Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

21 To victory, the psalm of David. Lord, the king shall be glad in thy virtue; and he shall full out have joy greatly on thine health. (To victory, the song of David. Lord, the king shall be glad for thy strength, or thy might; and he shall have great joy in thy victory.)

² Thou hast given to him the desire of his heart; and thou hast not defrauded him of the will of his lips. (Thou hast given him his heart’s desire; and thou hast not denied him what he asked for with his lips.)

³ For thou hast before come him in the blessings of sweetness; thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stone. (For thou hast come before him with the blessings of goodness; thou hast set upon his head a crown of pure gold.)

⁴ He asked of thee life, and thou gavest it to him; the length of days into the world, and into the world of world. (He asked for life from thee, and thou gavest it to him; yea, length of days forever and ever.)

⁵ His glory is great in thine health; thou shalt put glory, and great fairness, on him. (His glory is great because of thy help/Thy salvation hath brought him great glory; thou shalt put honour, and majesty, upon him.)

⁶ For thou shalt give him into blessing into the world of world; thou shalt make him glad in joy with thy cheer. (For thou shalt make him blessed forever and ever; thou shalt make him glad with joy before thee.)

⁷ For the king hopeth in the Lord; and in the mercy of the highest he shall not be moved. (For the king trusteth in the Lord; and by the love of the Most High, he shall not be moved, or shaken.)

⁸ Thine hand be found to all thine enemies; thy right hand find all them that hate thee. (Thy hand shall find all thy enemies; thy right hand shall find all those who hate thee.)

⁹ Thou shalt put them as a furnace of fire in the time of thy cheer; the Lord shall trouble them in his ire, and fire shall devour them. (Thou shalt put them into a fiery furnace at the time of thy coming; the Lord in his anger shall trouble them, and then fire shall devour them.)

¹⁰ Thou shalt lose the fruit of them from the earth; and the seed of them from the sons of men. (Thou shalt destroy their descendants from off the earth; yea, their children from among the sons and daughters of men.)

¹¹ For they bowed evil against thee; they thought counsels, which they might not stablish. (For they brought in evil against thee; yea, they thought out evil plans, but they could not execute them.)

¹² For thou shalt put them aback; in thy remnants thou shalt make ready the cheer of them. (For thou shalt make them turn, and run away, when thou shalt aim thy arrows at them.)

¹³ Lord, be thou enhanced in thy virtue; we shall sing, and say openly thy virtues. (Lord, be thou exalted in thy strength; we shall sing, and shall talk openly, about thy power.)

15 And so when these things were done, the word of the Lord was made to Abram by a vision, and said, Abram, do not thou dread, I am thy defender, and thy meed is full great (Abram, do not thou fear, for I am thy defender, and thy reward shall be very great).

² And Abram said, Lord God, what shalt thou give to me? I shall go without free children, and this Damascus, son of Eliezer, the procurator of mine house, shall be mine heir. (And Abram said, Lord God, what shalt thou give me? for I have no children, and this Eliezer of Damascus, the procurator of my household, shall be my heir.)

³ And Abram added, Soothly thou hast not given seed to me, and, lo! my born servant shall be mine heir. (And Abram said again, Yea, thou hast not given me any children, or any descendants, and so this slave, born in my house, must be my heir.)

⁴ And anon the word of the Lord was made to him, and said, This shall not be thine heir, but thou shalt have him heir, that shall go out of thy womb. (And at once the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Nay, he shall not be thy heir, but thou shalt have an heir who shall come from thy womb.)

⁵ And the Lord led out Abram, and said to him, Behold thou (the) heaven(s), and number the stars, if thou mayest. And the Lord said to Abram, So thy seed shall be. (And the Lord led Abram outside, and said to him, Look thou up at the night sky, and count the stars, if thou mayest. And then the Lord said to Abram, So shall be thy descendants.)

⁶ Abram believed to God, and it was reckoned to him to rightwiseness. (And Abram believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.)

⁷ And God said to him, I am the Lord, that led thee out of Ur of Chaldees, (so) that I should give this land to thee, and (that) thou shouldest have it in possession.

⁸ And Abram said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall wield it?

⁹ And the Lord answered, and said, Take thou to me a cow of three years, and a goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtle, and a culver. (And the Lord answered, Bring thou to me a cow of three years, and a goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtledove, and a pigeon.)

¹⁰ Which took all these things, and parted those by the midst (And he brought him all these things, and divided them in half), and setted ever either part each against (the) other; but he parted not the birds.

¹¹ And fowls came down on the carrions, and Abram drove them away. (And when birds came down onto the carcasses, Abram drove them away.)

¹² And when the sun was gone down, dread felled on Abram, and a great hideousness and dark assailed him. (And as the sun went down, fear fell upon Abram, and a great dark hideousness assailed him.)

¹³ And it was said to him, Know thou (a) before-knowing, that thy seed shall be [a] pilgrim four hundred years in a land not his own, and they shall make them subject to servage, and they shall torment them; (And the Lord said to him, Know thou a fore-knowing, that thy descendants shall be foreigners in a land not their own, and they shall make them subject to servitude, or to slavery, and they shall torment them for four hundred years;)

¹⁴ nevertheless I shall deem the folk to whom they shall serve; and after these things they shall go out with great chattel. (nevertheless I shall judge the nation for whom they shall be slaves; and after these things they shall go out with many possessions.)

¹⁵ Forsooth thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried in (a) good [eld] age.

¹⁶ Soothly in the fourth generation they shall turn again hither, for the wickedness of [the] Amorites be not yet [full-]filled, till to (this) present time (until now).

¹⁷ Therefore when the sun was gone down, a dark mist was made, and a furnace smoking appeared, and a lamp of fire, and (it) passed through those partings. (And when the sun had gone down, a dark mist came, and a smoking furnace appeared, and a lamp of fire which passed between the pieces of the animals.)

¹⁸ In that day the Lord made a covenant of peace with Abram, and said, I shall give to thy seed this land, from the river of Egypt till to the great river Euphrates; (And on that day, the Lord made a covenant of peace with Abram, and said, I shall give this land to thy descendants, from the River of Egypt, that is, the Nile, or the Shihor River, unto the great Euphrates River;)

³³ Either make ye the tree good, and his fruit good; either make ye the tree evil and his fruit evil [or make ye the tree evil, and his fruit evil]; for a tree is known of his fruit.

³⁴ Ye generation of adders, how be ye able to speak good things, when ye be evil? For the mouth speaketh of the plenty of the heart. [Ye generation of adders, how may ye speak good things, when ye be evil? Soothly the mouth speaketh of the great abundance of the heart.]

³⁵ A good man bringeth forth good things of good treasure, and an evil man bringeth forth evil things of evil treasure.

³⁶ And I say to you, that of every idle word, that men speak, they shall yield reason thereof in the day of doom;

³⁷ for of thy words thou shalt be justified, and of thy words thou shalt be condemned.