Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
2 Why gnashed with teeth heathen men; and peoples thought vain things? (Why do the heathen gnash with their teeth? and the peoples think up useless plans?)
2 The kings of earth stood together; and princes came together against the Lord, and against his Christ. (The kings of the earth stood together; yea, the rulers came together against the Lord, and against his anointed king.)
3 Break we the bonds of them; and cast we away the yoke of them from us. (And they said, Let us break their bonds, that is, their rule over us; yea, let us throw off their yoke from us.)
4 He that dwelleth in heavens shall scorn them; and the Lord shall bemock them. (But he who liveth in heaven shall scorn them; yea, the Lord shall mock them.)
5 Then he shall speak to them in his wrath; and he shall trouble them in his strong vengeance. (And then he shall speak to them in his anger; and he shall trouble them with his fury.)
6 Soothly I am ordained of him a king upon Zion, his holy hill; (And the Lord saith of me, I have set my king upon Zion; upon my holy hill.)
7 preaching his commandment. The Lord said to me, Thou art my son; I have begotten thee today. (And I said, I shall tell out his decree. Then the Lord said to me, Thou art my son; and today I have become thy father.)
8 Ask thou of me, and I shall give to thee heathen men (for) thine heritage; and (for) thy possession the terms of earth. (Ask thou of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thy inheritance; and the ends of the earth for thy possession.)
9 Thou shalt govern them in an iron rod; and thou shalt break them together as the vessel of a potter. (Thou shalt govern them with an iron rod; and thou shalt break them in pieces, like a clay pot.)
10 And now, ye kings, understand; ye that deem the earth, be ye learned. (And so now, ye kings, understand; ye who judge, or who rule, the earth, learn your lesson!)
11 Serve ye the Lord with dread; and make ye full out joy to him with trembling. (Serve ye the Lord in fear/Serve ye the Lord with reverence; and bow down before him with trembling.)
12 Take ye lore of chastising; lest the Lord be wroth sometime, and ye perish from the just way. When his wrath shall burn out in short time; blessed be all they, that trust in him. (Kiss ye the King, that is, worship and serve him; lest sometime, the Lord be angry. And then, ye perish on the way; when, in a moment of time, his anger flareth up. Happy be all they, who trust in him.)
19 The Lord saith these things, Go thou, and take an earthen(ware) pottle of a potter, [and] (some) of the elder men of the people, and of the elder men of the priests. (The Lord saith these things, Go thou, and take the clay jar of a potter, and some of the elders of the people, and some of the elders of the priests.)
2 And go thou out to the valley of the sons of Hinnom, which is beside the entering of the earthen gate (And go thou out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is before, or in front of, the entrance to the Potsherd Gate); and there thou shalt preach the words which I shall speak to thee;
3 and thou shalt say, Kings of Judah, and the dwellers of Jerusalem, hear ye the word of the Lord. The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in torment on this place, so that each man that heareth it, his ears tingle. (and thou shalt say, Kings of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, hear ye the word of the Lord. The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in torment upon this place, so that each person who heareth about it, their ears shall tingle.)
4 For they have forsaken me, and made alien this place, and offered sacrifices to alien gods therein, which they, and the fathers of them, and the kings of Judah, knew not; and they filled this place with the blood of innocents, (For they have deserted me, and made this place strange, or foreign, to me, and offered sacrifices to strange, or foreign, gods there, which they, and their forefathers, and the kings of Judah, did not know; and they filled this place with the blood of innocents,)
5 and builded high things to Baalim, to burn their sons in fire, into burnt sacrifice to Baalim (and built the high places, or the hill shrines, to Baal, to burn their children in the fire, for burnt sacrifices to Baal); which things I commanded not, neither spake, neither those (things) ascended into mine heart.
6 Therefore the Lord saith, Lo! days shall come, and this place shall no more be called Tophet, and the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaying. (And so the Lord saith, Lo! days shall come, and this place shall no longer be called Tophet, and the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.)
