Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

72 To Solomon. God, give thy doom to the king; and thy rightfulness to the son of the king. (A psalm, or a song, for Solomon. God, give thy judgement to the king; yea, thy righteousness to the king’s son.)

² To deem thy people in rightfulness; and thy poor men in doom. (To judge thy people with righteousness; and thy poor with justice.)

³ Mountains receive peace to the people; and little hills receive rightfulness. (May the mountains and the little hills, bring peace and prosperity to the people; in righteousness.)

⁴ He shall deem the poor men of the people, and he shall make safe the sons of poor men; and he shall make low the false challenger. (He shall judge the poor, and he shall save the sons and the daughters of the poor; and he shall bring down their oppressors.)

⁵ And he shall dwell with the sun, and before the moon, that is, without beginning, and (without) end; in generation and into generation (in all generations).

⁶ He shall come down as rain into a fleece; and as gutters dropping on the earth. (He shall come down like rain onto a field; and like showers dropping upon the earth.)

⁷ Rightfulness shall come forth in his days (Righteousness shall come forth in his days); and the abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away.

⁸ And he shall be lord from the sea till to the sea; and from the flood till to the ends of the world. (And he shall be lord from sea to sea; and from the Euphrates River unto the ends of the earth.)

⁹ Ethiopians shall fall down before him; and his enemies shall lick the earth. (Those who live in the desert shall bow down before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.)

¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and of Seba shall bring gifts. (The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall offer gifts, or tribute; the kings of Sheba and of Seba shall also bring him gifts, or tribute.)

¹¹ And all kings shall worship him; all folks shall serve him (all nations shall serve him).

¹² For he shall deliver a poor man from the mighty; and a poor man to whom there was none helper. (For he shall rescue the poor from the mighty; yea, the poor for whom there was no helper.)

¹³ He shall spare a poor man and needy; and he shall make safe the souls of poor men. (He shall spare the poor and the needy; yea, he shall save the souls, or the lives, of the poor.)

¹⁴ He shall again-buy the souls of them from usuries, and wickedness; and the name of them is honourable before him.

¹⁵ And he shall live, and men shall give to him of the gold of Arabia; and they shall ever worship of him, all day they shall bless him. (And long may he live, and may men give to him the gold of Sheba; they shall worship him forever, yea, all day long they shall bless him.)

¹⁶ Steadfastness shall be in the earth, in the highest place of mountains; the fruit thereof shall be enhanced above the Lebanon; and they shall blossom from the city, as the hay of earth doeth. (May corn grow in all the earth, even on the highest places of the mountains; may the crops there be numbered above that of Lebanon; and may the people in the city increase like the hay, or the grass, in the fields.)

¹⁷ His name be blessed into worlds; his name dwell before the sun. And all the lineages of earth shall be blessed in him; all folks shall magnify him. (May the king’s name be blessed forever; and his name remain as long as the sun. And may all the peoples of the earth ask to be blessed as he was; may all the nations magnify him.)

¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; which alone maketh marvels. (Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; who alone doeth these marvellous deeds.)

¹⁹ And blessed be the name of his majesty [into] without end; and all earth shall be filled with his majesty; be it done, be it done. (And blessed be his majestic name forever; let all the earth be filled with his majesty, or his glory; be it done, be it done.)

²⁰ The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, be ended.

2 In the second year of the realm of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar saw a dream; and his spirit was afeared, and his dream fled away from him. (In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream; and his spirit was afraid, and then his dream fled away from him.)

² Therefore the king commanded, that the (false) diviners, and astronomers, and witches, and Chaldees should be called together, that they should tell to the king his dreams; and when they were come, they stood before the king. (And so the king commanded, that the fortunetellers, and the astrologers, and the witches, and the Chaldeans should be called together, so that they could tell the king about his dream; and when they had come, they stood before the king.)

³ And the king said to them, I saw a dream, and I am shamed in mind, and I know not what I saw. (And the king said to them, I had a dream, and I am confused, and I do not know what I saw/and I do not know what it meant.)

⁴ And Chaldees answered the king by Syriack language, King, live thou without end; say thy dream to thy servants, and we shall show to thee the expounding thereof. (And the Chaldeans answered the king in the Syrian, or in the Aramaic, language and said, O King, may thou live forever; first tell thy dream to thy servants, and then we shall tell thee its interpretation.)

⁵ And the king answered, and said to [the] Chaldees, The word is gone away from me; if ye show not to me the dream, and the expounding thereof, ye shall perish, and your houses shall be forfeited. (And the king answered, and said to the Chaldeans, The dream hath gone away from me/This is what I have decided; if ye do not tell me the dream, and its interpretation, then ye shall die, and your houses shall be laid waste.)

⁶ Forsooth if ye tell the dream, and the expounding thereof, ye shall take of me meeds and gifts, and much honour; therefore show ye to me the dream, and the interpreting thereof. (But if ye tell me the dream, and its interpretation, then ye shall receive from me rewards and gifts, and much honour; and so tell me the dream, and its interpretation.)

⁷ They answered the second time, and said, The king say the dream to his servants, and we shall show the interpreting thereof. (They answered a second time, and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and then we shall tell its interpretation.)

