Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁴¹ [Vau]. And, Lord, thy mercy come [up]on me; thine health come by thy speech. (And, Lord, let thy love come to me; let thy salvation, or thy deliverance, come according to thy word.)

⁴² And I shall answer a word to men saying shame to me; for I hoped in thy words. (And then I shall answer a word to those shaming me; for I put my trust in thy words.)

⁴³ And take thou not away from my mouth the word of truth utterly; for I hoped above in thy dooms. (And never take away the word of truth from my mouth; for I put my hope in thy judgements, or in thy decrees.)

⁴⁴ And I shall keep thy law ever[more]; into the world, and into the world of world. (And I shall obey thy Law forevermore; yea, forever and ever.)

⁴⁵ And I went in largeness; for I sought thy commandments. (And I shall walk in freedom; for I have sought out thy commandments.)

⁴⁶ And I spake of thy witnessings in the sight of kings; and I was not shamed. (And I shall speak of thy teachings, or thy commands, before kings; and I shall not be ashamed.)

⁴⁷ And I bethought in thy behests; which I loved. (And I delight myself in thy commandments; which I love.)

⁴⁸ And I raised mine hands to thy commandments, which I loved; and I shall be exercised in thy justifyings. (And I shall raise up my hands to thy commandments, which I love; and I shall think about thy statutes.)

16 It pertaineth to man to make ready the soul; and it pertaineth to the Lord to govern the tongue. (Each person must prepare their own soul, or their own life; but it is God who governeth their tongue, or telleth them what to say.)

² All the ways of men be open to the eyes of God (All the ways of people be before God); the Lord is a weigher of spirits, that is, of wills, yielding to man after his deservings.

³ Show thy works to the Lord; and thy thoughts shall be (ad)dressed. (Commit thy plans to the Lord; and they shall succeed.)

⁴ The Lord wrought all things for himself; and he made ready a wicked man to the evil day. (The Lord made everything for its own purpose; and he made the wicked for the day of evil.)

⁵ Abomination of the Lord is each proud man (Each proud person is an abomination to the Lord); yea, though the hand is to the hand, he shall not be innocent. The beginning of [the] good way is to do rightwiseness; forsooth it is more acceptable with God, than to offer sacrifices.

⁶ Wickedness is again-bought by mercy and truth; and men boweth away from evil by the dread of the Lord. (Wickedness is redeemed by love and faithfulness; and people can turn away from evil by the fear of the Lord/through reverence for the Lord.)

⁷ When the ways of (a) man please the Lord, he shall convert, yea, his enemies to peace.

⁸ Better is a little with rightfulness, than many fruits with wickedness.

⁹ The heart of a man shall dispose his way; but it pertaineth to the Lord to (ad)dress his steps. (A person’s heart shall ordain his way; but it pertaineth to the Lord to direct his steps.)

¹⁰ Divining is in the lips of a king; his mouth shall not err in doom. (The king speaketh with divine authority; his mouth shall not err in any judgement.)

¹¹ The dooms of the Lord be weight and balance; and his works be all the stones of the world. (The Lord’s justice be equal weights and an honest balance; yea, each of the stones in the world is his own work.)

¹² They that do wickedly be abominable to the king; for the throne of the realm is made steadfast by rightfulness.

¹³ The will of kings is just lips; he that speaketh rightful things, shall be (ad)dressed. (The desire of kings is just, or truthful, words; he who speaketh upright things shall be favoured.)

¹⁴ [The] Indignation of the king is (like) messengers of death; and a wise man shall please him (but a wise person shall please him).

¹⁵ Life is in gladness of the king’s cheer; and his mercy is as rain coming late. (Life is in the gladness of the king’s face; and his mercy is like the rain that cometh late.)

¹⁶ Wield thou wisdom, for it is better than gold; and get thou prudence, for it is preciouser than silver. (Possess thou wisdom, for it is better than gold; and get thou prudence, for it is more precious than silver.)

¹⁷ The path of just men boweth away (from) evils (The path of the righteous turneth away from evil); the keeper of his soul keepeth his way (safe).

¹⁸ Pride goeth before sorrow; and the spirit shall be enhanced before falling (and the spirit shall be raised up before a fall).

¹⁹ It is better to be made meek with mild men, than to part spoils with proud men. (It is better to be made poor with the humble, than to part spoils with the proud.)

²⁰ A learned man in word shall find goods (A person learned in understanding shall obtain good things); and he that hopeth in the Lord is blessed.

¹⁶ And lo! one came, and said to him, Good master, what good [thing] shall I do, that I have everlasting life?

¹⁷ Which saith to him, What askest thou me of good thing? There is one good God [Which said to him, What askest thou me of good thing? One is good God]. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

¹⁸ He saith to him, Which? And Jesus said, Thou shalt not do manslaying, thou shalt not do adultery, thou shalt not do theft, thou shalt not say false witnessing;

¹⁹ worship thy father and thy mother [honour thou thy father and thy mother], and, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

²⁰ The young man saith to him, I have kept all these things from my youth, what yet faileth to me?

²¹ Jesus saith to him, If thou wilt be perfect, go, and sell all things that thou hast, and give to poor men, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, and follow me.

²² And when the young man had heard these words, he went away sorrowful, for he had many possessions.