Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²⁴ Lord, thy works be magnified full much, thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with thy possession(s). (Lord, thou hast made a great many things, thou hast made all things by thy wisdom; the earth is filled with thy creatures.)

²⁵ This sea is great and large to hands; there be creeping beasts, of which is no number. Little beasts with [the] great; (The sea is great, and too large to hold in our hands; and in it be creeping things of which there is no number. Yea, little beasts with the great.)

²⁶ ships shall pass there. This dragon which thou hast formed, for to scorn him. (Ships pass there; and that dragon, or Leviathan, which thou hast formed, playeth there.)

²⁷ All things abide of thee; that thou give to them meat in time. (All things wait for thee; to give them their food at the proper time.)

²⁸ When thou shalt give to them, they shall gather; when thou shalt open thine hand, all things shall be filled with goodness. (What thou givest to them, they gather up; when thou openest up thy hand, they be filled with good things.)

²⁹ But when thou shalt turn away thy face, they shall be troubled; thou shalt take away the spirit of them, and they shall fail; and they shall turn again into their dust. (But when thou turnest away thy face, they be troubled; and when thou takest away their breath, they fail; and then they return to the dust from whence they came.)

³⁰ Send out thy spirit, and they shall be formed of the new/and they shall be reformed of new; and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. (Give thou them breath, and they shall be formed anew; yea, thou shalt renew the face of all the earth.)

³¹ The glory of the Lord be into the world; the Lord shall be glad in his works. (May the glory of the Lord be forever; may the Lord be satisfied with, or happy over, his works.)

³² Which beholdeth the earth, and maketh it to tremble; which toucheth hills, and those smoke. (Who looketh upon the earth, and maketh it to tremble; who toucheth the hills, and they smoke.)

³³ I shall sing to the Lord in my life; I shall say psalm to my God, as long as I am. (I shall sing to the Lord all my life; yea, I shall sing psalms, or songs of praise, to my God, as long as I am.)

³⁴ My speech be merry to him/My speech be mirth to him; forsooth I shall delight in the Lord. (May my words please him; for my delight is in the Lord.)

³⁵ Sinners fail from the earth, and wicked men fail, so that they be not; my soul, bless thou the Lord. (May the sinners perish from the earth, and the wicked fail, so that they be not; but my soul, bless thou the Lord.)

2 Forsooth it was done, when the Lord would raise (up) Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah and Elisha went from Gilgal.

² And Elijah said to Elisha, Sit thou here, for the Lord [hath] sent me till into Bethel. To whom Elisha said, The Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, for I shall not forsake thee (To whom Elisha said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I shall not desert thee). And when they had come down to Bethel,

³ the sons of (the) prophets, that were in Bethel, went out to Elisha, and said to him, Whether thou knowest, that the Lord shall take away thy lord today from thee? (Knowest thou, that the Lord shall take away thy lord from thee today?) Which answered, And I know; be ye still.

⁴ Forsooth Elijah said to Elisha, Sit thou here, for the Lord [hath] sent me into Jericho. And he said, (As) The Lord liveth, and (as) thy soul liveth, for I shall not forsake thee. And when they had come to Jericho,

⁵ the sons of (the) prophets, that were in Jericho, nighed to Elisha, and said to him, Whether thou knowest, that the Lord shall take away thy lord today from thee? (Knowest thou, that the Lord shall take away thy lord from thee today?) And he said, I know; be ye still.

⁶ Forsooth Elijah said to Elisha, Sit thou here, for the Lord [hath] sent me to (the) Jordan (River). Which said, (As) The Lord liveth, and (as) thy soul liveth, for I shall not forsake thee. Therefore (they) both went together;

⁷ and fifty men of the sons of (the) prophets followed, which also stood far even against; soothly they both stood over (the) Jordan. (and fifty men of the sons of the prophets followed, and stood looking from afar; and they both stood by the Jordan River.)