⁸ The king answered, and said, Certainly I know, that ye again-buy the time, and know that the word is gone away from me. (And the king answered, Certainly I see, that ye be trying to gain time, for ye know that the dream hath gone away from me/because ye know that this is what I have decided.)

⁹ Therefore if ye show not to me the dream, one sentence is of you, for ye make an interpreting both false and full of deceit, that ye speak to me till the time pass; therefore say ye the dream to me, that I know that ye speak also the very interpreting thereof. (And so if ye do not tell me the dream, one punishment shall be for all of you, for ye make an interpretation both false and full of deceit, and ye shall just speak to me until the time pass; and so tell me the dream, so that I know that ye also say its true interpretation.)

¹⁰ Therefore [the] Chaldees answered before the king, and said, King, no man is on earth that may [ful]fill thy word; but neither any great man and mighty of kings asketh such a word of any (false) diviner, and astronomer, and of a man of Chaldea. (And so the Chaldeans answered the king, and said, O king, there is no one on earth who can fulfill thy request; nor would any great king, or mighty man, ask such a request of any fortuneteller, or astrologer, or a man of Chaldea.)

¹¹ For the word which thou, (O) king, askest, is grievous, neither any shall be found that shall show it in the sight of the king (nor shall anyone be found who can tell it to the king), except (the) gods, whose living is not with men.

¹² And when this word was heard, the king commanded, in strong vengeance and in great ire, that all [the] wise men of Babylon should perish. (And when this word was heard, the king commanded, with strong vengeance and with great anger, that all the wise men of Babylon should be put to death.)

¹³ And by the sentence gone out, the wise men were (to be) slain; and Daniel and his fellows were sought, that they should perish. (And by the order gone out, the wise men were to be killed; and Daniel and his fellows were sought, so that they could be put to death.)

¹⁴ Then Daniel asked of the law and sentence of Arioch, prince of [the] chivalry of the king, that was gone out to slay the wise men of Babylon. (And Daniel asked about the law and the sentence, or the order, to Arioch, the leader of the king’s cavalry, or of his bodyguard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.)

¹⁵ And he asked him, that had taken power of the king, for what cause so cruel a sentence went out from the face of the king. Therefore when Arioch had showed the thing to Daniel, (And he asked him, who had received the power of life and death from the king, for what cause such a cruel order had gone out from the king. And so when Arioch had told the reason to Daniel,)

¹⁶ Daniel entered, and prayed the king, that he should give time to him to show the solving to the king. (Daniel entered in, and beseeched the king, that he would give him some time, so that he could tell the interpretation to the king. And the king agreed.)

¹⁷ And he entered into his house, and showed the need to Hananiah, and Mishael, and Azariah, his fellows,

¹⁸ that they should ask mercy of the face of God of heaven on this sacrament, (or hid truth); and that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with other wise men of Babylon. (that they should ask for mercy from the God of heaven, and that he explain this secret, or this hidden truth, so that Daniel and his fellows would not die along with the other wise men of Babylon.)

¹⁹ Then the private^[a] was showed to Daniel by a vision in night. And Daniel blessed (the) God of heaven, (Then the mystery, or the secret, was revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven,)

¹⁷ Therefore I say and witness this thing in the Lord [Therefore this thing I say, and witness in the Lord], that ye walk not now, as heathen men walk, in the vanity of their wit;

¹⁸ that have understanding darkened with darknesses [having their understanding darkened], and be aliened from the life of God, by ignorance that is in them, for the blindness of their heart.

¹⁹ Which despairing betook themselves to unchastity, into the working of all uncleanness in covetousness.

²⁰ But ye have not so learned Christ,

²¹ if nevertheless ye heard him, and be taught in him, as is truth in Jesus.

²² Do ye away by the old living the old man, that is corrupt by the desires of error; [Do ye away after the first living the old man, that is corrupt after the desires of error;]

²³ and be ye renewed in the spirit of your soul;^[a]

²⁴ and clothe ye the new man, which is made after God in rightwiseness and holiness of truth. [and clothe ye the new man, which after God is made of nought in rightwiseness and holiness of truth.]

²⁵ For which thing put ye away lying, and speak ye truth each man with his neighbour, for we be members each to other. [For which thing putting away lying, speak truth each man with his neighbour, for we be members together.]

²⁶ Be ye wroth, and do not do sin; the sun fall not down on your wrath [the sun fall not down upon your wrath].

²⁷ Do not ye give stead to the devil.

²⁸ He that stole, now steal he not; but more rather travail he in working with his hands that that is good, that he have whereof he shall give to the needy. [He that stole, now steal not; but more travail he in working with his hands that that is good thing, that he have whereof he shall give to a man suffering need.]

²⁹ Each evil word go not out of your mouth; but if any is good to the edification of faith, that it give grace to men that hear [that it give grace to men hearing].

³⁰ And do not ye make the Holy Ghost of God sorry [And do not ye make the Holy Ghost of God sorry, or heavy], in which ye be marked in the day of redemption.

³¹ All bitterness, and wrath, and indignation, and cry, and blasphemy be taken away from you, with all malice;

³² and be ye together benign [forsooth be ye together benign, or of good will], merciful, forgiving together, as also God forgave to you in Christ.

5 Therefore be ye followers of God, as most dear-worthy sons;