Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
71 Lord, I hoped in thee; be I not shamed [into] without end; (Lord, I put my trust in thee; never let me be put to shame;)
2 in thy rightwiseness deliver thou me, and ravish me out. Bow down thine ear to me; and make me safe. (in thy righteousness save thou me, and rescue me. Bow down thy ear to me; and save me.)
3 Be thou to me into God a defender; and into a strengthened place, that thou make me safe. For thou art my steadfastness; and my refuge. (God, be thou my defender; and a place of strength, where I shall be safe. For thou art my steadfastness; and my refuge.)
4 My God, deliver thou me from the hand of the sinner; and from the hand of a man doing against the law, and of the wicked man. (My God, rescue thou me from the power of the sinner; and from the power of the law-breakers, and of the wicked.)
5 For thou, Lord, art my patience (For thou, Lord, art whom I put my trust in); Lord, thou art mine hope from my youth.
6 In thee I am confirmed, that is, defended, from the womb; thou art my defender from the womb of my mother. My singing is ever[more] in thee (My praises shall be to thee forevermore);
6 Sons of Benjamin, be ye comforted in the middle of Jerusalem, and make ye noise with a clarion in Tekoa, and raise ye a banner on Bethhaccerem; for why evil and great sorrow is seen from the north. (Sons of Benjamin, escape ye from the midst of Jerusalem, and make ye a sound with a trumpet in Tekoa, and raise ye up a banner over Bethhaccerem; for evil and great sorrow is seen coming from the north.)
2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a fair woman and delicate. (I have likened, or compared, the daughter of Zion to a beautiful and delicate woman.)
3 Shepherds and their flocks shall come to it; they have pitched tents in it in compass; each man shall feed them, that be under his hand. (Shepherds and their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents all around her; each one shall feed his beasts there, that be under his hand.)
4 Hallow ye battle on it. Rise ye together, and ascend we in midday (Prepare ye battle against her. Rise ye up together, and go we up at midday). Woe to us, for the day hath bowed down, for shadows be made longer in the eventide.
5 Rise ye, and ascend we in the night, and destroy we the houses thereof. (Rise ye, and go we up in the night, and let us destroy its houses.)
6 For the Lord of hosts saith these things, Cut ye down the tree(s) thereof, and shed ye earth about Jerusalem; this is the city of visitation; all false challenge is in the midst thereof. (For the Lord of hosts saith these things, Cut ye down its trees, and heap ye earth all around Jerusalem; this is the city to be punished; for oppression is widespread in its midst.)
7 As a cistern maketh his water cold, so it made his malice cold; wickedness and destroying shall ever be heard therein before me, sickness and wound. (Like a cistern maketh its water cold, so Jerusalem made its malice cold; wickedness and destruction be heard there, sickness and wounds be ever before me.)
8 Jerusalem, be thou taught, lest peradventure my soul go away from thee; lest peradventure I set thee forsaken, a land unhabitable. (Jerusalem, make thyself able to be taught, lest perhaps my soul go away from thee; lest perhaps I make thee deserted, yea, a land uninhabited/yea, an uninhabitable land.)
9 The Lord of hosts saith these things, They shall gather till to a raisin, they shall gather the remnants of Israel as in a vinery (they shall gather the remnants of Israel like in a vineyard); turn thine hand, as a gatherer of grapes to the basket.
10 To whom shall I speak, and to whom shall I say witnessing, that he hear? Lo! the ears of them be uncircumcised, and they be not able to hear; lo! the word of the Lord is made to them into despite, and they shall not receive it (lo! the word of the Lord is taken as a rebuke to them, and they shall not accept it).
11 Therefore I am full of the strong vengeance of the Lord, and I travailed suffering. Shed thou out vengeance on a little child withoutforth, and on the counsel(s) of young men together (Pour thou out vengeance upon a little child outside, and upon young men who make plans together); for a man with his wife shall be taken, and an eld man with him that is full of days.
