Book of Common Prayer
45 (For the one directing upon Shoshannim, for the Bnei Korach. A Maskil. Shir yedidot, i.e., a love song). My lev is stirred with davar tov; I speak my verses to HaMelech; my leshon (tongue) is the et (pen, stylus) of a sofer mahir (ready scribe, skillful writer).
2 (3) Thou art fairer than Bnei Adam; chen (grace, favor) is poured upon Thy sfatayim (lips); therefore Elohim hath blessed Thee l’olam. [T.N. The coming Messianic King is called Elohim [Ps 45:6(7)] just as this coming personage is called El Gibbor in Isa 9:5; see MJ 1:8; The Targumist renders Psa 45:2(3) as a reference to Moshiach.]
3 (4) Gird Thy cherev upon Thy side, O Gibbor [See Isaiah 9:5(6)], with Thy hod (glory, splendor) and Thy hadar (majesty).
4 (5) And in Thy hadar (majesty) ride forth victoriously for the sake of emes and anavah and tzedek; and Thy Yamin (Right Hand) shall guide Thee to nora’ot (things of awe).
5 (6) Thine khitzim (arrows) are sharp in the lev oyvei HaMelech (in the heart of the King’s enemies); the Amim (nations) fall under Thee.
6 (7) Thy kisse (throne), O Elohim, is olam va’ed; the shevet (sceptre) of Thy Malchut is a shevet of uprightness.
7 (8) Thou lovest tzedek, and hatest resha; therefore Elohim, Eloheicha, hath anointed Thee with shemen sasson (the oil of gladness) above Thy chaverim.
8 (9) All Thy robes smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; out of the ivory heikhalim stringed instruments have made Thee glad.
9 (10) Banot Melachim were among Thy ladies of honor; upon Thy Yamin (Right Hand) is stationed the Shegal (Queen consort, spouse of the reigning monarch) in golden jewelry of Ophir.
10 (11) Pay heed, O Bat (daughter), and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy Bais Avi;
11 (12) Then shall HaMelech be enthralled with thy beauty; since He is thy Adon, hishtachavi lo (bow to Him).
12 (13) And the Bat Tzor (Tyre) shall be there with a minchah (gift); even the ashirim (rich ones) among the people shall entreat thy favor.
13 (14) The Bat Melech is all glorious within; her clothing is zahav embroidered.
14 (15) She shall be brought unto HaMelech in woven apparel; the betulot (virgins), her companions that follow her, shall be brought unto Thee.
15 (16) With simchah and gladness shall they be led forth; they shall enter into the Heikhal Melech.
16 (17) Instead of thy avot shall be thy sons, whom thou mayest make sarim (princes) in kol ha’aretz.
17 (18) I will make Thy Shem to be remembered kol dor vador; therefore shall the Amim (nations) praise Thee l’olam va’ed.
47 (For the one directing. Of the Bnei Korach. A Mizmor.) O clap your hands, all ye nations; shout unto Elohim with the voice of joy.
2 (3) For Hashem Elyon is awesome; He is Melech Gadol over kol ha’aretz.
3 (4) He shall subdue the peoples under us, and the nations under our raglayim.
4 (5) He shall choose nachalateinu for us, the ga’on Ya’akov (pride, glory of Jacob) whom He loves. Selah.
5 (6) Elohim is ascended with a shout of joy, Hashem with the sound of a shofar.
6 (7) Sing praises to Elohim, sing praises; sing praises unto Malkeinu, sing praises.
7 (8) For Melech kol ha’aretz is He; sing ye praises with understanding.
8 (9) Elohim reigneth over the Goyim; Elohim sitteth upon the Kisse Kadsho.
9 (10) The princes of the nations are gathered together, even the Am Elohei Avraham; for the moginei Eretz (shields of the Earth) belong unto Elohim; He is greatly exalted.
48 (Shir. Mizmor. Of the Bnei Korach.) Gadol is Hashem, and greatly to be praised in the Ir Eloheinu, in His Har Kodesh.