⁸ And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it, and smote the waters; which were parted into ever either part, and both went by the dry. (And Elijah took his mantle, or his cloak, and rolled it up, and struck the water; which was divided into two parts, and they went across on dry ground.)

⁹ And when they had passed [over], Elijah said to Elisha, Ask thou that, that thou wilt that I do to thee, before that I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I beseech, that thy double spirit be made in me/I beseech, that thy double spirit be with me^[a]. (And when they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask thou what thou wilt that I can do for thee, before that I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I beseech thee, that a double portion of thy spirit be given to me/be upon me.)

¹⁰ Which Elijah answered, Thou askest an hard thing; nevertheless if thou shalt see me, when I shall be taken away from thee, that that thou askest shall be (so); soothly if thou shalt not see (me), (then) it shall not be (so).

¹¹ And when they went, and spake going (And as they went forth, speaking as they went), lo! a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, parted ever either; and Elijah ascended by a whirlwind into heaven^[b].

¹² Forsooth Elisha saw, and cried, My father! my father! the chariot of Israel, and the charioteer thereof. And he saw no more Elijah. And he took his clothes, and rent those into two parts. (And Elisha saw it, and cried, My father! my father! the chariot of Israel, and its charioteer. And then he saw Elijah no more. And he took his own mantle, or his own cloak, and tore it in two.)

¹³ And he raised the mantle of Elijah, that felled down to him; and he turned again, and stood over the river of Jordan (And he picked up Elijah’s mantle, that fell down to him; and he returned, and stood by the Jordan River.)

¹⁴ And with the mantle of Elijah, that felled down to him, he smote the waters, which were not parted. And he said, Where is [the] God of Elijah also now? And (so) he smote the waters, and those were parted hither and thither; and Elisha passed [over]. (And using Elijah’s mantle, that fell down to him, he struck the water, for it was not parted. And he said, Where is the God of Elijah? And after that he struck the water, it was again parted here and there; and Elisha crossed over again.)

¹⁵ Soothly the sons of [the] prophets, that were in Jericho even against, saw, and said, The spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha. And they came into the meeting of him, and worshipped him lowly to [the] earth. (And the sons of the prophets from Jericho, were watching, and when they saw this, they said, The spirit of Elijah now resteth upon Elisha. And they came to meet him, and honoured him/and bowed low before him, down to the ground.)

⁵ In the days of Herod, king of Judaea, there was a priest [there was some priest], Zacharias by name, of the sort of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

⁶ And [they] both were just before God, going in all the commandments and justifyings of the Lord, without plaint.

⁷ And they had no child, for [that] Elisabeth was barren, and both were of great age in their days [and both had gone far in their days].

⁸ And it befell [Soothly it was done], that when Zacharias should do the office of priesthood, in the order of his course before God,

⁹ after the custom of the priesthood, he went forth by lot [by sort he went forth], and entered into the temple [of the Lord], to incense.

¹⁰ And all the multitude of the people was withoutforth, and prayed in the hour of incensing [praying in the hour of incense].

¹¹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, and stood on the right half of the altar of incense [standing on the right half of the altar of incense].

¹² And Zacharias seeing was afraid [And Zacharias seeing was distroubled], and dread fell upon him.

¹³ And the angel said to him, Zacharias, dread thou not; for thy prayer is heard, and Elisabeth, thy wife, shall bear to thee a son, and his name shall be called John.

¹⁴ And joy and gladding shall be to thee; and many shall have joy in his nativity, or birth.

¹⁵ For he shall be great before the Lord, and he shall not drink wine nor cider, and he shall be full-filled with the Holy Ghost [and he shall be filled of the Holy Ghost] yet from his mother's womb.

¹⁶ And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to their Lord God; [And he shall convert many of the sons of Israel to the Lord God of them;]

¹⁷ and he shall go before him in the spirit and virtue of Elias; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers into the sons [and shall turn the hearts of the fathers into the sons], and men out of belief to the prudence of just men, to make ready a perfect people to the Lord.