Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

118 Alleluia. Acknowledge ye to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy is without end. (Alleluia. Give ye thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his love is forever.)

² Israel say now, for he is good; for his mercy is without end (for his love is forever).

¹⁴ The Lord is my strength, and my praising; and he is made to me into health (and he is my salvation, or my deliverance/and he hath saved me).

¹⁵ The voice of full out joying and of health; be in the tabernacles of just men. The right hand of the Lord hath done virtue, (The voice of rejoicing and of victory, be in the tents, or the camp, of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord hath done mightily,)

¹⁶ the right hand of the Lord enhanced me; the right hand of the Lord hath done virtue. (the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord hath done mightily.)

¹⁷ I shall not die, but I shall live; and I shall tell (out) the works of the Lord.

¹⁸ The Lord chastising hath chastised me; and he gave not me to death. (Yea, the Lord hath punished me; but he did not give me over to death.)

¹⁹ Open ye to me the gates of rightfulness, and I shall enter by those, and I shall acknowledge to the Lord; (Open ye for me the gates of righteousness, or of victory, and I shall enter in by them, and I shall praise the Lord/and I shall give thanks to the Lord;)

²⁰ this gate is of the Lord, and just men shall enter by it. (this is the gate of the Lord, and the righteous shall enter by it.)

²¹ I shall acknowledge to thee, for thou heardest me; and art made to me into health. (I shall praise thee, for thou hast answered me; and thou hast given me the victory/and thou art my salvation, or my deliverance/and thou hast saved me.)

²² The stone which the builders reproved; this is made into the head (stone) of the corner. (The stone which the builders rejected; it is made into the chief cornerstone.)

²³ This thing is made of the Lord; and it is wonderful before our eyes. (This thing was done by the Lord; and it is wonderful to behold.)

²⁴ This is the day which the Lord made; make we full out joy, and be we glad therein. (This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice, and be glad in it.)

¹⁷ And Sisera fled, and came to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber (the) Kenite; for peace was betwixt Jabin, king of Hazor, and betwixt the house of Heber (the) Kenite (for there was peace between Jabin, the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite).

¹⁸ Therefore Jael went out into the coming of Sisera, and said to him, My lord, enter thou to me, enter thou to me; dread thou not. And he entered into her tabernacle, and he was covered of her with a mantle (And he went into her tent, and she covered him with a cloak).

¹⁹ And he said to her, I beseech thee, give me a little water, for I thirst greatly (for I have a great thirst). And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave (it) to him to drink, and (then she) covered him (up again).

²⁰ And Sisera said to her, Stand thou before the door of the tabernacle, and when any man cometh, and asketh thee, and saith, Whether any man is here? thou shalt answer, No man is here. (And Sisera said to her, Stand thou before the door of the tent, and if anyone cometh, and asketh thee, and saith, Is there anyone here? thou shalt answer, No one is here.)

²¹ And so Jael, the wife of Heber, took a nail of the tabernacle, and she took also an hammer; and she entered privily, and with silence she put the nail upon the temple of his head, and she fastened the nail smitten with the hammer into his brain, unto the earth; and he slept, and died together, and he failed life, and was dead. (And then Jael, Heber’s wife, got a tent peg, and she also got a hammer; and she quietly entered, and silently put the peg on the temple of his head, and struck it with the hammer into his brain, and she fastened the other end of the peg into the ground; and so he died in his sleep, yea, his life failed, and he died.)

²² And lo! Barak (had) followed Sisera, and came (up to the tent); and Jael went out into his coming, and said to him, Come, and I shall show to thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he had entered to her, he saw Sisera lying dead, and a nail fastened into his temples (and a tent peg fastened into his temple).

²³ Therefore in that day (And so on that day), God made low Jabin, the king of Canaan, before the sons of Israel;

²⁴ Blessed among women be Jael, the wife of Heber (the) Kenite; blessed be she in her tabernacle (blessed be she in her tent).

²⁵ To Sisera asking (for) water she gave milk, and in a basin of princes she gave him butter.

²⁶ She put the left hand to the nail, and her right hand to the smith’s hammer; and she smote Sisera, and sought in his head a place of wound, and she pierced strongly his temple. (Then she put a tent peg in her left hand, and the smith’s hammer in her right hand; and she sought a place on his head for the wound, and then she struck down Sisera, when she strongly pierced his temple.)

²⁷ He felled betwixt her feet, (and) he failed, and died; he was weltered before her feet, and he lay without life, and wretchedful.

²⁸ His mother beheld by a window, and yelled (out); and she spake from the solar, Why tarrieth his chariot to come again? Why tarry the feet of his four-horsed carts?

²⁹ One wiser than [the] other wives of him answered these words to the mother of her husband,

³⁰ In hap now he parteth spoils, and the fairest of women is chosen to him; clothes of diverse colours be given to Sisera into prey, and diverse array of household is gathered to adorn necks. (Perhaps now he parteth the spoils, and the fairest of the women be chosen for him; yea, clothes of diverse colours be given to Sisera for prey, and a diverse array of things be gathered to adorn the victor’s neck.)

³¹ Lord, all thine enemies perish so; soothly, they that love thee, shine so, as the sun shineth in his strength. And the land rested forty years. (Lord, may all thy enemies so perish; and may they who love thee, shine like the sun shineth in its strength. And then the land rested for forty years.)

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and in the head of her a crown of twelve stars.

² And she had in womb, and she crieth [And she having in womb, or being with child; and she cried], travailing of child, and is tormented, that she bear child.

³ And another sign was seen in heaven; and lo! a great red dragon, that had seven heads [having seven heads], and ten horns, and in the heads of him seven diadems.

⁴ And the tail of him drew the third part of [the] stars of heaven, and sent them into the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, that was to bearing child, that when she had born child, he should devour her son.

⁵ And she bare a man child, that was to ruling all folks in an iron rod [that was to rule all folks in an iron rod]; and her son was snatched (up) to God, and to his throne.

⁶ And the woman flew into wilderness, where she hath a place made ready of God, that he feed her there a thousand days two hundred and sixty.

⁷ And a great battle [And great battle] was made in heaven, and Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. And the dragon fought, and his angels;

⁸ and they had not might [more], neither the place of them was found more in heaven.

⁹ And that dragon was cast down, the great old serpent, that is called the Devil, and Satan, that deceiveth all the world; he was cast down [cast out] into the earth, and his angels were sent with him.

¹⁰ And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is made health, and virtue, and kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before the sight of our God day and night.

¹¹ And they overcame him for the blood of the lamb, and for the word of his witnessing; and they loved not their lives till to the death [and they loved not their souls, or lives, unto the death].

¹² Therefore, ye heavens, be ye glad, [Therefore, glad ye, heavens] and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the earth, and to the sea; for the fiend is come down to you, and hath great wrath [having great wrath], witting that he hath little time.