Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁶ But God said to the sinner, Why tellest thou out my rightfulnesses; and takest my testament by thy mouth? (But God said to the sinner, Why should thou tell out my statutes? and why hast thou my covenant in thy mouth?)

¹⁷ Soothly thou hatedest lore, or discipline; and hast cast away my words behind (thee). (Truly thou hatedest chastisement; and hast thrown away my words behind thee.)

¹⁸ If thou sawest a thief, thou rannest with him; and thou settedest thy part with adulterers.

¹⁹ Thy mouth was plenteous of malice; and thy tongue meddled together guiles. (Thy mouth is full of malice; and thy tongue mixeth up batches of lies.)

²⁰ Thou sitting spakest against thy brother, and thou settedest slander against the son of thy mother; (And thou sitteth down, and speakest against thy brother, yea, thou settest forth slander against thy mother’s son;)

²¹ thou didest these things, and I was still. Thou guessedest wickedly, that I shall be like thee; I shall reprove thee, and I shall set (them) against thy face. (thou didest these things, and I was silent. And thou wickedly guessedest that I was just like thee; but I shall rebuke thee, and I shall do it to thy face.)

²² Ye that forget God, understand these things; lest sometime he ravish, and none be that shall deliver. (Ye who forget God, understand these things; lest sometime I tear thee in pieces, and there be no one who shall save thee.)

²³ The sacrifice of praising shall honour me; and there is the way, wherein I shall show to him the health of God. (The sacrifice of praise shall honour me; and to those who follow my way/and to those who obey me, I shall give them the salvation of God.)

13 And it was done after these things, that Amnon, the son of David, loved the fairest sister, Tamar by name, of Absalom, the son of David. (And it was done after these things, that Amnon, one of David’s sons, loved Tamar, the fairest sister of Amnon, and of Absalom, another of David’s sons.)

² And Amnon perished greatly for her, so that he was sick for her love. For since she was a virgin, it seemed hard to him, that he should do anything unhonestly with her. (And Amnon greatly burned for her, so that he was sick for her love. But since she was a virgin, it was hard for him to do anything dishonourable to her.)

³ But there was a friend to Amnon, Jonadab by name, the son of Shimeah, the brother of David; and Jonadab was a full prudent man, [(that is), a full sly man].

⁴ Which said to Amnon, Son of the king, why art thou made feeble so by leanness, by all days? why showest thou not to me? (And he said to Amnon, Son of the king, why art thou made so weak and thin, day after day? why not tellest thou to me?) And Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.

⁵ And Jonadab answered to him, Lie thou on thy bed, and feign thou sickness; and when thy father cometh, that he visit thee, say thou to him, I pray, come Tamar, my sister, that she give meat to me, and make a stew, that I eat it of her hand. (And Jonadab answered to him, Do thou this. Lie thou on thy bed, and pretend to be sick; and when thy father cometh to visit thee, say thou to him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give food to me, yea, to make me a stew, and I shall eat it by her hand/and she shall serve it to me.)

⁶ Therefore Amnon lay down, and feigned to be sick. And when the king had come to visit him, Amnon said to the king, I beseech, come Tamar, my sister, that she make two suppings before my eyes, and that I take of her hand the meat made ready. (And so Amnon lay down, and pretended to be sick. And when the king had come to visit him, Amnon said to the king, I beseech thee, that my sister Tamar come, and make supper for me, and when the food is ready, I shall eat it by her hand/she shall serve it to me.)

⁷ Therefore David sent to the house of Tamar, and said, Come thou into the house of Amnon, thy brother, and make thou a stew to him. (And so David sent word to Tamar’s house, and said, Go thou to thy brother Amnon’s house, and make thou a stew for him.)

⁸ And Tamar came into the house of Amnon, her brother. And he lay down; and she took meal, and mixed (it) together, and made (it) moist before his eyes, and seethed [the] suppings (and boiled the supper);

⁹ and she took that, that she had sodden, and poured it out, and set it before him, and he would not eat (and she took what she had boiled, and poured it out, and set it before him, but he would not eat it). And Amnon said, Put ye out all men from me. And when they had put out all (the) men,

¹⁰ Amnon said to Tamar, Bear the meat into the (bed-)closet, that I eat of thine hand. Therefore Tamar took the suppings which she had made, and brought in to Amnon, her brother, in the (bed-)closet. (Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food into the bed-chamber, so that I can eat it by thy hand/so that thou can serve it to me. And so Tamar took the supper which she had made, and brought it to her brother Amnon, in the bed-chamber.)

¹¹ And when she had proffered the meat to him, he took her, and said, Come thou, my sister, lie thou with me. (And when she offered him the food, he took hold of her, and said, Come thou, my sister, lie thou with me/sleep with me.)

¹² And she answered to him, My brother, do not thou, do not thou oppress me, for this is not leaveful in Israel (for this is not lawful in Israel); do not thou do this folly.

¹³ For I shall not be able to bear my shame, and thou shalt be as one of the unwise men, (or the fools,) in Israel; but rather speak thou to the king, and he shall not deny me to thee.

¹⁴ Soothly he would not assent to her prayers; but he was stronger in mights, and oppressed her, and lay with her.

¹⁵ And then (afterward,) with full great hatred Amnon hated her, so that the hatred was greater, by which he hated her, than the love by which he (had) loved her before. And Amnon said to her, Rise thou (up), and go.

¹⁶ And she answered to him, This evil is more which thou doest now against me, and puttest me out, than that, that thou didest before. And he would not hear her; (And she answered to him, This evil which thou now doest against me, by putting me out, is worse, than what thou didest before. But he would not listen to her;)

¹⁷ but when the servant was called, that ministered to him (who served him), he said, Put thou out this woman from me, and close thou the door after her.

¹⁸ And she was clothed with a coat down to the heel; for the king’s daughters (who were) virgins used such clothes. Then the servant of Amnon put her out, and closed the door after her.

¹⁹ And she sprinkled ashes (on)to her head, and when her long coat was rent, and her hands put on her head, she went entering [in] and crying.

²⁷ And ye be the body of Christ, and members of member. [Forsooth ye be the body of Christ, and members of members.]

²⁸ But God set some men in the church, first apostles, the second time prophets [And soothly God put some in the church, first apostles, the second prophets], the third teachers, afterward works of power, afterward graces of healings, helpings, governings, kinds of languages, interpretations of words.

²⁹ Whether all [be] apostles? whether all [be] prophets? Whether all teachers? whether all works of power?

³⁰ whether all have grace of healings? whether all speak with languages? whether all expound [whether all interpret, or expound]?

³¹ But follow ye the better ghostly gifts. And yet I show to you a more excellent way.