7 And I shall destroy the counsel of Judah and of Jerusalem in this place, and I shall destroy them by sword, in the sight of their enemies, and in the hand of men seeking the lives of them; and I shall give their dead bodies to be meat to the birds of the air, and to [the] beasts of (the) earth. (And I shall destroy the plans of Judah and of Jerusalem in this place, and I shall destroy them by the sword, before their enemies, and by the hands, or the power, of those who seek their lives; and I shall give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth.)
8 And I shall set this city into wondering, and into hissing; each that passeth by it, shall wonder, and hiss on all the vengeance thereof (each person who passeth by it, shall wonder and shall hiss at all the vengeance there).
9 And I shall feed them with the fleshes of their sons, and with the fleshes of their daughters; and each man shall eat the fleshes of his friend in the besieging and anguish, in which the enemies of them, and they that seek the lives of them, shall close them together. (And I shall feed them with the flesh of their sons, and with the flesh of their daughters; and each person shall eat the flesh of his friend in the besieging and in the anguish, in which their enemies, and those who seek their lives, shall altogether enclose them.)
10 And thou shalt all-break the pottle before the eyes of the men, that shall go with thee. (And thou shalt break the jar in pieces, before those who shall go with thee.)
11 And thou shalt say to them, The Lord of hosts saith these things, So I shall all-break this people, and this city, as the vessel of a potter is all-broken, which may no more be restored; and they shall be buried in Tophet, for none other place is to bury. (And thou shalt say to them, The Lord of hosts saith these things, So I shall break this people all in pieces, and this city, like this potter’s vessel is broken all in pieces, which cannot be restored; and they shall be buried in Tophet, for there is no other place left for burying them.)
12 So I shall do to this place, saith the Lord, and to dwellers thereof, that I set this city as Tophet. (So shall I do to this place, saith the Lord, and to its inhabitants, so that I make this city like Tophet.)
13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be as the place of Tophet; all the unclean houses, in whose roofs they sacrificed to all the chivalry of heaven, and offered moist sacrifices to alien gods. (And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be made like Tophet; yea, all the unclean houses, on whose roofs they sacrificed to all the host of heaven, and offered wine offerings to strange, or foreign, gods.)
14 Forsooth Jeremy came from Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him for to prophesy; and he stood in the porch of the house of the Lord, and said to all the people, (And Jeremiah came in from Tophet, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the courtyard of the House of the Lord, and said to all the people,)
15 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in on this city, and on all the cities thereof, all the evils which I spake against it; for they made hard their noll, (so) that they heard not my words (for they stiffened their necks, or were stubborn, and did not listen to, or obey, my words).
6 Thou putting forth these things to brethren, shalt be a good minister of Christ Jesus; nourished with words of faith and of good doctrine, which thou hast gotten [in following].
7 But eschew thou unsuitable fables [Forsooth shun thou uncovenable fables], and old women's fables; haunt thyself to piety.
8 For bodily exercitation is profitable to little thing; but piety is profitable to all things, that hath a promise of life that now is [having promise of life that now is], and that is to come.
9 A true word, and worthy all acceptation [and worthy all acception].
10 And in this thing we travail, and be cursed, for we hope in living God, that is Saviour of all men, most(ly) of faithful men.
11 Command thou this thing, and teach.
12 No man despise thy youth, but be thou ensample of faithful men in word [but be thou example of faithful men in word], in living, in charity, in faith, in chastity.
13 Till I come, take attention to reading, to exhortation and teaching.
14 Do not thou little care (for) the grace which is in thee [Do not thou despise, or little charge, the grace that is in thee], that is given to thee by prophecy, with putting on of the hands of [the] priesthood.
15 Think thou (on) these things, in these be thou, that thy profiting be showed to all men.
16 Take attention to thyself and to doctrine; be busy in them. For thou doing these things, shalt make both thyself safe, and them that hear thee.
2001 by Terence P. Noble