Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

132 The song of degrees. Lord, have thou mind on David; and of all his mildness. (Lord, remember David; and all his troubles and tribulations.)

² As he swore to the Lord; he made a vow to [the] God of Jacob.

³ I shall not enter into the tabernacle of mine house; I shall not ascend into the bed of my resting.

⁴ I shall not give sleep to mine eyes; and napping to mine eyelids. (I shall not give sleep to my eyes; or napping to my eyelids.)

⁵ And rest to my temples, till I find a place to the Lord; a tabernacle to [the] God of Jacob. (Until I find a place for the Lord; yea, a dwelling place for the Mighty God of Jacob.)

⁶ Lo! we heard that (the) ark of (the) testament (is) in Ephratah [Lo! we have heard (of) it in Ephratah]; we found it in the fields of the wood. (Lo! we have heard that the Covenant Box is in Ephratah; we found it in the fields of Jaar, or of Jearim.)

⁷ We shall enter into the tabernacle of him (We shall go into his Tabernacle, or his dwelling place); we shall worship in the place, where his feet stood.

⁸ Lord, rise thou into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thine hallowing. (Arise, O Lord, and come back to thy resting place; thou, and the Ark of thy power.)

⁹ Thy priests be clothed with rightfulness; and thy saints make full out joy. (Let thy priests be clothed in righteousness; and thy saints rejoice.)

¹⁰ For David, thy servant; turn thou not away the face of thy christ. (For the sake of thy servant David; turn thou not away thy face from thy anointed king.)

¹¹ The Lord swore (in) truth to David, and he shall not make him [in] vain; Of the fruit of thy womb I shall set on thy seat. (The Lord swore truthfully to David, and he did not say in vain, I shall put the fruit of thy womb upon thy throne.)

¹² If thy sons shall keep my testament; and my witnessings, these which I shall teach them. And the sons of them till into the world; they shall set on thy seat. (And if thy sons shall keep my covenant, and obey my teachings, which I shall teach them; then their sons shall sit on thy throne forever.)

¹³ For the Lord chose Zion; he chose it into (a) dwelling to himself (he chose it for his dwelling place).

¹⁴ This is my rest into the world of world (This shall be my resting place forever and ever); I shall dwell here, for I chose it.

¹⁵ I blessing shall bless the widow of it; I shall [ful]fill with loaves the poor men of it. (I blessing shall bless Zion’s widows; and I shall fulfill her poor with bread.)

¹⁶ I shall clothe with health the priests thereof; and the holy men thereof shall make full out joy in full out joying/in full out rejoicing. (I shall clothe her priests with salvation, or with deliverance; and her holy men shall make great joy rejoicing.)

¹⁷ Thither I shall bring forth the horn of David; I [have] made ready a lantern to my christ (I have prepared a lantern for my anointed king).

¹⁸ I shall clothe his enemies with shame; but mine hallowing shall flower out on him (but a shining crown shall be upon his head).

23 which king sent, and all the eld men of Judah, and of Jerusalem, were gathered to him. (and the king sent for all the elders of Judah, and of Jerusalem, and they were gathered unto him.)

² And the king went up into the temple of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and all the men that dwelled in Jerusalem with him, the priests and the prophets, and all the people from little unto great; and the king read, while all men heard, all the words of the book of [the] bond of peace of the Lord, the which was found in the house of the Lord. (And the king went up into the Temple of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and all the men who lived in Jerusalem with him, the priests and the prophets, and all the people from the little unto the great; and the king read, while all the men listened, all the words of The Book of the Covenant of the Lord, which had been found in the House of the Lord.)

³ And the king stood on the degrees; and smote a bond of peace before the Lord, that they would go after the Lord, and keep his commandments and witnessings and ceremonies in all their heart and in all their soul, and that they should raise up the words of this bond of peace, that were written in that book; and the people assented to the covenant. (And the king stood on the steps; and struck a covenant before the Lord, that they would follow the Lord, and keep his commandments and testimonies and statutes, with all their heart and with all their soul, and that they would raise up the words of this covenant that were written in that book; and the people agreed to the covenant.)

⁴ And the king commanded to Hilkiah, the bishop, and to the priests of the second order, and to the porters, that they should cast out of the temple [of the Lord] all the vessels, that were made to Baal, and in the maumet wood, and to all the knighthood of (the) heaven(s); and he burnt those vessels without Jerusalem, in the even valley of Kidron, and he bare the powder of those vessels into Bethel. (And the king commanded to the High Priest Hilkiah, and to the priests of the second order, and to the guards, that they should throw out of the Temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned those vessels outside Jerusalem, in the Kidron Valley, and he brought the powder of those vessels to Bethel.)

