Book of Common Prayer
50 (Mizmor of Asaph) El Elohim, even Hashem, hath spoken, and called Eretz from the mizrach shemesh (rising of sun) unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Tziyon, the perfection of yofi, Elohim shineth forth.
3 Eloheinu shall come, and shall not keep silent; an eish shall devour before Him, and it shall be tempestuous me’od round about Him.
4 He shall summon Shomayim from above, and ha’aretz, that He may judge His people.
5 Gather My chasidim together unto Me; those that have cut a Brit (covenant) with Me by zevach (blood sacrifice, T.N. cf Gn 4:5 on the true Jewish religion).
6 And Shomayim shall declare His tzedek; for Elohim Shofet hu. Selah.
7 Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Yisroel, and I will testify against thee; I am Elohim, even Eloheicha.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy zevakhim. And thy olot are before Me tamid.
9 I will accept no par (bull) from thy bais, nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10 For every beast of the ya’ar (forest) is Mine, and the behemot upon a thousand hills.
11 I know kol oph (every bird) of the harim; and the animals of the wild are Mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the tevel is Mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the basar of bulls, or drink the dahm of goats?
14 Sacrifice unto Elohim todah; and pay thy nedarim (vows, pledges) unto Elyon;
15 And call upon Me in the Yom Tzarah; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.
16 But unto the rasha, Elohim saith, What right hast thou to declare My chukkot, or that thou shouldest take My Brit in thy mouth?
17 Seeing thou hatest musar (correction), and casteth My devarim behind thee.
18 When thou sawest a ganav (thief), then thou consentedst with him, and hast taken thy chelek (lot) with mena’afim (adulterers).
19 Thou lettest loose thy mouth to ra’ah, and thy leshon frameth mirmah (deceit).
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own ben immecha.
21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silent; thou thoughtest that I was altogether like thee; but I will reprove thee, and set the charge before thine eyes.
22 Now consider this, ye that forget Elo’ah (G-d), lest I tear you to pieces, and there be none to rescue.
23 Whoso offereth todah glorifieth Me; and to him that ordereth his derech aright will I show the Salvation of Elohim.
59 (For the one directing. Set to Do Not Destroy. Mikhtam Dovid. When Sha’ul sent and they watched [Dovid’s] bais to kill him) Save me from mine enemies, O Elohai; protect me from them that rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from the po’alei aven (workers of iniquity), and save me from anshei damim (bloody men).
3 For, hinei, they lie in wait for my nefesh; the fierce stir up strife against me; not for my peysha, nor for my chattat, Hashem.
4 They run and prepare themselves without my avon (wrong, fault); awake to help me, and see.
5 Thou therefore, Hashem Elohim Tzva’os, Elohei Yisroel, rouse Thyself to visit [in punishment] kol HaGoyim; be not merciful to any bogedei aven (wicked boged [traitor]). Selah.
6 They return at erev; they growl like a kelev (dog), and prowl around the Ir.
7 Hinei, they belch out with their mouth; charavot (swords) are in their sfatot (lips); for who, say they, doth hear?
8 But Thou, Hashem, shalt laugh at them; Thou shalt have all the Goyim in derision.
9 O my Strength, I will be shomer to watch for Thee; for Elohim is my stronghold.
10 The G-d of my chesed shall come to meet me; Elohim shall let me see [the end] of my shorer (watchers, [i.e., slandering foes insidiously fixated on me and lying in wait]).
11 Slay them not, lest my people forget; scatter them by Thy power; and bring them down, Adonoi mogineinu (our Shield).
12 For the chattat of their mouth and the davar of their sfatayim let them even be caught in their ga’on (pride); and for the cursing and lying which they speak.
13 Consume them in chemah (wrath), consume them, till they are no more; and let them know that Elohim ruleth in Ya’akov unto the ends of ha’aretz. Selah.
14 And at erev let them return; and let them growl like a kelev, and prowl around the Ir.
15 Let them wander up and down for okhel (food), and howl if they be not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of Thy oz; yes, I will sing aloud of Thy chesed in the boker; for Thou hast been my stronghold and refuge in the day of my tzoros.
