Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

135 Alleluia. Praise ye the name of the Lord; ye servants of the Lord, praise ye (him).

² Ye that stand in the house of the Lord; in the halls/in the foreyards of the house of our God. (Ye who stand in the House of the Lord; in the courtyards of the House of our God.)

³ Praise ye the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing ye to his name, for it is sweet (for it is pleasant to do so).

⁴ For the Lord chose Jacob to himself; [and] Israel into possession to himself. (For the Lord chose Jacob for himself; yea, he chose Israel as his special possession.)

⁵ For I have known, that the Lord is great; and our God (is) before all gods. (For I know that the Lord is great; and that our God is above all gods.)

⁶ The Lord made all things, whatever things he would, in heaven and in earth; in the sea, and in all depths of waters. (The Lord made everything, whatever he desired, in heaven and on earth; in the sea, and in all the depths of the waters.)

⁷ He led out clouds from the farthest part of earth; and made lightnings into rain. Which bringeth forth winds from his treasures; (He leadeth out the clouds from the farthest parts of the earth; and maketh lightning for the rains. He bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries, or out of his storehouses.)

⁸ which killed the first begotten things of Egypt, from man unto beast. (He killed all the first-born in Egypt, both man and beast.)

⁹ He sent out signs and great wonders, in the middle of thee, thou Egypt; into Pharaoh, and into all his servants. (He sent out signs and great wonders, into the midst of thee, O Egypt; against Pharaoh, and all his servants.)

¹⁰ Which smote many folks; and killed strong kings. (Who struck down many nations; and killed strong kings.)

¹¹ Sihon, the king of Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan; and all the realms of Canaan (and all the kings in Canaan).

¹² And he gave the land of them heritage; to be heritage to Israel, his people. (And he gave their land for an inheritance; yea, to be an inheritance for his people Israel.)

¹³ Lord, thy name is [into] without end; Lord, thy memorial be in generation and into generation. (Lord, thy name shall endure forever; Lord, thou shalt be remembered by all generations.)

¹⁴ For the Lord shall deem his people; and he shall be prayed in his servants. (For the Lord shall judge his people; and he shall take pity upon his servants.)

¹⁵ The simulacra of heathen men be silver and gold; the works of the hands of men. (The idols of the heathen be but silver and gold; yea, the works of men’s hands.)

¹⁶ Those images have a mouth, and shall not speak; those have eyes, and shall not see. (Those idols have mouths, but they cannot speak; they have eyes, but they cannot see.)

¹⁷ Those have ears, and shall not hear; for there is no spirit in the mouth of them. (They have ears, but they cannot hear; for there is no breath in their mouths.)

¹⁸ They that make those [things], be made like them; and all that trust in them. (Let they who make those things, be made like them; and all who trust in them as well.)

¹⁹ The house of Israel, bless ye the Lord; the house of Aaron, bless ye the Lord.

²⁰ The house of Levi, bless ye the Lord; ye that dread the Lord, bless ye the Lord (ye who fear the Lord/ye who revere the Lord, bless ye the Lord).

²¹ Blessed be the Lord (out) of Zion; that dwelleth in Jerusalem. (Blessed be the Lord in Zion; yea, he who dwelleth in Jerusalem.)

8 And it was done in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I sat in mine house, and the eld men of Judah sat before me (I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me); and the hand of the Lord God fell there [up]on me.

² And I saw, and lo! a likeness as the beholding of fire; from the beholding of his loins and beneath was fire, and from his loins and above was as the beholding of shining, as the sight of electrum, [that is, metal made of gold and silver, brighter than gold]. (And I saw, and lo! a form with the appearance of fire; from his loins and beneath was like the appearance of fire, and from his loins and above was like the appearance of shining, like the sight of electrum, that is, a metal made of gold and silver, but even brighter than gold.)

³ And the likeness of an hand was sent out, and took me by the hair, either locks, of mine head; and the spirit raised me [up] betwixt heaven and earth, and brought me into Jerusalem, in the sight of God, beside the inner door that beheld to the north (in the vision of God, beside the inner door that faced north), where the idol of envy was set, to stir indignation.

⁴ And lo! the glory of God of Israel was there, by the sight which I saw in the field. (And lo! the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision which I saw in the field.)

⁵ And he said to me, Thou, son of man, raise up thine eyes to the way of the north; and I raised (up) mine eyes to the way of the north, and lo! from the north of the gate of the altar, the idol of envy was in that entering (and lo! north of the gate of the altar, at the entrance, was that idol of envy).

⁶ And he said to me, Son of man, guessest thou whether thou seest what thing these men do, the great abominations which the house of Israel doeth here, that I go far away from my saintuary? and yet thou shalt turn, and shalt see greater abominations. (And he said to me, Son of man, seest thou what things these people do, yea, the great abominations which the house of Israel doeth here, so that I must go far away from my sanctuary? and yet thou shalt turn, and shalt see greater abominations than these!)

