that is, a stranger, or a poor person; and do not let anyone think evil in his heart against his brother, or against his neighbour.)
11 And they would not take heed, and they turned away the shoulder, and went away, and made heavy their ears (and closed their ears), lest they heard.
12 And they set their heart as an adamant (stone), lest they heard the law, and words which the Lord of hosts sent in his [holy] Spirit, by the hand of the former prophets; and great indignation was made of the Lord of hosts. (And they hardened their hearts like a stone, lest they heard the Law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent by his Holy Spirit, by the earlier prophets, or by the prophets of old; and so the Lord of hosts had great indignation.)
13 And it is done, as he spake; and as they heard not, so they shall cry, and I shall not hear [them], saith the Lord of hosts. (And it is done, as he had said it would be; and because they did not listen to me, so now they shall cry, and I shall not hear them/and I shall not listen to them, saith the Lord of hosts.)
14 And I scattered them by all realms, which they knew not, and the land is desolate from them; for that there was not a man going and turning again, and they have put [the] desirable land into desert. (And I scattered them into all the kingdoms, which they did not know about, and the land was made empty of them; and because there was no one going forth, and returning, they have made, or turned, this most desirable land into a desert, or deserted and desolate.)
5 But I will admonish you once, that know all things, that Jesus saved his people from the land of Egypt, and the second time destroyed them that believed not. [Forsooth I will together admonish you, witting once all things, for Jesus saving his people of the land of Egypt, the second time lost them that believed not.]
6 And he reserved under darkness angels, that kept not their princehood, but forsook their house, into the doom of the great God, into everlasting bonds. [Soothly angels that kept not his princehood, but forsook his house, he reserved into the doom of great God, in everlasting bonds under darkness.]
7 As Sodom, and Gomorrha, and the nigh coasted cities, that in like manner did fornication, and went away after other flesh, and be made ensample, suffering pain of everlasting fire.[a]
8 In like manner also these that defoul the flesh, and despise lordship, and blaspheme majesty.
9 When Michael, archangel, disputed with the devil, and strove of Moses' body [When Michael, the archangel, disputing with the devil, strove of Moses' body], he was not hardy to bring in doom of blasphemy, but said, The Lord command to thee.
10 But these men blaspheme [Forsooth these blaspheme], whatever things they know not. For whatever things they know naturally as dumb beasts [Forsooth whatever things they know by kind as dumb beasts], in these they be corrupt.
11 Woe to them that went the way of Cain, and that be shed out by error of Balaam for meed, and perished in the gainsaying of Core [and perished in the again-saying of Core].
12 These be in their meats, feasting together to filth [These be in their meats filths, or defoulings, feasting together], without dread feeding themselves. These be clouds without water, that be borne about of winds; harvest trees without fruit, twice dead, drawn up by the root;
13 waves of the mad sea, foaming out their confusions; erring stars, to which the tempest of darknesses is kept without end. [waves of the wild, or mad, sea, frothing out their confusions; erring stars, to whom the tempest of darknesses is kept into without end.]
14 But Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, and said [saying], Lo! the Lord cometh with his holy thousands,
15 to do doom against all men, and to reprove all unfaithful men of all the works of the wickedness of them, by which they did wickedly, and of all the hard words, that wicked sinners have spoken against God.[b]
16 These be grumblers full of plaints [These be grutchers plaining, or full of plaints], wandering after their desires; and the mouth of them speaketh pride, worshipping persons, because of winning [by cause of winning].
17 And ye, most dear brethren, be mindful of the words [Forsooth, ye most dear, be ye mindful of the words], which be before-said of [the] apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18 which said to you, that in the last times there shall come beguilers [there shall come scorners], wandering after their own desires, not in piety.
19 These be, which separate themselves, beastly men, not having Spirit. [These be, the which separate themselves, beastly, not having Spirit.]
20 But ye, most dear brethren, above build yourselves on your most holy faith, and pray ye in the Holy Ghost,[c]
21 and keep yourselves in the love of God, and abide ye the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ into life everlasting. [keep yourselves in the love of God, abiding the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ into life everlasting.]
2001 by Terence P. Noble