Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
98 A psalm. Sing ye a new song to the Lord; for he hath done marvels. His right hand and his holy arm; hath made health to him. (A song. Sing ye a new song to the Lord; for he hath done marvellous deeds. His right hand, or his power, and his holy arm, have won him the victory.)
2 The Lord hath made known his health; in the sight of heathen men he hath showed his rightfulness. (The Lord hath made known his victory; yea, he hath shown his righteousness before the heathen.)
3 He bethought on his mercy; and on his truth, to the house of Israel. All the ends of earth; saw the health of our God. (He remembered his love, and his faithfulness, toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth; have seen the victory of our God.)
4 All earth, make ye heartily joy to God; sing ye, and make ye full out joy, and say ye psalm. (All the earth, heartily make ye joy to God; sing ye, and rejoice, and sing ye a song.)
5 Sing ye to the Lord in an harp, in harp and in voice of psalm; (Sing ye to the Lord on a harp, yea, on a harp, and with the words of a song/and with the strains of a lute;)
6 in trumps beaten out with hammer, and in voice of a trump of (a) horn. Heartily sing ye in the sight of the Lord, the king; (and with trumpets beaten out with a hammer, yea, with the sound of trumpets and horns. Heartily sing ye before the Lord, the King;)
7 the sea and the fullness thereof be moved; the world, and they that dwell therein. (let the sea roar, and all the creatures in it; yea, the whole world, and all that live in it!)
8 Floods shall make joy with hand; together hills shall make full out joy, (The rivers make joy, or clap, with their hands; the hills rejoice together,)
9 for the sight of the Lord; for he cometh to deem the earth. He shall deem the world in rightfulness; and peoples in equity. (before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness; and the peoples with justice, or with fairness.)
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with strong vengeance, and the beholding of his face was changed on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And he commanded that the furnace should be made hotter sevenfold than that it was wont to be made hot. (Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the look on his face was changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And he commanded that the furnace should be made seven times hotter than that it was wont to be made.)
20 And he commanded to the strongest men of his host that they should bind the feet of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and send them into the furnace of fire burning. (And he commanded to the strongest men of his army that they should bind together the feet of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and then send them into the furnace of burning fire.)
21 And anon those men were bound, with breeches, and caps, and shoes, and clothes, and were sent into the midst of the furnace of fire burning; (And at once those men were bound, still wearing their breeches, or pants, and caps, and shoes, and other clothes, and they were sent into the midst of the furnace of burning fire.)
22 for why the commandment of the king constrained. Forsooth the furnace was made full hot; certainly the flame of the fire killed those men, that had sent Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace (And because the king’s order was unyielding, and the furnace was made so very hot, the flame of the fire killed those men, who sent Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace.)
23 Soothly these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound in the midst of the chimney of fire burning. (And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound in the midst of the furnace of burning fire.)
24 Then king Nebuchadnezzar was astonied, and rose hastily, and said to his best men, Whether we sent not three men fettered into the midst of the fire? Which answered the king, and said, Verily, king. (Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished, and rose hastily, and said to his best men, Did we not send three fettered men into the midst of the fire? And they answered the king, and said, Truly we did, O king.)
25 The king answered, and said, Lo! I see four men unbound, and going in the midst of the fire, and nothing of corruption is in them; and the likeness of the fourth is like the son of God (and the appearance of the fourth is like an angel, or like a son of God/is like the Son of God).
26 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar nighed to the door of the furnace of fire burning, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the servants of high God living, go ye out, and come ye. And anon Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went out of the midst of the fire. (Then King Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of burning fire, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the servants of the living Most High God, come ye out now. And at once Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went out from the midst of the fire.)
27 And the wise men, and magistrates, and judges, and mighty men of the king were gathered together, and beheld those men, for the fire had nothing of power in the bodies of them, and an hair of their head was not burnt; also the breeches of them were not changed, and the odour of fire had not passed by them. (And the wise men, and magistrates, and judges, and mighty men of the king were gathered together, and saw that the fire had no power to harm their bodies, and that not even a hair on their heads was burned; and that their breeches, or their pants, were not burned, and that the odour of the fire had passed them by, or did not linger about them.)
28 And Nebuchadnezzar brake out, and said, Blessed be the God of them, that is, of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that sent his angel, and delivered his servants that believed into him (who sent his angel, and rescued his servants who believed in him), and changed the word of the king, and gave their bodies, that they should not serve, and that they should not worship any god, except their God alone.
29 Therefore this decree is set of me, That each people, and languages, and lineages, whoever speaketh blasphemy against God of Shadrach, of Meshach, and of Abednego, perish, and his house be destroyed; for none other is God, that may save so. (And so this decree is made by me, That any person, of any language, or tribe, or nation, whomever speaketh blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be put to death, and his house shall be destroyed; for there is no other God who can save anyone in this manner.)
30 Then the king advanced Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon; and sent into all the land an epistle, containing these words.
21 And one strong angel took up a stone, as a great millstone, and cast into the sea, and said, In this force [saying, In this force, or fierceness,] that great city Babylon shall be sent, and now it shall no more be found.
22 And the voice of harps, and of men of music, and singing with pipe and trumpet, shall no more be heard in it [And the voice of harpers, and of men of music, and singing with pipe and trump, shall no more be heard in it]. And each craftsman, and each craft, shall no more be found in it. And the voice of a millstone shall no more be heard in thee,
23 and the light of [the] lantern shall no more shine in thee, and the voice of the husband and of the wife shall no more be heard in thee; for thy merchants were princes of the earth. For in thy witchcrafts all folks erred.
24 And the blood of prophets and of saints is found in it, and of all men that be slain in earth.
2001 by Terence P. Noble