12 And the houses of them, (with) the fields and wives together, shall go to other men; for I shall stretch forth mine hand on the dwellers of the land, saith the Lord.
13 For from the less unto the greater, all study to avarice; and all do guile, from the prophet unto the priest. (For from the least unto the greatest, all work hard to do avarice, or to fulfill their greed; and all be deceitful, from the prophet unto the priest.)
14 And they healed the sorrow of the daughter of my people with evil fame, saying, Peace, peace, and no peace was. (And they tried to heal the sorrow of the daughter of my people with shallow words, by simply saying, Peace, peace, when there was no peace.)
15 They be shamed, that did abomination; yea, rather they were not shamed by confusion, and they could not be ashamed. Wherefore they shall fall down among them that shall fall down; they shall fall down in the time of their visitation, saith the Lord. (Were they ashamed, who did these abominations? nay, they were not ashamed, and they could not be ashamed. And so they shall fall among the fallen; they shall fall down at the time of their punishment, saith the Lord.)
16 The Lord saith these things, Stand ye on ways, and see ye, and ask ye of [the] eld paths, which is the good way; and go ye therein, and ye shall find refreshing to your souls. And they said, We shall not go. (The Lord saith these things, Stand ye at the crossways, and see ye, and ask ye for the old paths, and where is the good way; and go ye on it, and ye shall find refreshing for your souls. But they said, We shall not go on it.)
17 And I ordained espyers, either beholders, on you, and I said, Hear ye the voice of a trump. And they said, We shall not hear (it).
18 Therefore, heathen men, hear ye, and, thou congregation, know, how great things I shall do to them. (And so, ye heathen, listen, and, thou congregation, know, what mighty things I shall do to them.)
19 Thou earth, hear, lo! I shall bring evils on this people, the fruit of their thoughts; for they heard not my words, and casted away my law (and cast away my Law).
3 And bethink ye on him that suffered such gainsaying of sinful men against himself [Forsooth bethink ye on him that sustained such against-saying of sinful men against himself], that ye be not made weary, failing in your souls.
4 For ye against-stood not yet unto blood, fighting against sin.
5 And ye have forgotten the comfort that speaketh to you as to sons, and saith, My son, do not thou despise the teaching of the Lord [saying, My son, do not thou despise the discipline of the Lord], neither be thou made weary, the while thou art chastised of him.
6 For the Lord chastiseth him that he loveth; he beateth every son that he receiveth.[a]
7 Abide ye still in chastising; God proffereth him(self) to you as to sons[b]. For what son is it, whom the father chastiseth not?
8 That if ye be out of chastising, whose partners be ye all made [That if ye be out of discipline, of which all be made partners], then ye be adulterers, and not sons.
9 And afterward we had fathers of our flesh, teachers, and we with reverence dreaded them. Whether not much more we shall obey to the Father of spirits, and we shall live?
10 And they [soothly] in time of few days taught us by their will; but this Father teacheth to that thing that is profitable [forsooth this Father to that thing that is profitable], in receiving the hallowing of him.
11 And each chastising in [this] present time seemeth to be not of joy, but of sorrow; but afterward it shall yield fruit of rightwiseness most peaceable to men exercised by it.
12 For which thing raise ye [up] slow hands, and knees unbound,
13 and make ye rightful steps to your feet [and make rightful goings, or steps, to your feet]; that no man halting err, but more be healed.
14 Follow ye peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see God.
15 Behold ye, that no man fail to the grace of God [Beholding that no man fail to the grace of God], that no root of bitterness burrowing upward hinder [us], and many be defouled by it [and by it be many men defouled];
16 that no man be lecher, either unholy, as Esau, which for one meat sold his first things.[c]
17 For know ye, that afterward he coveting to inherit blessing, was reproved. For he found not place of penance, though he sought it with tears.
2001 by Terence P. Noble