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.)
2 Therefore after these things David counselled with the Lord, and said, Whether I shall go up into one of the cities of Judah? (And after these things David counselled with the Lord, and said, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?) And the Lord said to him, Go thou up. And David said to the Lord, Whither shall I go up? And the Lord answered to him, Into Hebron.
2 Therefore David went up, and his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
3 But also David led the men that were with him, each man with his house(hold) (each man with his family); and they dwelled in the towns of Hebron.
4 And the men of Judah came, and anointed there David, that he should reign upon the house of Judah (And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David to reign upon the house of Judah). And it was told to David, that [the] men of Jabesh of Gilead had buried Saul.
5 Therefore David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh of Gilead, and said to them, Blessed be ye of the Lord, that did this mercy with your lord Saul, and buried him. (And so David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh of Gilead, and said to them, May the Lord bless you, who have shown this kindness to your lord Saul, and have buried him.)
6 And now soothly the Lord shall yield to you mercy and truth, but also I shall yield thanking, for ye did this word. (And now surely the Lord shall show truth and kindness to you, and I shall also give you thanks, for ye did this thing.)
7 Your hands be comforted, and be ye the sons of strength; for though your lord Saul is dead, nevertheless the house of Judah hath anointed me king to him. (May your hands be strengthened, and may ye be the sons of strength; for though your lord Saul is dead, nevertheless the house of Judah hath anointed me king upon them.)
8 Forsooth Abner, the son of Ner, prince of the host of Saul, took Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and led him about by the castles, (Then Abner, the son of Ner, the leader of Saul’s army, took Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim,)
9 and made him king on Gilead, and on Ashurites, and on Jezreel, and on Ephraim, and on Benjamin, and on all Israel.
10 Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, was of forty years, when he began to reign upon Israel; and he reigned two years. Soothly the house alone of Judah followed David. (Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, was forty years old when he began to reign upon Israel; and he reigned for two years. Only the house of Judah followed David.)
11 And the number of days, by which David dwelled reigning in Hebron on the house of Judah, was of seven years and six months.
8 Now ye be filled [Now ye be full-filled], now ye be made rich; ye reign without us; and I would that ye reign, that also we reign with you.
9 And I guess, that God showed us the last apostles, as those that be sent to the death [Soothly I ween, that God showed us the last apostles, as made ready to death]; for we be made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.
10 We fools for Christ, but ye prudent in Christ; we frail [we sick], but ye strong; ye noble, but we unnoble.
11 Till into this hour we hunger, and thirst, and be naked, and be smitten with buffets, and we be unstable [and we be unstable, moving from place to place],
12 and we travail working with our hands; we be cursed, and we bless; we suffer persecution, and we abide long [and we sustain, or abide long];
13 we be blasphemed, and we beseech; as cleansings of this world we be made the out-casting [we be made the parings, or out-castings,] of all things till yet.
2001 by Terence P. Noble