Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

148 Alleluia. Ye of heavens, praise the Lord; praise ye him in high things. (Alleluia. Ye in heaven/Ye in the heavens, praise the Lord; praise ye him in high places.)

² All his angels, praise ye him; all his virtues, praise ye him (all his hosts, praise ye him).

³ Sun and moon, praise ye him; all stars and light, praise ye him (all the stars of light/all the shining stars, praise ye him.).

⁴ Heavens of heavens, praise ye him (Heaven of heavens/The highest heaven, praise ye him); and the waters that be above (the) heavens,

⁵ praise they the name of the Lord. For he said, and things were made; he commanded, and things were made of nought (he commanded, and everything was made out of nothing).

⁶ He ordained those things into the world, and into the world of world; he setted a commandment, and it shall not pass. (He ordained those things forever and ever; he gave a command, and it shall not pass away.)

⁷ Ye of the earth, praise the Lord; dragons, and all depths of waters. (Praise the Lord, from the earth; ye dragons, and all the depths of the waters.)

⁸ Fire, hail, snow, ice, spirits of tempests; that do his word. (Fire, hail, snow, ice, and the winds of the tempests; that all follow his command.)

⁹ Mountains, and all little hills; trees bearing fruit, and all cedars.

¹⁰ Wild beasts, and all tame beasts; serpents, and feathered birds.

¹¹ The kings of earth, and all peoples; the princes, and all judges of earth. (The kings of the earth, and all the peoples; the princes, and the judges, that is, the leaders, over all the earth.)

¹² Young men, and virgins, eld men with [the] younger, (Young men, and virgins, old men, and the young,)

¹³ praise the name of the Lord; for the name of him alone is enhanced. His acknowledging be on heaven and earth; (praise the name of the Lord; for only his name should be exalted. For his glory is above the earth, and above heaven;)

¹⁴ and he hath enhanced the horn of his people. An hymn be to all his saints; to the children of Israel, to a people nighing to him. (and he hath exalted the horn of his people. So let there be a hymn to all his saints; to the children of Israel, to the people who be the closest to him/So let there be praises from all his saints; from the children of Israel, from the people who be the closest to him.)

¹⁵ The Lord saith these things, A voice of wailing, and of weeping, and of mourning, was heard on high (was heard in Ramah); the voice of Rachel beweeping her sons, and not willing to be comforted on them, for they be not.

¹⁶ The Lord saith these things, Thy voice rest of weeping, and thine eyes rest of tears; for why meed is to thy work, saith the Lord; and they shall turn again from the land of the enemy. (The Lord saith these things, Let thy voice rest from weeping, and thine eyes rest from tears; for there shall be a reward for thy work, saith the Lord; and they shall return from the land of the enemy.)

¹⁷ And hope is to thy last things, saith the Lord; and thy sons shall turn again to their ends. (And there is hope in thy last things, saith the Lord, and thy sons and daughters shall return to their own lands.)

¹³ And when they were gone [And when they had gone away], lo! the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in sleep, and said [saying], Rise up, and take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there, till that I say to thee; for it is to come, that Herod seek the child, to destroy him [to lose him].

¹⁴ And Joseph rose [up], and took the child and his mother by night, and went into Egypt,

¹⁵ and he was there till the death of Herod; that it should be fulfilled, that was said of the Lord by the prophet, saying, From Egypt I have called my son.

¹⁶ Then Herod seeing that he was scorned, either deceived, of the astrologers [Then Herod seeing that he was scorned, or deceived, of the kings], was full wroth; and he sent, and slew all the children, that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years age and within, after the time that he had inquired of the astrologers [after the time that he had sought out of the kings].

¹⁷ Then it was fulfilled, that was said by Jeremy, the prophet, saying,

¹⁸ A voice was heard on high, weeping and much wailing, Rachel beweeping her sons, and she would not be comforted, for they be nought [for they be not].