Old/New Testament
137 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Tziyon.
2 We hung up our kinnorot (lyres) upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a shir (song); and they that tormented us required of us simchah, saying, Sing us one of the Shir Tziyon.
4 How shall we sing Shir Hashem in an admat nekhar (foreign land).
5 If I forget thee, O Yerushalayim, let my yamin (right hand) forget [i.e., have paralysis].
6 If I do not remember thee, let my leshon cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Yerushalayim above my rosh simchah (chief joy).
7 Remember, Hashem, the Bnei Edom in the Yom Yerushalayim; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to the yesod (foundation) thereof.
8 O Bat Bavel, who art to be destroyed, ashrei shall he be, that repayeth thee the gemul thou hast done to us.
9 Ashrei shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy olalim against the sela.
138 (Of Dovid) I will thank Thee with my whole lev; before the elohim will I sing praise unto Thee.
2 I will worship toward Thy Heikhal Kodesh, and praise Shmecha (Thy Name) for Thy chesed and for Thy emes; for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above Kol Shimcha (all Thy Name; Yn 1:1, 14 OJBC).
3 In the day when I called out, Thou answeredst me, and madest me bold with oz (strength) in my nefesh.
4 Kol Malchei Aretz shall praise Thee, Hashem, when they hear the words of Thy mouth.
5 Yes, they shall sing of the Darkhei Hashem; for gadol is the Kavod Hashem.
6 Though Hashem be on high, yet He looks upon the lowly; but the proud He knoweth from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of tzoros, Thou wilt preserve me alive; Thou shalt stretch forth Thine yad against the wrath of mine enemies, and Thy Yamin (Right Hand) shall save me.
8 Hashem will fulfill that which concerneth me; Thy chesed, O Hashem, endureth l’olam; forsake not the works of Thine own yadayim.
139 (For the one directing, Mizmor of Dovid). Hashem, Thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou hast binah of my thought from afar off.
3 Thou comprehendeth my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my drakhim.
4 For there is not a milah (word) in my leshon, but, lo, Hashem, Thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast enclosed me achor (behind) and kedem (before), and laid Thine hand upon me.
6 Such da’as is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 To where can I go from Thy Ruach [Hakodesh]? Or to where shall I flee from Thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into Shomayim, Thou art there; if I make my bed in Sheol, hinei, Thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the shachar (dawn), and dwell in the uttermost acharit yam (the extreme end of the sea);
10 Even there shall Thy yad lead me, and Thy yamin shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the choshech shall cover me, even the lailah shall be ohr about me.
12 Even the choshech is not dark to Thee; but the lailah shineth as the yom; the choshech and the ohr are both alike to Thee.
13 For Thou hast created my inmost being; Thou didst interweave me in the beten immi.
14 I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are Thy ma’asim; and that my nefesh knoweth very well.
15 My atzamim (bones, frame) were not hid from Thee, when I was made beseter (in secret), and skillfully wrought in the depths of the Eretz.
16 Thine eyes did see my golem (embryo), yet being unformed; and in Thy Sefer (Book) all the yamim (days) ordained for me were written down, when as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O El! How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the chol (sand); when I awake, I am still with Thee.
19 Surely Thou wilt slay the rasha, O Eloah; depart from me therefore, ye anshei damim (bloodthirsty men).
20 For they speak of Thee craftily, and it is taken lashav [Ex 20:7] by Thy enemies.
21 Should not I hate them, Hashem, that hate Thee? And am not I to be at odds with those that rise up against Thee?
22 I abhor them with complete sinah; I count them mine enemies.
23 Search me, O El, and know my levav; test me, and know my thoughts;
24 And see if there be any derech otzev (torturous crooked road) in me, and lead me in the Derech Olam.
13 If in the leshonot of Bnei Adam and malachim I speak, but I do not have ahavah, I have become only a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 And if I have nevu’ah and have da’as of all sodot and all da’as, and if I have all emunah so as to remove mountains, but ahavah I do not have, I am nothing.
3 And if I’m a marbitz tzedaka and give all I possess in gemilut chasadim and if I give my body al kiddush ha-Shem for sereifah (death by burning), but ahavah I do not have, I have gained nothing. [DANIEL 3:28]
4 Ahavah suffers long; ahavah is kind; ahavah does not have kinah; ahavah does not brag; ahavah is not puffed up in ga’avah (conceit, pride);
5 ahavah does not behave shamelessly; ahavah does not in anochiyut insist on its own way; ahavah is not touchy and vindictive, keeping a record of wrongs (ZECHARYAH 8:17).
6 Ahavah does not find simcha in evil, but rejoices in HaEmes.
7 Ahavah covers all things (MISHLE 10:12), believes all things, has tikvah (hope), even zitzfleisch, for all things.
8 Ahavah never fails. However, divrei nevu’ah will be abolished; leshonot will cease; da’as will come to an end.
9 For we have da’as in part, and we have divrei nevu’ah is part.
10 But when shleimah (completion) comes, the teilvaiz (partial) will disappear.
11 When I was a yeled, I used to speak like one, think like one, reason like one. But when I became mevugar (mature), I put away kinderyohrn. [Ps 131:2]
12 For still we see through a mirror indistinctly. But then [in the Olam Haba], distinctly, panim el panim. Now I have da’as only in part; then I will have da’as fully, even as also Hashem had full da’as of me. [Job 26:14; 36:26; Gn 32:30; Job 19:26]
13 But now remain emunah, tikvah, and ahavah, these shalosh (three). And the greatest of these is ahavah.
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