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.)

⁵ Who is this spousess, that goeth up from desert, and floweth in delights, and resteth on her darling? I raised thee (up) under a pomegranate tree; there thy mother was corrupted, there thy mother was defouled. (Who is this spousess, who cometh in from the desert, and who floweth in delights, and then resteth on her darling? I raised thee up under a pomegranate tree; there thy mother gave birth to thee, yea, there thy mother was in labour.)

⁶ Set thou me as a signet on thine heart, as a signet on thine arm; for love is strong as death, envy is hard as hell; the lamps thereof be [the] lamps of fire, and of flames. (Put thou me like a seal, or a lock, upon thy heart, yea, like a seal, or a lock, upon thy arm; for love is as strong as death, and envy is as hard as the grave; its lamps be lamps of fire, and lamps of flames.)

⁷ Many waters be not able to quench charity, neither floods shall oppress it. Though a man give all the chattel of his house for love, he shall despise, or reckon it, as nought. (A great many waters be not able to drown love, nor can the floods sweep it away. And even though a man might give all the possessions of his house for love, he shall reckon it as but nothing, or of no consequence.)

⁸ Our sister is little, and hath no teats; what shall we do to our sister, in the day when she shall be spoken to? (Our sister is little, or young, and she hath no breasts; what shall we do for our sister, on the day when she shall be spoken for?)

⁹ If it is a wall, build we thereon silveren towers; if it is a door, join we together with boards of cedar. (If she is a wall, then we shall build silver towers upon her; if she is a door, then we shall altogether enclose her with cedar boards.)

¹⁰ I am a wall, and my teats be as a tower; since I am made as finding peace before him. (I am a wall, and my breasts be like towers; and so I am able to find peace with him/and so I am able to bring him peace.)

¹¹ A vinery was to the peaceable; in that city, that hath peoples, he betook it to keepers; a man bringeth a thousand pieces of silver for the fruit thereof. (Solomon had a vineyard in Baalhamon; he rented it out to guardians, or to farmers; and each of them bringeth a thousand pieces of silver to him as payment for its fruit.)

¹² The vinery is before me; a thousand be of thee peaceable, and two hundred to them that keep the fruits thereof. (My own vineyard is before me; so let the thousand pieces of silver be for thee, O Solomon, and two hundred more for those who guard thy fruits.)

¹³ Friends harken (to) thee, that dwellest in orchards; make thou me to hear thy voice. (Friends listen to thee, thou who livest in the garden; let me also hear thy voice.)

¹⁴ My darling, fly thou; be thou made like a capret, and a calf of harts, on the hills of sweet smelling spices. (My darling, fly thou; be thou made like a gazelle, or a hart calf, on the hills of sweet smelling spices.)

⁴⁵ Therefore many of the Jews that came to Mary and Martha, and saw what things Jesus did, believed in him.

⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees, and said to them, what things Jesus had done.

⁴⁷ Therefore the bishops and the Pharisees gathered a council against Jesus, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles [for this man doeth many signs, or miracles].

⁴⁸ If we leave him thus, all men shall believe in him; and Romans shall come, and shall take our place and our folk [and Romans shall come, and take our place and folk].

⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas by name, when he was bishop of that year, said to them, Ye know nothing,

⁵⁰ nor think, that it speedeth to you, that one man die for the people, and that all the folk perish not.

⁵¹ But [Forsooth] he said not this thing of himself, but when he was bishop of that year, he prophesied, that Jesus was to die for the folk,

⁵² and not only for the folk, but that he should gather into one the sons of God that were scattered.

⁵³ Therefore from that day they thought for to slay him.

⁵⁴ Therefore Jesus walked not then openly among the Jews [Therefore Jesus walked not now openly at the Jews]; but he went into a country beside [the] desert, into a city, that is said Ephraim, and there he dwelled with his disciples [and there he dwelt with his disciples].

⁵⁵ And the pask of the Jews was nigh, and many of the country went up to Jerusalem before the pask, to hallow themselves.

⁵⁶ Therefore they sought Jesus, and spake together, standing in the temple, What guess ye, for he cometh not to the feast day?

⁵⁷ For the bishops and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that if any man know where he is, that he show [that if any man knew where he is, he show], that they take him.