Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
4 Therefore all the greater men in birth of Israel were gathered together, and came to Samuel into Ramah. (And so all the men of great age, that is, the elders, of Israel gathered together, and came to Samuel in Ramah.)
5 And they said to him, Lo! thou hast waxed eld, and thy sons go not in thy ways; ordain thou a king to us, that he deem us, as also all other nations have. (And they said to him, Lo! thou hast grown old, and thy sons do not go in thy ways; ordain thou a king for us, so that he can judge, or can rule, us, like all the other nations have.)
6 And the word displeased in the eyes of Samuel, for they had said, Give thou to us a king, that he deem us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. (And this request displeased Samuel, for they had said, Give thou a king to us, so that he can judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.)
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, Hear thou the voice of the people in all things that they speak to thee; for they have not cast away thee (for they have not thrown thee away), but me, (so) that I reign not upon them.
8 By all the works that they have done, from the day in which I led them out of Egypt unto this day, as they have forsaken me, and they have served alien gods, so they do also to thee (and they have served foreign, or other, gods, and now they also do to thee).
9 Now therefore hear thou their voice; nevertheless witness thou to them; and before-say thou to them the right of the king, that shall reign upon them (and tell thou them, the rights of the king who shall reign over them).
10 Then Samuel said all the words of the Lord to the people, that had asked of him a king (who had asked him for a king);
11 and he said, This shall be the right of the king, that shall command to you; he shall take your sons, and he shall set them in his chariots; and he shall make them to himself riders, and before-goers of his carts (and he shall make them to be his horsemen, or his riders, and to run before his chariots);
12 and he shall ordain to him tribunes, that is, sovereigns of a thousand, and centurions, that is, sovereigns of an hundred, and earers/tillers of his fields, and reapers of his corns, and smiths of his armours, and (smiths) of his chariots. (and he shall ordain his tribunes, that is, the rulers of a thousand, and his centurions, that is, the rulers of a hundred, and the tillers of his fields, and the reapers of his harvest, and the smiths of his arms, or of his weapons, and the smiths of his chariots.)
13 Also he shall make your daughters (to be) makers of his ointments, and his fire-makers (and his cooks), and (his) bakers/his makers of bread.
14 And he shall take your fields, and your vineries (and your vineyards), and the best places of olives, and he shall give those to his servants.
15 But also he shall take the tenth part of your corns, and (of) the rents of your vineries, that he give those to his chamberlains, and [to his] servants.
16 And he shall take away your servants, and your handmaids, and your best young men, and your asses, and he shall set these in his work. (And he shall take away your servants, and your servantesses, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and he shall make them do his bidding/and he shall make them work for him.)
17 Also he shall take the tenth part of your flocks; and ye shall be his servants.
18 And ye shall cry in that day from the face of your king, whom ye have chosen to you; and the Lord shall not hear you in that day; for ye [have] asked (for) a king to you. (And ye shall cry out on that day because of your king, whom ye have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord shall not hear you on that day; for ye have asked for a king for yourselves.)
19 Soothly the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, but they said, Nay, for a king shall be on us; (But the people would not listen to Samuel, and they said, No! let a king rule over us;)
20 and (then) we also shall be as all folks (and then we shall be like all the other nations), and our king shall deem us, and he shall go out before us, and he shall fight our battles for us.
14 And Samuel said to the people, Come ye, and go we into Gilgal, and renew we there the realm (and let us renew our loyalty to the kingdom there).
15 And all the people went into Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal; and they offered there peaceable sacrifices before the Lord. And Saul was glad there, and all the men of Israel greatly. (And all the people went to Gilgal, and there in Gilgal they made Saul king before the Lord; and they offered peace offerings there before the Lord. And Saul and all the men of Israel were exceedingly glad there.)
138 [The psalm of David.] Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee in all mine heart; for thou heardest the words of my mouth. My God, I shall sing to thee in the sight of angels; (The song of David. Lord, I shall praise thee with all my heart. My God, I shall sing praises to thee before the angels, or before the gods.)
