Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

48 The song of psalm, of the sons of Korah. The Lord is great, and worthy to be praised full much; in the city of our God, in the holy hill of him. (The song of the psalm, for the sons of Korah. The Lord is great, and worthy to be greatly praised; in the city of our God, on his holy hill.)

² It is founded in the full out joying of all earth; the hill of Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great king. (Well-placed, it is the full out joy, or the rejoicing, of all the earth; Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.)

³ God shall be known in the houses thereof; when he shall take it. (And God is known as a refuge, or a stronghold, in its palaces.)

⁴ For lo! the kings of (the) earth were gathered together (against it); they came into one place.

⁵ They seeing, so wondered; they were troubled, they were moved (al)together, (But when they saw it, they wondered about it/they were full of wonder, or amazement; and they were troubled, and ran away,)

⁶ trembling took them. There sorrows, as of a woman travailing of child; (for panic, or trembling, took hold of them there. And sorrows, like when a woman laboureth with child;)

⁷ in a great spirit thou shalt all-break the ships of Tarshish. (or when a great east wind all-breaketh the ships from Tarshish.)

⁸ As we heard, so we saw, in the city of the Lord of virtues, in the city of our God; God hath founded that city [into] without end. (All that we had heard about, we saw with our own eyes, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God; and God hath established that city forever.)

⁹ God, we have received thy mercy; in the midst of thy temple. (God, we think about thy love; in the midst of thy Temple.)

¹⁰ After thy name, God, so thy praising is spread abroad into the ends of earth; thy right hand is full of rightwiseness. (The praising of thy name, O God, is spread abroad unto the ends of the earth; thy right hand is full of righteousness.)

¹¹ The hill of Zion be glad, and the daughters of Judah be fully joyful; for thy dooms, Lord. (Let Mount Zion be glad, or rejoice, and let the daughters of Judah make full out joy; because of thy judgements, Lord.)

¹² Compass ye Zion, and embrace ye it; tell ye in the towers thereof. (March ye around Zion, ye people; and count ye up its towers.)

¹³ Set ye your hearts in the virtue of him; and part ye the houses of him, that ye tell out in another generation. (Put ye its strongholds, or its fortresses, in your hearts; and think ye about its palaces, so that ye can tell about it to the next generation.)

¹⁴ For this is God, our God, into without end, and into the world of world; he shall govern us into worlds. (For this God is our God, forever and ever; yea, he shall govern us forever.)

24 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord that he should bless Israel, he went not as he had gone before, that he should seek false divining by chittering of birds, but he (ad)dressed his face against the desert, (And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord when he blessed Israel, he went not as he had gone before, to seek out false divining by the twittering of birds, but he directed his face towards the wilderness,)

² and he raised up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling in tents by his lineages (and he raised up his eyes, and he saw the Israelites living in their tents, tribe by tribe). And when the Spirit of God fell upon him,

³ and when the parable was taken (and when he had received his prophecy), he said, Balaam, the son of Beor, said, (yea,) a man, whose eye is stopped, said,

⁴ the hearer of God’s words said, which beheld the revelation of Almighty God, which falleth down, and his eyes be opened so, (yea, the hearer of God’s words said, who beheld the revelation of Almighty God, and who falleth down, but his eyes still be open,)

⁵ How fair be thy tabernacles, Jacob, and thy tents, Israel!

⁶ as valleys full of trees, and moist gardens beside floods, as tabernacles which the Lord hath set (up), as cedar trees beside waters; (like valleys full of trees, and watered gardens beside the river, like aloes planted by the Lord, and cedar trees beside the water;)

⁷ water shall flow (out) of his bucket, and his seed shall be into many waters, that is, peoples. The king of him shall be taken away for Agag, and the realm of him shall be done away. (water shall flow out of his bucket, and his descendants shall be like many waters, that is, they shall become many people. His king shall be greater than Agag, and his kingdom shall prevail.)

⁸ God led him out of Egypt, whose strength is like an unicorn; the sons of Israel shall waste, or devour, (the) heathen men, their enemies; and they shall break the bones of them, and pierce (them through) with (their) arrows.

⁹ He rested, and slept as a lion, and as a lioness, whom no man shall dare raise. He that blesseth thee, shall be blessed; and he that curseth, shall be areckoned into cursing. (He rested, and slept like a lion, and like a lioness, whom no man shall dare raise up. He who blesseth thee, shall be blessed; and he who curseth thee, shall be cursed.)

¹⁰ And Balak was wroth against Balaam, and he said, when his hands were wrung together, I called thee to curse mine enemies, whom, on the contrary, thou hast blessed thrice (but who, instead, thou hast now blessed three times!).

¹¹ Turn again to thy place; forsooth I deemed to honour thee greatly, but the Lord deprived thee from [thine] honour (that was) disposed. (Return to thy place; I had intended to greatly reward thee, but the Lord hath now deprived thee of the reward which I had ordained for thee.)

¹² Balaam answered to Balak, Whether I said not to thy messengers, which thou sentest to me, (Balaam answered to Balak, Did I not say to thy messengers, whom thou sentest to me,)

¹³ Though Balak shall give to me his house full of silver and of gold, I shall not be able to pass [over] the word of my Lord God, that I bring forth of mine heart anything, either of good or of evil, but whatever thing the Lord shall say, I shall speak that? (Even if Balak shall give me all the gold and silver in his house, I shall not change the word of the Lord my God, so that I bring forth something out of my own heart, either good or bad, nay, but whatever thing the Lord shall say, that I shall speak?)

¹⁴ Nevertheless I shall go to my people, and I shall give counsel to thee, what thy people shall do in the last time to this people. (Nevertheless, I shall now return to my people, but first I shall give thee counsel, what these people shall do to thy people in the days to come.)

²⁶ But in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, whose name was Nazareth [to which the name Nazareth],

²⁷ to a maiden [to a virgin], wedded to a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the maiden was Mary.

²⁸ And the angel entered to her, and said, Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed be thou among women.

²⁹ And when she had heard, she was troubled in his word, and thought what manner salutation this was.

³⁰ And the angel said to her, Dread thou not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

³¹ Lo! thou shalt conceive in [the] womb, and shalt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

³² This shall be great [He shall be great], and he shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give to him the seat of David, his father,

³³ and he shall reign in the house of Jacob without end [and he shall reign in the house of Jacob into without end], and of his realm shall be none end.

³⁴ And Mary said to the angel, On what manner shall this thing be done, for I know not man?

³⁵ And the angel answered, and said to her, The Holy Ghost shall come from above into thee, and the virtue of the Highest shall overshadow thee; and therefore that holy thing that shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.

³⁶ And lo! Elisabeth, thy cousin, and she also hath conceived a son in her old (age), and this month is the sixth to her that is called barren;

³⁷ for every word shall not be impossible with God.

³⁸ And Mary said, Lo! the handmaid of the Lord^[a]; be it done to me after thy word. And the angel departed from her.