2 (3) Yafeh in its loftiness, the joy of kol ha’aretz, is Mt Tziyon, on the sides of the north, the City of Melech Rav.
3 (4) Elohim is in her citadels, known as her fortress.
4 (5) For, hinei, the melachim were assembled, they advanced together.
5 (6) They saw, and ken (thus) they marvelled; they were troubled, and fled.
6 (7) Trembling took hold upon them sham (there), and pain, as of a woman in labor.
7 (8) Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
8 (9) As we have heard, so have we seen in the Ir Hashem Tzvaos, in the Ir Eloheinu; Elohim will establish it ad olam. Selah.
9 (10) We meditate on Thy chesed, O Elohim, in the midst of Thy Heikhal.
10 (11) According to Thy Shem, O Elohim, so is Thy tehillah unto the ends of ha’aretz; Thy right hand is full of tzedek.
11 (12) Let Mt Tziyon rejoice, let the Banot Yehudah (Daughters of Judah) be glad, because of Thy mishpatim.
12 (13) Walk about Tziyon, and go around her; count the towers thereof.
13 (14) Mark ye well her ramparts, consider her citadels; that ye may tell it to the dor acharon.
14 (15) For this Elohim is Eloheinu olam vaed; He will be our guide even unto death. [T.N. Notice v.8(9)-9(10) in Psa 49, which tells why Moshiach can not be a mere man, in which case he could not redeem another, or be Hashem’s Isa 53 redemption lamb or the Isa 53 sa’ir l’azazel kapporah.]
8 And Hashem said unto Yehoshua, Fear not, neither be thou discouraged; take kol Am HaMilchamah with thee, and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into thy yad the melech HaAi, and his people, and his city, and his land;
2 And thou shalt do to Ai and her melech just as thou didst unto Yericho and her melech; only the plunder thereof, and the livestock thereof, shall ye carry off for yourselves. Behind it set thee an ambush for the Ir (city [of Ai]).
3 So Yehoshua arose, and kol Am HaMilchamah, to go up against Ai; and Yehoshua chose out shloshim elef ish gibborei hachayil, and sent them out by lailah.
4 And he commanded them, saying, See, ye shall set an ambush against the Ir, even behind the Ir; go not very far from the Ir, but be ye all nekhonim (ready, on alert, set, prepared);
5 And I, and Kol HaAm that are with me, will approach unto the Ir; and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the rishonah, that we will flee before them,
6 (For they will come out after us) until we have drawn them from the Ir; for they will say, They flee before us, just as at the rishonah; therefore we will flee before them.
7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the Ir; for Hashem Eloheichem will deliver it into your yad.
8 And it shall be, when ye have taken the Ir, that ye shall set eish to the Ir; according to the Davar Hashem shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.
9 Yehoshua therefore sent them forth; and they went to the place of ambush, and waited between Beit-El and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Yehoshua spent that lailah among HaAm.
10 And Yehoshua rose up early in the boker, and mustered HaAm, and went up, he and the Ziknei Yisroel, before HaAm to Ai.
11 And Kol HaAm HaMilchamah that were with him, went up, and drew near, and came before the Ir, and encamped on the north side of Ai; now there was the gey (valley) between them and Ai.
12 And he took about chameshet alafim ish, and set them to lie in ambush between Beit-El and Ai, on the west side of the Ir.
13 And when they had set HaAm, even Kol HaMachaneh that was on the north of the Ir, and the ambush to the west of the Ir, Yehoshua went that lailah into the midst of the emek (valley).
14 And it came to pass, when the melech of Ai saw it, that they hastened and rose up early, and the anshei HaIr went out against Yisroel in the milchamah, he and all his people, at the place, before the Aravah; but he had no da’as that there was an ambush against him set up behind the Ir.
15 And Yehoshua and kol Yisroel let themselves be driven before them, and fled by the derech hamidbar.
16 And kol HaAm that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Yehoshua, and were lured from the Ir.
17 And there was not an ish left in Ai or Beit-El, that went not out after Yisroel; and they left the Ir open, and pursued after Yisroel.