17 Unto Thee, O my Strength, will I sing; for Elohim is my strongold, and the Elohim of my chesed.
60 (For the one directing. Set to The Shushan of the Edut. Mikhtam Dovid to instruct. When he fought Aram Naharayim and Aram Tzovah and when Yo’av returned and struck down 12,000 of Edom in the Gey Melach.) O Elohim, Thou hath rejected us, scattered us; Thou hast been angry; O restore us!
2 (4) Thou hast made eretz to tremble; Thou hast torn it asunder, heal the fractures thereof; for it tottereth.
3 (5) Thou hast showed Thy people kashah (hard times); Thou hast made us to drink the yayin of tarelah (bewilderment, reeling).
4 (6) Thou hast set up a nes (banner) to them that fear Thee, that it may be unfurled on account of the truth. Selah.
5 (7) That Thy Yedidot (beloved ones) may be saved; save with Thy Yamin (Right Hand) and hear me.
6 (8) Elohim hath spoken in His Kodesh (Holiness); I will exult, I will parcel Shechem as chelek, and measure out the Valley of Sukkot.
7 (9) Gil‘ad is Mine, and Menasheh is Mine; Ephrayim also is the ma’oz of Mine Rosh; Yehudah is My Mekhokek (prescriber of laws, lawgiver; see Gn 49:10; Isa 42:4 on Moshiach’s torah).
8 (10) Moav is My washpot; over Edom will I cast My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.
9 (11) Who will bring me to the Ir Matzon (city of fortification)? Who will bring me to Edom?
10 (12) Wilt not Thou, O Elohim, which hadst cast us off? And Thou, O Elohim, which didst not go out with tzivoteinu (our armies)?
11 (13) Give us help against the enemy; for vain is the teshuat adam (help, salvation of or from Man).
12 (14) In Elohim shall we obtain the victory; for He it is that shall tread down tzareinu (our enemies, oppressors).
33 Sing with joy in Hashem, O ye tzaddikim; for tehillah is fitting for the yesharim (upright ones).
2 Hodu l’Hashem with kinnor (harp); make music unto Him with the ten stringed nevel (lyre).
3 Sing unto Him a shir chadash (new song); play skillfully with a teru’ah (shout of joy).
4 For the Devar Hashem is yashar; and kol ma’aseihu (all His deeds) are done in emunah (faithfulness).
5 He loveth Tzedakah and Mishpat; ha’aretz is full of the chesed Hashem.
6 By the Devar Hashem were Shomayim made; and all the tz’va (host) of them by the ruach (breath) of His mouth [MJ 11:3; Yn 1:1; Psa 56:5].
7 He gathereth the mey hayam (waters of the sea) like a mound; He layeth up the tehomot (ocean depths) in otzarot (storehouses, vaults).
8 Let kol ha’aretz fear Hashem; let kol yoshvei tevel (all the inhabitants of the world) stand in awe of Him.
9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood firm.
10 Hashem annuls the atzat Goyim (plan of the Goyim); He foils the machsh’vot Amim (schemes of the peoples).
11 The atzat Hashem standeth firm l’olam, the machsh’vot of His lev l’dor va’dor (from generation to generation).
12 Ashrei is the Goy whose Elohav is Hashem; and HaAm whom He hath chosen for His own nachalah.
13 Hashem looketh down from Shomayim: He beholdeth kol Bnei HaAdam.
14 From the place of His habitation He looketh upon kol yoshvei ha’aretz.
15 He formeth their hearts yachad; He considereth all their ma’asim (deeds).
16 There is no melech saved by the multitude of an army; a gibbor is not delivered by rav ko’ach.
17 A sus is a sheker (vain, false thing) for teshu’ah (deliverance, salvation, safety); neither shall it save any by its great strength.
18 Hinei, the eye of Hashem is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His chesed;
19 To deliver their nefesh from mavet (death), and to keep them alive in ra’av (famine).
20 Our nefesh waiteth for Hashem; He is ezrienu (our help) and moginneinu (our shield).
21 For libeinu (our heart) shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted b’Shem Kadsho (in His holy Name).
22 Let Thy chesed, Hashem, be upon us, even as we have hoped in Thee.
18 (17) For wickedness burneth like eish; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall smoke upward like the lifting up of ashan (smoke).
