Book of Common Prayer

140 (For the one directing. Mizmor of Dovid). Deliver me, Hashem, from adam rah; preserve me from ish chamasim (violent men);

^2 (3) Which plan ra’ot (evils) in their lev; kol yom they incite milchamot (wars).

^3 (4) They have sharpened their leshonot like a nachash; the venom of a spider is under their sfatayim (lips). Selah.

^4 (5) Be shomer over me, Hashem, and keep me from the hands of the rashah; protect me from ish chamasim, whose scheme is to cause my steps to trip.

^5 (6) The ge’im (proud, arrogant ones [of inordinate ambition]) have hid a pach for me, and chavalim (cords, ropes); they have spread a reshet (net) close by the path; they have set mokshim (traps) for me. Selah.

^6 (7) I said unto Hashem, Thou art Eli; hear the kol tachanunai (voice of my supplications), Hashem.

^7 (8) Hashem Adonoi, Oz Yeshuati (strength of my (salvation), Thou hast covered my rosh in the Yom Neshek (Day of Arms, Day of Battle).

^8 (9) Grant not, Hashem, the desires of the rashah; let not his plot succeed; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.

^9 (10) As for the rosh of those that surround me, let the amal (trouble) of their own sfatayim (lips) cover them.

^10 (11) Let burning coals fall upon them; let them be cast into the eish; into mahamorot (watery pits), that they rise not up again.

^11 (12) Let not an ish lashon (idle talker, slanderer) be established in ha’aretz; rah shall hunt down the ish chamas to overthrow him.

^12 (13) I know that Hashem will maintain the din oni (cause of the poor), and the mishpat evyonim (the right of the needy).

^13 (14) Surely the tzaddikim shall give thanks unto Thy Shem; the upright shall dwell in Thy presence.

142 (Mashkil of Dovid; A tefillah when he was in the me’arah) I cried out unto Hashem with my voice; with my voice unto Hashem did I make my techinnah (supplication).

^2 (3) I poured out my complaint before Him; I showed before Him my tzoros.

^3 (4) When my ruach became faint within me, then Thou had da’as of my path. In the way wherein I walked have they laid a pach (snare, hidden trap) for me.

^4 (5) I looked on my right, and behold, there was no man that would know me; refuge failed me; no man cared for my nefesh.

^5 (6) I cried unto Thee, Hashem; I said, Thou art my refuge and my chelek (portion) in the Eretz HaChayyim.

^6 (7) Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low; save me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.

^7 (8) Release my nefesh from prison, to praise Shemecha (Thy Name); the tzaddikim shall gather about me; for Thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

141 (Mizmor of Dovid) Hashem, I cry unto Thee; make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto Thee.

² Let my tefillah be set forth before Thee like ketoret; and the lifting up of my hands as the minchat erev.

³ Be shomer, Hashem, over my mouth; guard the door of my lips.

⁴ Let not my lev incline to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties.

⁵ Let the tzaddik strike me; it shall be chesed; and let him reprove me; it shall be shemen, which my rosh shall not refuse; for still shall my tefillah be against their evil deeds.

⁶ Their shofetim are overthrown in stony places; they hear my words; for they are pleasant.

⁷ Atzameinu (our bones) are scattered at the mouth of Sheol, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon ha’aretz.

⁸ But mine eyes are unto Thee, Hashem Adonoi; in Thee do I take refuge; leave not my nefesh defenseless.

⁹ Keep me from the pach (snare, trap) which they have laid for me, and the traps of the workers of iniquity.

¹⁰ Let the resha’im fall into their own nets, while I escape safely.

143 (Mizmor of Dovid) Hear my tefillah, Hashem, give ear to my techinot (supplications); in Thy emunah answer me, and in Thy tzedakah.

² And enter not into mishpat with Thy eved; for in Thy sight shall no man living be yitzadak (justified).

³ For the oyev (enemy) hath persecuted my nefesh; he hath struck down my life to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in places of choshech (darkness), like metei olam (those long dead).