⁵ And he did away [the] false diviners, which the kings of Judah had set to make sacrifice in (the) high things by the cities of Judah, and in the compass of Jerusalem; and he did away them that burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to (the) twelve signs, and to all the knighthood of (the) heaven(s). (And he did away the false diviners, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make sacrifice in the hill shrines in the cities of Judah, and all around Jerusalem; and he did away those who burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to the twelve signs, yea, to all the host of heaven.)

⁶ And the king made the wood of maumetry to be borne out of the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, in(to) the even valley of Kidron, and he burnt it there; and he drove it into powder, and casted it forth upon the sepulchres of the common people. (And the king ordered the sacred pole of that idol, or that false god, Asherah to be taken out of the House of the Lord, and out of Jerusalem, to the Kidron Valley, and he burned it there; and he drove it down into powder, and threw it forth onto the tombs, or the graves, of the common people.)

⁷ Also he destroyed the little houses of [the] womanish men, the which houses were in the house of the Lord; for the which houses women weaved, or wattled, as little houses of the wood. (And he destroyed the little houses of the male whores of the Temple, which houses were attached to the House of the Lord; and where women weaved, or wattled, vestments used in honouring and worshipping Asherah.)

⁸ And he gathered all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defouled the high things, where the priests made sacrifice, from Geba unto Beersheba; and he destroyed the altars of the gates (that were) in the entering of the door of Joshua, (who was the) prince of a city, which door was at the left half of the gate of the city. (And he gathered all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the hill shrines, where the priests made sacrifice, from Geba unto Beersheba; and he destroyed the altars of the demons that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, who was the ruler of the city, which gate was on the left side of the city gate.)

⁹ Nevertheless the priests of [the] high things went not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but only they ate therf loaves in the midst of their brethren. (Now the priests of the hill shrines did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat the unleavened bread in the midst of their kinsmen.)

¹⁰ Also he defouled Topheth, which is in the even valley of the son of Hinnom, (so) that no man should hallow his son either his daughter by fire to Moloch. (And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, so that no man would sacrifice his son or his daughter in the fire to Moloch.)

¹¹ Also he did away [the] horses, that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, in the entering of the temple of the Lord, beside the chamber of Nathanmelech, the gelding, that was in (the) Parvarim, (that is, the suburbs, or the living quarters); forsooth he burnt by fire the chariots of the sun. (And he did away the horses, that the kings of Judah had erected to the sun, at the entrance to the Temple of the Lord, beside the chamber of Nathanmelech, the eunuch, that was in the Parvarim, that is, in the suburbs, or the living quarters; and he burned up the chariots of the sun.)

¹² Also the king destroyed the altars, that were on the roofs of the solar of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made; and the king destroyed the altars, which Manasseh had made in the two great places of the temple of the Lord; and he ran from thence, and scattered the ashes of those altars into the strand of Kidron. (And the king destroyed the altars that were on the roof of the solarium of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made; and the king destroyed the altars which Manasseh had made in the two great courtyards of the Temple of the Lord; and he went from there, and scattered the ashes of those altars in the Kidron Valley.)

¹³ Also the king defouled the high things, that were in Jerusalem at the right half of the hill of offence, that is, the hill of Olivet, which Solomon, king of Israel, had builded to Ashtoreth, the idol of Sidonians, and to Chemosh, the offence of Moab, and to Malcham, the abomination of the sons of Ammon; (And the king defiled the hill shrines that were east of Jerusalem, on the right side of the hill of offence, that is, south of the Mount of Olives, which Solomon, the king of Israel, had built for Ashtoreth, the false god of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh, the offensive god of Moab, and for Milcom, the abominable god of the Ammonites;)

¹⁴ and he all-brake [the] images, and cutted down (the) [maumet] woods (and cut down the sacred poles of Asherah), and filled the places of those with the bones of dead men.

³¹ He that came from above, is above all; he that is of the earth, speaketh of the earth; he that cometh from heaven, is above all.

³² And he witnesseth that thing that he hath seen, and heard [And this thing that he saw and heard, he witnesseth], and no man taketh his witnessing.

³³ But he that taketh his witnessing, hath confirmed that God is soothfast. [Forsooth he that hath taken his witnessing, hath marked that God is soothfast.]

³⁴ But he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God; for not to measure God giveth the Spirit.

³⁵ The Father loveth the Son, and he hath given all things into his hand.

³⁶ He that believeth in the Son, hath everlasting life; but he that is unbelieveful to the Son, shall not see everlasting life, but the wrath of God dwelleth on him.