19 (18) Through the Evrat Hashem Tzva’os (Wrath of Hashem of Hosts) is the land darkened, and HaAm shall be ma’acholet eish (food for fire); no ish shall spare his brother.
20 (19) And they grab on the yamin (right hand), and are still hungry; and shall eat on the smol (left hand), and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every ish the basar of his own zero’a;
10 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous chukim, and that write decrees of oppression;
2 To turn aside the needy from their rights, and to withhold mishpat from the aniyyei Ami, that almanot may be their prey, and that they may rob the yetomim!
3 And what will ye do in the Yom Pekuddah (Day Of Visitation, Reckoning) and in the desolation which shall come from afar? To whom will ye flee for ezrah (help)? And where will ye leave your kavod (glory, riches)?
4 Without Me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His yad is upraised still.
10 Especially the ones going after the basar (flesh) in ta’avah (lust) producing tum’a (defilement) and the ones despising kol samchut (Mt 28:18). Bold and selfwilled, these have no yirat Shomayim and therefore commit Chillul Hashem as they slander the glorious ones,
11 Whereas malachim, being greater b’oz and koach (in strength and power), al kol panim (nevertheless) do not bring against them a slanderous judgment before Hashem.
12 But these men, like irrational beasts born b’derech hatevah (naturally) to be caught and killed, commit Chillul Hashem in matters where they lack da’as. In the destruction of [the beasts], they also will be destroyed,
13 Suffering harm as onesh (penalty) for harm done. They actually think there is ta’anug (pleasure) in reveling in broad daylight. They are mumim (defects) and spots reveling in their ta’nugot (evil pleasures) even while they sit at seudot (banquet dinners) with you.
14 Having eyes full of ni’uf (adultery), ceaselessly committing averos (sins), enticing unstable nefashot (souls), having levavot trained in chomed (covetous) greed—banim mekulalim (accursed children)!
15 Forsaking the Derech HaYashar (Straight Way), they went astray, having followed the Derech HaBil’am Ben B’or, who loved the sachar haresha (reward of unrighteousness).
16 But he had tochachah (reproof) for his own peysha (transgression): a dumb chamor (donkey), having spoken in a man’s voice, hindered the madness of the meshuga navi.
3 Now in those days Yochanan of the tevilah of teshuva appears, preaching, crying out as a maggid (preacher) [for the Moshiach] in the midbar (wilderness) of Yehudah,
2 saying, Make teshuva, for the Malchut HaShomayim has come near.
3 For this [Yochanan] is the one spoken of through Yeshayah the Navi, saying, KOL KOREY BAMIDBAR (A voice of one shouting in the wilderness, Isa 40:3): Prepare the Derech Hashem (the way of the L-rd). Make his paths straight!
4 Now Yochanan himself had camel-hair clothing and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was arbe (locusts) and devash (wild honey).
5 Then all Yerushalayim and all Yehudah and the whole region of the Yarden were going out to him.
6 Making vidduy (confession of sin) [to Hashem] of their averos (sins), they were submitted to a tevilah (immersion) by him, using the Yarden River as a mikveh mayim (gathering of water).
7 But when he saw many of the Perushim and Tzedukim coming to where he was using the Yarden as a mikveh mayim, Yochanan said to them, You banim (sons) of nachashim (snakes)! Who warned you to flee from the charon af [Hashem] habah (the coming burning wrath of Hashem)?
8 Produce pri tov l’teshuva (fruit worthy of repentance)!
9 Do not presume to say to yourselves, We have the yichus (proud lineage), we have the zechut Avot (merit of the Fathers) of Avraham Avinu (our father Abraham). For I say to you that Hashem is able to raise up from these avanim (stones) banim (sons) of Avraham.
10 And already the ax is laid at the shoresh haetzim (the root of the trees); therefore, every etz not producing pri tov (good fruit) is cut down and thrown into the eish (fire).
11 I give you a tevilah (immersion) in a mikveh mayim for teshuva, but Hu Habah (He who Comes; T.N. i.e., the Moshiach) after me has more chozek (strength) than me. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He will give you a tevilah (immersion) with the Ruach Hakodesh and eish (fire).
12 The winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear out his threshing floor, and he will gather his wheat into the storehouse; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable eish (fire).
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International