⁴ Therefore is my ruach become faint within me; my lev within me is desolate.

⁵ I remember yamim mikedem (days of old), I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the ma’aseh (work) of Thy hands.

⁶ I stretch forth my hands unto Thee; my nefesh thirsteth after Thee, like an eretz ayefah (a parched, thirsty land). Selah.

⁷ Hear me speedily, Hashem; my ruach faileth; hide not Thy face from me, lest I be like those that go down into the bor (pit).

⁸ Cause me to hear Thy chesed in the boker; for in Thee do I trust; cause me to know the Derech wherein I should walk; for I lift up my nefesh unto Thee.

⁹ Save me, Hashem, from mine oyevim (enemies); I flee unto Thee to hide me.

¹⁰ Teach me to do Retzonecha (Thy will); for Thou art Elohai; may Thy Ruach Tov lead me on level ground.

¹¹ Revive me, Hashem, l’ma’an (for the sake of) Thy Shem (Name); in Thy tzedakah bring my nefesh out of tzoros.

¹² And in Thy chesed silence mine enemies, and destroy all them that oppress my nefesh; for I am Thy eved.

⁹ Hear this, I pray you, ye Rashei Bais Ya’akov, and Ketzinim of Bais Yisroel, that abhor mishpat, and twist kol haYesharah (all the right, the straight).

¹⁰ Boneh Tziyon b’damim (they build up Tziyon with blood), and Yerushalayim with avlah (iniquity).

¹¹ Her Rashim judge for a bribe, and her kohanim play the hireling moreh (teacher), and her nevi’im are fortunetellers for kesef; yet will they lean upon Hashem? And say, Is not Hashem among us? No ra’ah will come upon us.

¹² Therefore because of you, Tziyon shall be plowed as a sadeh, and Yerushalayim shall become a rubble heap, and the Har HaBeis (HaMikdash, i.e., the Temple Mount) shall become a mound of scrubs. [T.N. fulfilled 586, B.C.E., 70 C.E.]

4 But in the acharit hayamim (the last days) it shall come to pass, that the Har Beis Hashem shall be established as the rosh heharim (chief of mountains), and it shall be exalted above the hills; and amim (peoples) shall stream unto it.

² And Goyim rabbim shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the Har Hashem, and to the Beis Elohei Ya’akov; and He (Hashem) will be moreinu of His drakhim (ways), and we will walk in His orkhot (ways); for torah shall go forth from Tziyon, and the Devar Hashem from Yerushalayim.

³ And He shall judge among amim rabbim, and Hashem will be mochiach (arbitrator) for Goyim atzumim afar off; and they shall beat their charavot (swords) into plow blades, and their khanitot (spears) into pruning knives; And Goy el Goy (nation against nation) will not take up cherev (sword), neither shall they learn milchamah (war) any more.

⁴ But they shall sit every man under his gefen (vine) and under his te’enah (fig tree); and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of Hashem Tzva’os hath spoken.

⁵ For Kol HaAmmim will walk every one b’shem Elohav, and we will walk b’shem Hashem Eloheinu l’olam va’ed.

²⁴ And after some yamim, Felix came with Drusilla, his wife, who was Jewish. He summoned Rav Sha’ul and listened to him concerning his emunah (faith) in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua.

²⁵ And as Rav Sha’ul was conversing about tzedek [DANIEL 9:24] and kibush hayetzer (self-control) and about the Yom HaDin coming, Felix suddenly became afraid, and said, "That will do for the moment. Go now. When I find time, I’ll send for you."

²⁶ At the same time Felix was also hoping that bribe money would be given to him by Rav Sha’ul. Therefore, Felix used to frequently send for Rav Sha’ul to converse with him.

²⁷ When two years passed, Felix received a successor, Porcius Festus, and, wanting to grant a favor to the Judeans, Felix left Rav Sha’ul in custody.

