Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

144 A psalm of David. Blessed be my Lord God, that teacheth mine hands to war; and my fingers to battle. (A song of David. Blessed be the Lord my God, who traineth my hands for war; and my fingers for battle.)

² My mercy, and my refuge; my taker up, and my deliverer. My defender, and I hoped in him; and thou makest subject my people under me. (My mercy, and my refuge; my defender, and my deliverer. Yea, my defender, and in whom I trust; and thou makest the peoples to be subject under me.)

³ Lord, what is a man, for thou hast made (thyself) known to him; either the son of man, for thou areckonest him of some value? (Lord, what is man, that thou hast taken notice of him?/that thou carest for him? or the son of a man, that thou reckonest, or esteemest, him of some value?)

⁴ A man is made like vanity; his days pass as shadow. (A person is but like vanity, yea, but a puff of air; his days pass like a shadow.)

⁵ Lord, bow down thine heavens, and come thou down; touch thou [the] hills, and they shall make smoke.

⁶ Light thou shining, and thou shalt scatter them (Send thou forth thy lightning, and thou shalt scatter thy enemies); send thou out thine arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.

⁷ Send out thine hand from on high, ravish me out, and deliver thou me from many waters; and from the hand of alien sons. (Send out thy hand from on high, and take me out of here, that is, rescue me; save thou me from the deep waters, and from the power of foreigners, or of strangers.)

⁸ The mouth of whom spake vanity (Their mouths spoke lies); and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness.

⁹ God, I shall sing to thee a new song; I shall say psalm to thee in psaltery of ten strings (yea, I shall sing a song to thee to the strains of a ten-stringed lute).

¹⁰ Which givest health to kings, which again-boughtest David, thy servant; from the wicked sword ravish thou out me. (Who givest salvation, or deliverance, to kings, and redeemest thy servant David; rescue thou me from the wicked sword.)

¹¹ And deliver thou me from the hand of alien sons; the mouth of which spake vanity, and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness. (And save thou me from the power of foreigners, or of strangers; whose mouths spoke lies, and whose right hands be the right hands of wickedness, that is, they always break their oaths, or their pledges.)

¹² Whose sons be as new plantings in their youth. The daughters of them be arrayed; adorned about as the likeness of a temple. (May our sons be like plants fully grown in their youth; may our daughters be arrayed, or adorned, like a palace.)

¹³ The cellars of them be full; bringing out from this vessel into that/from one vessel into another. The sheep of them be with lambs, plenteous in their goings out; (May our cellars be full; and we be able to bring forth from this vessel into that one/and we be able to bring forth from one vessel into another. May our sheep be with lambs; yea, plentiful and innumerable.)

¹⁴ their kine be fat. There is no falling of their wall, neither passing over (of it); neither cry is in the streets of them. (May all our kine be fat; and be there no parting in the walls of their wombs, nor any passing over of them. And may there be no cries of distress in all our streets.)

¹⁵ They said, The people is blessed, that hath these things; blessed is the people, whose Lord is the God of it. (And so we say, Happy be the people, who have things like we do; happy be the people, whose God is the Lord.)

¹⁰ Thy mother as a vinery in thy blood was planted on water; the fruits thereof and the boughs thereof increased (by reason) of many waters. (Thy mother like a vine in thy vineyard was planted by the water; its fruits and its branches increased because of the many waters.)

¹¹ And firm rods were made to it into sceptres of lords, and the stature thereof was enhanced among boughs; and it saw his highness in the multitude of his scions. (And its firm branches were made into sceptres for lords, and its stature was raised up among the other branches; and it saw its highness amid the multitude of its leaves.)

¹² And it was drawn out in wrath, and was cast forth into [the] earth; and a burning wind dried the fruit thereof, and the rods of strength thereof withered, and were made dry, and the fire ate it. (And it was drawn out in anger, and was thrown forth onto the ground; and a burning wind dried up its fruit, and its strong branches withered, and were dried up, and the fire ate it.)

¹³ And now it is planted over in desert, in a land without way, and thirsty. (And now it is planted again in the wilderness, in a thirsty land without a way, or without a road/in a dry and thirsty land.)

¹⁴ And fire went out of a rod of the branches thereof, that ate the fruit thereof. And a strong rod, the sceptre of lords, was not in it. It is (a) wailing, and it shall be into wailing (This is a lament, and it shall be sung for a lament).

⁴ And approach ye to him, that is a living stone, and reproved of men [To whom ye going nigh, a quick stone, reproved soothly of men], but chosen of God, and honoured;

⁵ and yourselves as quick stones be ye above builded [and yourselves as quick stones be above builded] into spiritual houses, and an holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

⁶ For which thing the scripture saith, Lo! I shall set in Sion the highest corner stone, chosen and precious [For which thing the scripture holdeth, Lo! I shall put in Sion the highest stone, a corner stone, chosen, precious]; and he that shall believe in him, shall not be confounded.

⁷ Therefore honour to you that believe; but to men that believe not, the stone whom the builders reproved, this is made into the head of the corner;

⁸ and the stone of hurting, and the stone of stumbling, to them that offend to the word, neither believe it, in which they be set.^[a]

⁹ But ye be a chosen kin, a kingly priesthood, holy folk, a people of purchasing, that ye tell the virtues of him, that called you from darknesses into his wonderful light.

¹⁰ Which sometime were not a people of God, but now ye be the people of God; which had not mercy, but now ye have mercy.