⁷ And he led me within to the door of the foreyard; and I saw, and lo! one hole in the wall. (And he led me within to the entrance of the courtyard; and I saw, and lo! a hole in the wall.)

⁸ And he said to me, Son of man, dig thou (in) the wall; and when I had digged (in) the wall, one door appeared.

⁹ And he said to me, Enter thou, and see the worst abominations, which these men do here.

¹⁰ And I entered, and saw; and lo! each likeness of reptiles, either creeping beasts, and abominations of beasts, and all [the] idols of the house of Israel, were painted in the wall all about in compass (were painted on the walls all around).

¹¹ And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel stood; and Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, stood in the midst of them, standing before the paintings; and each man had a censer in his hand, and the smoke of a cloud of incense went up.

¹² And he said to me, Certainly, son of man, thou seest what things the elder men of the house of Israel do in darknesses, each man in the hid place of his bed; for they say, The Lord seeth not us, the Lord hath forsaken the land (for they say, The Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath abandoned the land/the Lord hath deserted the country).

¹³ And the Lord said to me, Yet thou shalt turn, and shalt see greater abominations, which these men do.

¹⁴ And he led me within, by the door of the gate of the house of the Lord, which door beheld to the north; and lo! women sat there, bewailing Adonis. (And he led me within, by the entrance of the gate of the House of the Lord, which entrance faced north; and lo! women sat there, bewailing Tammuz.)

¹⁵ And the Lord said to me, Certainly, son of man, thou hast seen (And the Lord said to me, Truly, son of man, hast thou seen this?/do thou see this?); yet thou shalt turn, and shalt see greater abominations than these.

¹⁶ And he led me within, into the inner foreyard of the house of the Lord; and lo! in the door of the temple of the Lord, betwixt the porch and the altar, were as five and twenty men having the(ir) backs against the temple of the Lord, and their faces to the east; and they worshipped at the rising of the sun. (And he led me within, to the inner courtyard of the House of the Lord; and lo! by the entrance to the Temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were twenty-five men with their backs against the Temple of the Lord, and their faces turned toward the east; and they worshipped the rising of the sun.)

¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, Certainly, son of man, thou hast seen (And the Lord said to me, Truly, son of man, hast thou seen this?/do thou see this?); whether this is a light thing to the house of Judah, that they should do these abominations, which they did here? For they filled the land with wickedness, and turned (again) to stir me to wrath; and lo! they apply a branch to their nostrils.

¹⁸ Therefore and I shall do in strong vengeance; mine eye shall not spare, neither I shall do mercy; and when they shall cry to mine ears with great voice, I shall not hear them. (And so I shall do strong vengeance against them; my eyes shall not spare them, nor shall I have mercy on them; and when they shall cry to my ears with a loud voice, I shall not hear them.)

²⁶ And an angel of the Lord spake to Philip, and said, Rise thou, and go to meet the south [saying, Rise thou, and go against the south], to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza; this is desert.

²⁷ And he rose, and went forth. And lo! a man of Ethiopia, a mighty manservant, a gelding of Candace, the queen of Ethiopians [And lo! a man of Ethiopia, a mighty gelding of the queen Candace of Ethiopians], which was on all her riches, came to worship in Jerusalem.

²⁸ And he turned again, sitting on his chariot, and reading Esaias, the prophet.

²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, Approach thou^[a], and join thee to this chariot.

³⁰ And Philip ran to, and heard him reading Esaias, the prophet. And he said, Guessest thou, whether thou understandest, what things thou readest?

³¹ And he said, How may I, if no man show to me [Which said, And how may I, if some man shall not show to me]? And he prayed Philip, that he should come up, and sit with him.

³² And the place of the scripture that he read, was this, As a sheep he was led to slaying, and as a lamb before a man that sheareth him is dumb without voice, so he opened not his mouth. [Forsooth the place of scripture that he read was this, As a sheep to slaying he was led, and as a lamb before a man shearing him is dumb without voice, so he opened not his mouth.]

³³ In meekness his doom was taken up; who shall tell out the generation of him? For his life shall be taken away from the earth.

³⁴ And the gelding answered to Philip, and said, I beseech thee, of what prophet saith he this thing? of himself, or of any other?

³⁵ And Philip opened his mouth, and began at this scripture, and preached to him Jesus.

³⁶ And while they went by the way, they came to a water [they came to some water]. And the gelding said, Lo! water; who forbiddeth me to be baptized?

³⁷ And Philip said, If thou believest of all thine heart, it is leaveful. And he answered, and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

³⁸ And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went down both into the water, Philip and the gelding, and Philip baptized him [and he baptized him].

³⁹ And when they were come up of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched (up) Philip, and the gelding saw him no more; and he went in his way joying.

⁴⁰ And Philip was found in Azotus; and he passed forth, and preached to all cities [and he passing forth, evangelized to all cities], till he came to Caesarea.