25 Therefore Festus, having arrived in the Province, after shloshah yamim went up from Caesarea to Yerushalayim,

² Where the Rashei Hakohanim and manhigim of the Yehudim explained to Festus the charges keneged Rav Sha’ul, and they were begging him,

³ Asking a favor from him, that Festus might summon Rav Sha’ul to Yerushalayim, while at the same time they were forming a kesher to kill him along the way.

⁴ Festus answered that Rav Sha’ul was to be kept in Caesarea and that Festus himself intended quickly to go there.

⁵ "Therefore, those in authority among you," Festus says, "should come down with me, and if there is anything in the wrong about Rav Sha’ul, then let them bring charges against him."

⁶ And having stayed with them no more than shmonah or asarah yamim, Festus went down to Caesarea; the next day he sat on the Kes HaMishpat and ordered Rav Sha’ul to be brought in.

⁷ When Rav Sha’ul came in, the Judeans who had come down from Yerushalayim stood around him and brought serious charges keneged (against) him, which they were not able to prove.

⁸ Rav Sha’ul defended himself, saying, "Neither keneged the Torah nor keneged the Beis Hamikdash nor keneged Caesar have I done anything wrong."

⁹ But Festus, wishing to grant the Judeans a favor, said in reply to Rav Sha’ul, "Do you want to go up to Yerushalayim to be judged by me there concerning these things?"

¹⁰ And Rav Sha’ul said, "I am standing before the Kes HaMishpat of Caesar, where it is necessary for me to be tried. I have done no wrong to my Jewish people, as you also have da’as very well.

¹¹ "Now if I have done wrong and am worthy of mavet, I am not trying to escape the penalty. But if there is nothing to the charges these bring against me, no one is able to hand me over to them. Therefore, I appeal to Caesar."

¹² Then Festus, having talked with his council, answered, "To Caesar you have appealed, to Caesar you will go."

8 And it came about afterwards that he was traveling through every shtetl and village preaching and proclaiming the Besuras HaGeulah of the Malchut Hashem; and the Shneym Asar were with Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach.

² And there were some nashim who had received refuah from ruchot raot and machlot: Miryam (called Magdalit), from whom shivah shedim had gone out;

³ And Yochanah the wife of Kuza, the steward of Herod; Shoshanah, and many others who were giving maamadot (contributions) for Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach from their private means.

⁴ Now when a large multitude was coming together and the ones in every shtetl were making their derech to him, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach spoke by way of a mashal:

⁵ The one sowing went out to sow his seed; and as he sows, some [seeds] fell beside the road; and it was trampled upon, and the birds of the air devoured it.

⁶ And other seed fell upon the rock, and as soon as it grew up, it dried up because it has no moisture.

⁷ And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.

⁸ And other seed fell in the adamah tovah (good ground) and, having grown up, produced pri a hundredfold. As Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said these things, he was calling out, The one having oznayim (ears) to hear, let him hear.

⁹ Now Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach’s talmidim began questioning him as to what this mashal might be.

¹⁰ And he said, To you it has been granted to have daas of the razei Malchut Hashem (mysteries of the Kingdom of G-d), but to the others I speak in mashalim, in order that YIRU they may not see and VSHIMU they may not have binah. [YESHAYAH 6:9]

¹¹ Now the mashal is this: The seed is the dvar Hashem.

¹² The ones beside the road are the ones having heard, then Hasatan comes and takes away the dvar Hashem from their levavot, so that they may not have emunah (faith) and come to Yeshua’at Eloheinu.

¹³ Now the ones upon the rock are those who when they hear, with simcha they receive the dvar; but these have no shoresh (root). They have emunah for a while, but in time of nisayon (trial, temptation), they become shmad and they fall away.

¹⁴ Now the seed which fell among thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their derech, they are choked by the deagot (worries, anxieties) and ashires (riches) and taanugot (pleasures) of the Olam Hazeh and they bring no pri to maturity.

¹⁵ Now the one in the adamah tova (good ground), these are those who have heard the dvar Hashem with a lev (heart) tov and yashir (straight), and retain the dvar Hashem and bear pri with zitzfleisch (patience).