Book of Common Prayer
119 ALEF Ashrei are the blameless ones in the derech, who walk in the torat Hashem.
2 Ashrei are they that keep His edot (testimonies), and that seek Him with kol lev.
3 They also do no iniquity; they walk in His drakhim.
4 Thou hast commanded us to be diligently shomer over Thy pikkudim (precepts).
5 O that my drakhim were directed to be shomer over Thy chukkot (statutes)!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Thy mitzvot.
7 I will praise Thee with yosher levav (uprightness of heart) when I shall have learned Thy righteous mishpatim (ordinances).
8 I will keep Thy chukkot; O forsake me not utterly. BEIS
9 How shall a na’ar cleanse his way? By being shomer thereto according to Thy Davar (Word).
10 With my kol lev have I sought Thee; O let me not wander from Thy mitzvot.
11 Thy word have I hid in my lev, lema’an (so that) I might not sin against Thee.
12 Baruch atah, Adonoi; teach me Thy chukkot.
13 With my sfatayim (lips) have I declared all the mishpatim of Thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the derech of Thy edot (testimonies), as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in Thy pikkudim, and consider Thy orkhot (paths).
16 I will delight myself in Thy chukkot; I will not forget Thy Davar. GIMEL
17 Deal bountifully with Thy eved, that I may live, and be shomer over Thy Davar.
18 Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold nifla’ot out of Thy torah.
19 I am a ger on ha’aretz; hide not Thy mitzvot from me.
20 My nefesh is shattered with ta’avah for Thy mishpatim at all times.
21 Thou hast rebuked the zedim (arrogant ones) that are arurim (cursed ones), which do wander from Thy mitzvot.
22 Remove from me cherpah (reproach) and contempt; for I have kept Thy edot (testimonies).
23 Though sarim (princes) also sit and speak slander against me, yet Thy eved meditates on Thy chukkot.
24 Thy edot (testimonies) also are my delight and anshei atzati (my counsellors). DALET
12 (For the one directing. According to the Sheminit. Mizmor Dovid) Help, Hashem; for the chasid is no more; for the emunim (faithful ones) vanish from among Bnei Adam.
2 (3) They speak vanity every one with his re’a (neighbor); with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
3 (4) Hashem shall cut off all flattering lips, and the leshon that speaketh gedolot;
4 (5) Who have said, With leshoneinu (our tongue) will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is Adon over us?
5 (6) For the oppression of the aniyim, for the groaning of the needy, now will I arise, saith Hashem; I will set him in safety from him that sneers at him.
6 (7) The words of Hashem are amarot tehorot (pure words); as kesef refined in the furnace on the earth, purified seven times.
7 (8) Thou shalt be shomer over them, Hashem, Thou shalt preserve him [see 5(6)] from this generation forever.
8 (9) The resha’im strut on every side, when the vilest among the Bnei Adam are exalted.
13 (For the one directing. Mizmor Dovid) How long wilt Thou forget me, Hashem? Netzach (forever?) How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?
2 (3) How long shall I take counsel in my nefesh, having sorrow in my lev daily? How long shall mine oyev be exalted over me?
3 (4) Consider and hear me, Hashem Elohai; enlighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of mavet;
4 (5) Lest mine oyev say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am defeated.
5 (6) But I have trusted in Thy chesed; my lev shall rejoice in Thy Yeshuah (salvation).
6 I will sing unto Hashem, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.
14 (For the one directing. Of Dovid) The naval (fool) hath said in his lev, There is no Elohim. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, ein oseh tov (there is none that doeth good).
2 Hashem looked down from Shomayim upon Bnei Adam, to see if there is any with seichel, that seeketh Elohim.
3 They are all turned aside, they are all together become corrupt; there is none that doeth tov, no, not one.
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no da’as? Who eat up my people as they eat lechem, and call not upon Hashem.