2 I shall worship to(ward) thine holy temple, and I shall acknowledge to thy name. On thy mercy and thy truth; for thou hast magnified thine holy name above all thing. (I shall worship towards thy holy Temple, and I shall praise thy name; because of thy love, and thy faithfulness; for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all things.)
3 In whatever day I shall inwardly call thee, hear thou me; thou shalt multiply virtue in my soul. (On whatever day I called to thee, thou answeredest me; and thou hast multiplied the strength in my soul/and thou hast made me strong.)
4 Lord, all the kings of earth acknowledge to thee; for they heard all the words of thy mouth. (Lord, all the kings of the earth shall praise thee; for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.)
5 And sing they in the ways of the Lord (And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord); for the glory of the Lord is great.
6 For the Lord is high, and beholdeth meek things; and knoweth afar high things. (For though the Lord is high above, he looketh upon the meek/he careth for the humble; and he knoweth the proud from afar.)
7 If I shall go in the midst of tribulation, thou shalt quicken me; and thou stretchedest forth thine hand on the ire of mine enemies, and thy right hand made me safe. (Yea, though I go in the midst of trouble, or of tribulation, thou keepest me safe/thou keepest me alive; and thou stretchest forth thy hand against the rage of my enemies, and thy right hand savest me.)
8 The Lord shall yield for me, Lord, thy mercy is [into] without end; despise thou not the works of thine hands. (The Lord shall bring to pass his promises to me. O Lord, thy love is forever; so complete thy work.)
13 And we have the same spirit of faith [Forsooth having the same spirit of faith], as it is written, I have believed, wherefore I have spoken; and we believe, wherefore also we speak;
14 witting that he that raised Jesus, shall raise up also us with Jesus, and shall ordain [us] with you.
15 And all things [be done] for you, that a plenteous grace by many thankings be plenteous into the glory of God. [Soothly all things be done for you, that grace being plenteous by many in doing of thanks be plenteous into glory of God.]
16 For which thing we fail not, for though [but though] our outer man be corrupted; nevertheless the inner man is renewed from day to day.
17 But that light thing [light, or easy, thing] of our tribulation that lasteth now, but as it were by a moment, worketh in us over measure an everlasting burden into the highness of glory [worketh over manner, or measure, into highness the everlasting weight of glory in us];
18 while that we behold not those things that be seen, but those [things] that be not seen. For those things that be seen, be but during for a short time; but those things that be not seen, be everlasting[a].
5 And we know, that if our earthly house of this dwelling be dissolved, that we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, everlasting in heavens.
20 and the people [and the company of people] came together again, so that they might not [neither] eat bread.
21 And when his kinsmen had heard, they went out to hold him; for they said, That he is turned into madness.
22 And the scribes that came down from Jerusalem, said, That he hath Beelzebub, and that in the prince of devils he casteth out fiends.
23 And he called them together, and he said to them in parables, How may Satan cast out Satan?
24 And if a realm be parted against itself, that realm may not stand.
25 And if an house be parted against itself, that house may not stand.
26 And if Satan hath risen against himself, he is parted, and he shall not be able to stand, but hath an end.
27 No man may go into a strong man's house, and take away his vessels, but he bind first the strong man, and then he shall spoil his house.
28 Truly I say to you, that all sins and blasphemies, by which they have blasphemed, shall be forgiven to the sons of men.
29 But he that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost [Soothly he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost], hath not remission into without end, but he shall be guilty of everlasting trespass.
30 For they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
31 And his mother and his brethren came, and stood withoutforth, and sent to him, and called him. [And his mother and brethren come, and standing withoutforth, sent to him, calling him.]
32 And the people sat about him [And the company sat about him]; and they said to him, Lo! thy mother and thy brethren withoutforth seek thee.
33 And he answered to them, and said, Who is my mother and my brethren?
34 And he beheld them that sat about him, and said, Lo! my mother and my brethren.
35 For who that doeth the will of God, he is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
2001 by Terence P. Noble