Wycliffe's Bible 1Lord, why hast thou gone far away? thou despisest us in covenable times in tribulation. (Lord, why hast thou gone so far away? despisest thou us in our time of trouble?) 2While the wicked man waxeth proud, the poor man is burnt; they be taken in the wicked counsels, which they thinked. (While the wicked grow proud, the poor be persecuted; let the wicked be caught in the wicked plans, which they themselves have thought out.) 3For why the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul; and the wicked is blessed. The sinner hath stirred the Lord to wrath; (For the sinner glorieth in the desires of his own soul; and he blesseth the wicked, who have stirred the Lord to anger.) 4after the multitude of his wrath, he shall not seek (after God). God is not in his sight; (And because of the multitude of his pride, he shall not seek after God. Indeed God is not in any of his thoughts;) 5his ways be defouled in all time. Thy dooms be taken away from his face; he shall be lord of all his enemies. (his ways be defiled forever. And though thy judgements be far away from him, that is, beyond his grasp; he shall still be lord, or he shall still rule, over all his enemies.) 6For he said in his heart, I shall not be moved, from generation into generation without evil. (For he said in his heart, I shall never be shaken; yea, for all generations, I shall never have any trouble.) 7Whose mouth is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of guile; travail and sorrow is under his tongue. (His mouth is full of curses, and of bitterness, and of deceit, or lies; trouble and sorrow be upon his tongue.) 8He sitteth in ambushes with rich men in privates; to slay the innocent man. His eyes behold cruelly on the poor man; (He sitteth in ambush in villages; to secretly kill the innocent. His eyes look cruelly upon the poor;) 9he setteth ambushes in hid place, as a lion in his den. He setteth ambushes, for to ravish a poor man; for to ravish a poor man, while he draweth (in) the poor man. In his snare he shall make meek the poor man; (he setteth ambush from a hidden place, like a lion in his den. He setteth ambush to catch a poor man; yea, to catch a poor man, when he draweth him into his trap. And with his snare, he shall bring down that poor man;) 10he shall bow himself down, and he shall fall, when he hath been lord of poor men. (yea, that good man shall fall down, and so the poor shall be brought down by his brute strength.) 11For he said in his heart, God hath forgotten; he hath turned away his face, that he see not into the end. (For he said in his heart, God hath forgotten them; he hath turned away his face, and he shall never see this.) 12Lord God, rise thou up, and thine hand be enhanced; forget thou not poor men. (Lord God, rise thou up, and let thy hand be lifted up; do not thou forget the poor.) 13For what thing stirred the wicked man God to wrath? for he said in his heart, God shall not seek. (And why hath the wicked person made God angry? for he said in his heart, God shall not see this/God shall not care about this.) 14Thou seest, for thou beholdest travail and sorrow; that thou take them into thine hands. The poor man is left to thee; thou shalt be an helper to the fatherless and motherless. (But thou do see it, for thou beholdest all trouble, or all tribulation, and sorrow; and thou hast taken the matter into thy own hands. And the poor commit themselves to thee; and thou art a helper to the fatherless and the motherless.) 15All-break thou the arm of the sinner, and evil-willed; his sin shall be sought, and it shall not be found. (Break thou the arm, or the power, of the sinner, and those who be evil-willed; let their sins be sought out until no more be found.) 16The Lord shall reign [into] without end, and into the world of world; folks, ye shall perish from the land of him. (The Lord shall reign forever and ever; and all the nations have vanished from his land/and all the peoples shall vanish from his land.) 17The Lord hath heard the desire of poor men; thine ear hath heard the making ready of their heart. (The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor; yea, thy ears have heard the desires of their hearts.) 18To deem for the motherless and meek; that a man presume no more to make himself great on earth. (And thou shalt judge in favour of the motherless, and the fatherless, and the humble; so that no longer shall anyone presume to make themselves great upon the earth.) WYCLIFFE’S BIBLE Comprising of Wycliffe’s Old Testament and Wycliffe’s New Testament (Revised Edition) Translated by JOHN WYCLIFFE and JOHN PURVEY A modern-spelling edition of their 14TH century Middle English translation, the first complete English vernacular version, with an Introduction by TERENCE P. NOBLE Used by Permission Bible Hub |