5 There they shall be in great dread, for Elohim is with the dor tzaddik.
6 Would ye confound the etzah (counsel, plan) of the oni (poor), for Hashem is indeed his refuge!
7 Oh that the Yeshuah (salvation) of Yisroel were come out of Tziyon! When Hashem turns misfortune and brings back the captives of His people, Ya’akov shall rejoice, and Yisroel shall be glad.
1 These are the devarim (words) which Moshe spoke unto kol Yisroel on the far side of the Yarden in the midbar, in the Aravah opposite Suf between Paran, and Tophel, and Lavan, and Chatzerot, and Di-Zahav.
2 (There is eleven days’ journey from Chorev unto Kadesh-Barnea by way of Mount Seir.)
3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moshe spoke unto the Bnei Yisroel, according unto all that Hashem had given him in commandment unto them,
4 After he had slain Sichon Melech HaEmori, which dwelt in Cheshbon, and Og Melech HaBashan, which dwelt in Ashtarot at Edre’i;
5 On the far side of the Yarden, in Eretz Moav, began Moshe to expound this torah, saying,
6 Hashem Eloheinu spoke unto us in Chorev, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough at this mountain;
7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the Har HaEmori (hill country of the Amorites), and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the Aravah, in the hills, in the Shefelah, and in the Negev, and by the seacoast, to the Eretz HaKena’ani (Land of the Canaanites), and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 See, I have set ha’aretz (the land) before you; go in and possess ha’aretz which Hashem swore unto Avoteichem, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov, to give unto them and to their zera after them.
9 And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear the burden of you by myself alone;
10 Hashem Eloheichem hath multiplied you, and, see, ye are today as numerous as the kokhavei HaShomayim.
11 (Hashem Elohei Avoteichem increase you a thousand times over and bless you, as He hath promised you!)
12 How can I myself alone bear your problems, and your massa and your strife?
13 Take you anashim chachamim, men of wisdom and understanding, who are known among your tribes, and I will set them over you.
14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is tov for us to do.
15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, anashim chachamim, men of understanding, and made them heads over you, over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens, shoterim among your tribes.
16 And I charged your shofetim at that time, saying, Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the ger that is with him.
17 Ye shall not respect persons in mishpat but ye shall hear the katon as well as the gadol; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the mishpat is Elohim’s: and the case that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
9 I speak HaEmes in Moshiach, I do not speak sheker, my matzpun (conscience) bearing me eidus (witness) in the Ruach HaKodesh,
2 That there is great agmat nefesh to me and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3 For I could wish that my neshamah be put under cherem (ban of destruction), under Churban, and Onesh Gehinnom, cut off from Moshiach for the sake of my achim, my own kinsmen, my people and flesh and blood relatives,
4 In as much as they are Bnei Yisroel: theirs is the Mishpat HaBanim Adoption, the Ma’amad HaBanim Standing as Sons, and the Kavod (glory) and the Shechinah (glorious presence of G-d) and the Beritot (covenants), the Torah, the Avodas Kodesh (worship) and the Havtachot (promises);
5 Theirs are the Avot (the Patriarchs), and from them came, in so far as his humanity is concerned, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, al hakol hu HaElohim mam’vorach l’Olam va’ed. Omein.
6 But it is not as though the Dvar Hashem has failed. For not all those descended from Yisroel are truly redeemed Yisroel (of the eschatological Geulah Redemption).
7 Nor is it as though all the banim of K’lal Yisroel are the ZERA of Avraham Avinu, but (as it is written) BEYITZCHAK YIKARE L’CHA ZERA ("In Yitzchak shall your seed be called, named, summoned" BERESHIS 21:12).
8 That is, it is not the b’nei habasar (old humanity without hitkhadshut) who are the b’nei HaElohim (children of G-d) but the b’nei HaHavtachah (children of the promise) who are reckoned as ZERA (seed, children, including the right of the heir in relation to the father).
9 For this word is one of havtachah (promise): KA’ET SHOV ASHUV UL’SARAH BEN ("About this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son" BERESHIS 18:10,14).