18 And Hashem said unto Yehoshua, Stretch out the kidon (javelin) that is in thy yad toward Ai; for I will give it into thine yad. And Yehoshua stretched out the kidon that he had in his yad toward the Ir.
19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their makom, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his yad; and they entered into the Ir, and took it, and hastened and set eish to the Ir.
20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, hinei, the ashan HaIr (smoke of the city) ascended up to Shomayim, and they had no way to flee here or there; and HaAm that fled to the midbar turned back upon the pursuers.
21 And when Yehoshua and kol Yisroel saw that the ambush had taken the Ir, and that the ashan HaIr ascended, then they turned again, and attacked the anshei HaAi.
22 Then these came out of the Ir against them; so they were in the midst of Yisroel, some on this side, and some on that side; and they struck them down, until they left none of them sarid (remnant, survivor) or palit (refugee, fugitive).
14 But welcome the one who is weak in emunah (faith). But not for the purpose of setting him straight in arguments.
2 For example, one person has emunah (faith) to eat every potential food; but the weak practice vegetarianism.
3 Let the one who eats not hold in contempt or despise the one who does not eat, and let not the one who does not eat pass judgment on the one who eats, for Hashem treats him as an oreach ratzuy (welcome guest).
4 Who are you to condemn the eved (house slave) of someone else? In relation to Ribbono (shel Olam) he stands or falls. And he shall stand, for Ribbono (shel Olam) is able to make him stand.
5 One person judges one day to be more important than another; another person judges every day to be alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 The one who holds an opinion on the day does so to Hashem. And the one who eats does so to Hashem, for he does the bentshen (custom of saying grace after meals) of the Birkat Hamazon to Hashem. And the one who does not eat does so to Hashem and gives the hodayah (thanksgiving) to Hashem.
7 For no one of us lives for himself and no one dies for himself.
8 For if we live, we live for Hashem; and if we die, we die for Hashem. So whether we live or we die, we belong to Hashem.
9 For it was for this tachlis (purpose) that Moshiach had his histalkus and came to live again, in order that he might have charge as Moshiach Adoneinu over both the Mesim (dead ones) and the Chayyim (living ones).
10 So you, why do you judge your Ach b’Moshiach? Or you, why do you despise your Ach b’Moshiach? For we shall all stand in the Bet Din (Court of Law) of Hashem (see 2C 5:10) before his Kisse Din (judgment seat), his Kisse Mishpat,
11 For it is written, "As I live, says Hashem, before Me KOL BERECH (every knee) will bow and KOL LASHON (every tongue) shall give praise to Hashem" [Isa 49:18].
12 So then each of us will give account of himself to Hashem.
47 And while he was still speaking hinei! Yehudah, one of the Shneym Asar, came and with him came a great multitude with swords and clubs from the Rashei Hakohanim (Chief Priests) and the Ziknei HaAm (the Elders of the People).
48 Now the betrayer had given them a signal, saying, Whomever I may give the neshikah (kiss), he is the one. Chap (grab) him!
49 And immediately, he approached Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, and said, Shalom, Rebbe. And he gave him the neshikah.
50 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to him, Chaver, do what you came for. Then, having approached, they laid hands on Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach and arrested him.
51 And hinei! One of the ones with him stretched out his hand, drew his cherev, and struck the servant of the Kohen Gadol, cutting off his ear.
52 Then Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to him, Return your cherev into its place; for all who take the sword will die by the sword.
53 Or do you think that I am not able to call upon Avi, and He will provide me now more than Shneym Asar legions of malachim?
54 But how then may the Kitvei Hakodesh be fulfilled that say it must happen thus?
55 At that moment, he said to the crowd, Do you have the chutzpah (nerve) to come out, as against a revolutionary, with swords and clubs to arrest me? Daily in the Beis Hamikdash I was sitting saying my shiurim and you did not arrest me.
56 But this all happened that the Kitvei Hakodesh of the Neviim might be fulfilled. Then the talmidim deserted Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach and fled.
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