Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

14 To the victory, [the psalm] of David. The unwise man said in his heart, God is not. They be corrupt, and they be made abominable in their studies; none there is that doeth good, none is till to one. (To victory, the song of David. The fool said in his heart, There is no God. Such men be corrupt, and they be made abominable in their deeds; there is no one who doeth good, no not one.)^[a]

² The Lord beheld from heaven on the sons of men; that he see, if any is understanding, either seeking God. (The Lord looked down from heaven on the sons and daughters of men; to see if there is anyone who hath understanding, or is seeking God.)

³ All bowed away, (al)together they be made unprofitable; none is that doeth good, none is till to one (But they all have turned away, they all be made utterly unredeemable; there is no one who doeth good, no not one). The throat of them is an open sepulchre, they did guilefully with their tongues; the venom of snakes is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet be swift to shed out blood. Sorrow and cursedness is in the ways of them, and they knew not the way of peace; the dread of God is not before their eyes.

⁴ Whether all men that work wickedness shall not know; that devour my people, as (the) meat of bread? They called not the Lord; (Surely all those, who do evil, already know this; yea, they who devour my people, like men eat bread. They do not call on the Lord;)

⁵ they trembled there for dread, where was no dread; for the Lord is in a rightful generation. (but they trembled there in fear, like never before. For the Lord is with the upright generation.)

⁶ Thou hast shamed the counsel of a poor man; for the Lord is his hope. (Ye evil-doers, ye have frustrated the plans of the poor; but the Lord is their hope.)

⁷ Who shall give from Zion health to Israel? When the Lord hath turned away the captivity of his people; Jacob shall fully be joyful/Jacob shall (make) full out joy, and Israel shall be glad. (Who shall give victory/Who shall give salvation, or deliverance, to Israel out of Zion? When the Lord hath returned the prosperity of his people, then Jacob shall rejoice; yea, Israel shall be glad.)

4 Israel, if thou turnest again, saith the Lord, turn thou (again) to me; if thou takest away thine offendings from my face, thou shalt not be moved. (Israel, if thou shalt return to me, saith the Lord, then return thou to me; if thou takest away thy offences from before my face, then thou shalt not be shaken out.)

² And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, and in doom, and in rightfulness; and all folks shall bless him, and shall praise him. (And if thou shalt swear, As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgement, and in righteousness/in truth, and in justice, and in uprightness; then all the nations shall ask me to bless them like you, and they shall praise me.)

³ For the Lord God saith these things to a man of Judah, and to a dweller of Jerusalem (and to an inhabitant of Jerusalem), Make ye new to you a land tilled of new, either a fallow (land), and do not ye sow on thorns.

⁴ Men of Judah, and dwellers of Jerusalem, be ye circumcised to the Lord, and do ye away the prepuces, either filths, of your hearts; lest peradventure mine indignation go out as fire, and be kindled, and none there be that quench, for the malice of your thoughts. (People of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, be ye circumcised to the service of the Lord, and do ye away the prepuces, or the filths, of your hearts; lest perhaps my indignation go out like fire, and be kindled, and there be no one who can quench it, for the malice of your thoughts.)

⁵ Tell ye in Judah, and make ye heard in Jerusalem; speak ye, and sing ye with a trump in the land; cry ye strongly, and say ye, Be ye gathered together, and enter we into [the] strong cities.

⁶ Raise ye a sign in Zion, comfort ye, and do not ye stand (Raise ye up a sign in Zion, escape ye, and do not ye just stand there); for I [shall] bring evil from the north, and a great sorrow.

⁷ A lion shall go up from his den, and the robber of folks shall raise himself. He is gone out of his place, to set thy land into wilderness; thy cities shall be destroyed, abiding still without (a) dweller. (A lion shall go up from his den, yea, the robber of the nations shall raise himself up. He is gone out of his place, to make thy land into a wilderness; thy cities shall be destroyed, and their remains, or their ruins, shall be without any inhabitants.)

⁸ On this thing gird you(rselves) with hair-shirts; wail ye, and yell, for the wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord is not turned away from you.

⁹ And it shall be, in that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of princes; and the priests shall wonder, and the prophets shall be astonied. (And it shall be, on that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king, and the hearts of the princes, or of the leaders, shall perish, or shall fail them; and the priests shall wonder, and the prophets shall be astonished.)

¹⁰ And I said, Alas! alas! alas! Lord God; therefore whether thou hast deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace shall be to you, and lo! a sword is come unto the soul? (and lo! a sword is come unto our souls?)

2 But also false prophets were in the people, as in you shall be masters liars, that shall bring in sects of perdition; and they deny that Lord that bought them, and bring on themselves hasty perdition.^[a]

² And many shall follow their lecheries, by whom the way of truth shall be blasphemed;

³ and they shall make merchandise of you in covetousness by feigned words. To whom doom now a while ago ceaseth not [To whom doom now sometime ceaseth not], and the perdition of them nappeth not.

⁴ For if God spared not angels sinning, but betook them to be tormented, and to be drawn down with bonds of hell into hell [but betook them to be tormented, drawn down with bonds of hell into hell], to be kept into doom;

⁵ and spared not the first world, but kept Noah, the eighth man, the before-goer of rightwiseness, and brought in the great flood to the world of unfaithful men [bringing in the deluge, or great flood, to the world of unpious men];

⁶ and he drove into powder [and driving into powder] the cities of men of Sodom and of men of Gomorrha, and condemned by turning upside-down, and put them the ensample of them that were to doing evil [putting example of them that were to doing evil, or unpiously];

⁷ and delivered the just Lot, oppressed of the wrong, and of the lecherous conversation of cursed men;

⁸ for in sight and hearing he was just, and dwelled amongst them [dwelling with them] that from day into day tormented with wicked works a just soul.

⁹ For the Lord knoweth how to deliver pious men from temptation, and keep wicked men into the day of doom to be tormented; [The Lord knew to deliver pious men of temptation, soothly to keep wicked men into the day of doom to be tormented;]

¹⁰ but more them that walk after the flesh, in coveting of uncleanness, and despise lordshipping, and be bold, pleasing themselves, and dread not to bring in sects, blaspheming;