10 Not only so, but also in the case of Rivkah (Isaac’s wife) who conceived by the one act of sexual intercourse with Yitzchak Avinu.
11 For when they were not yet born nor had they done anything tov or rah, in order that the etzah (wisdom) of the tochnit Hashem (purposeful and willed plan of G-d Ro 8:28) should stand in terms of bechirah (divine election, selection, choosing),
12 Not from Ma’asim (Works) but from the One who makes the kri’ah (divine summons, call), it was said to her, RAV YA’AVOD TZA’IR ("the elder will serve the younger" BERESHIS 25:23),
13 As it is written, VA’OHAV ES YA’AKOV V’ES ESAV SANEITI ("Ya’akov have I loved, but Esau have I hated" MALACHI 1:2-3).
14 What then shall we say? There is no avla (injustice) with G-d, is there? Chas v’shalom!
15 For to Moshe Rabbeinu Hashem says, V’CHANNOTI ES ASHER ACHON V’RICHAMETTI ES ASHER ARACHEM ("I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion" SHEMOT 33:19).
16 So then, it is not a matter of the one who wills or the one who runs. It is a matter of the YAD HASHEM HACHANINAH (the hand of the G-d of gracious, free mercy).
17 For the Kitvei Hakodesh says to Pharaoh, BA’AVUR ZOT HE’EMADTICHA BA’AVUR HAROTECHA ES KOCHI ULEMA’AN SAPER SHMI BECHOL HA’ARETZ ("For this purpose I raised you up, in order that I might demonstrate in you my power and in order that my Name might be proclaimed in all the earth" SHEMOT 9:16).
18 So then, to whom Hashem wills Hashem shows chaninah (mercy, free grace), but whom Hashem wills he hardens (that is, makes unresponsive or more mired down in KESHI (stubbornness, hardness)[DEVARIM 9:27].
27 Oy to you, Sofrim and Perushim, tzevuim, for you are like kevarim (graves) having been whitewashed, which on the outside indeed appear ois vaist (ostensibly) shein (beautiful), but on the inside are full of the unclean bones of the mesim (dead ones) and every trayfnyak.
28 Thus on the outside you indeed appear tzodek (righteous) to Bnei Adam, but on the inside you are full of tzeviut (hypocrisy) and you are lawlessly against the Torah.
29 Oy to you, Sofrim and Perushim, tzevuim, for you build kevarim of the Neviim and decorate matsevot (gravestones) of the tzaddikim,
30 And you say, If we were in the yamim (days) of Avoteinu (our Fathers), we would not have been shuttafim (partners) with them in the dahm haNeviim (blood of the Prophets).
31 Therefore, you are edim (witnesses) against yourselves that you are the banim (sons) of the ratzchaniyot (murderers) of the Neviim.
32 And you fill up the measure of your Avot.
33 Snakes, you banim of nachashim, how can you escape the Yom HaDin of Gehinnom?
34 For this reason hinei! I send to you Neviim and Chachamim and Sofrim, some of whom you will kill and some you will make talui al haetz (being hanged on the Tree, DEVARIM 21:23) and some you will subject to the shot (whip) in your shuls, and you will drive them out from city to city,
35 So that upon you may come all the dahm naki (innocent blood) shed upon the earth from the blood of Hevel to the blood of Zecharyah, whom you murdered between the Heikhal and the Mizbeach. [trans. note: cf. Lk 11:51 for Mt’s probable original text here]
36 Omein, I say to you, that all these things will come upon this generation.
37 Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim, the ones that kill the Neviim and stone those having been sent to you! How often have I wanted to gather your yeladim, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you were not willing!
38 Hinei! Look! KI LECHARBAH YIH’YEH HABEIT HAZEH (for this House will become a ruin (i.e. churban) YIRMEYAH 22:5).
39 For I say to you, by no means will you see me [Moshiach] from now until you say, BARUCH HABAH BSHEM ADONOI.
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