Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁶⁹ Let my cry come near before Thee, Hashem; give me understanding according to Thy Davar.

¹⁷⁰ Let my techinnah come before Thee; deliver me according to Thy word.

¹⁷¹ My lips shall utter tehillah, when Thou hast taught me Thy chukkot.

¹⁷² My leshon shall speak of Thy word; for all Thy mitzvot are tzedek.

¹⁷³ Let Thine Yad help me; for I have chosen Thy pikkudim.

¹⁷⁴ I have longed for Thy Yeshuah (salvation), Hashem; and Thy torah is my delight.

¹⁷⁵ Let my nefesh live, and it shall praise Thee; and let Thy mishpatim sustain me.

¹⁷⁶ I have gone astray like a seh oved (lost sheep); seek Thy eved; for I do not forget Thy mitzvot.

13 And, hinei, by the Devar Hashem there came an Ish HaElohim out of Yehudah unto Beit-El; and Yarov‘am stood by the mizbe’ach to burn ketoret.

² And he cried against the mizbe’ach by the Devar Hashem, and said, O mizbe’ach, mizbe’ach, thus saith Hashem; Hinei, ben nolad (a son shall be born) unto the Bais Dovid, Yoshiyah shmo; and upon thee shall he offer the kohanim of the [idolatrous] high places that burn ketoret upon thee, and atzmot adam shall be burned upon thee [2Kgs 23:15-16].

³ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the mofet (sign) that Hashem hath spoken: Hinei, the mizbe’ach shall be split apart, and the deshen (fat ashes) that are upon it shall be poured out.

⁴ And it came to pass, when HaMelech Yarov`am heard the davar of the Ish HaElohim, which had cried against the mizbe’ach in Beit-El, that he put forth his yad from the mizbe’ach, saying, Lay hold on him. And his yad, which he put forth against him, shriveled up, so that he could not draw it back to him.

⁵ The mizbe’ach also was split apart, and the deshen poured out from the mizbe’ach, according to the mofet which the Ish HaElohim had given by the Devar Hashem.

⁶ And HaMelech answered and said unto the Ish HaElohim, Intercede now before the face of Hashem Eloheicha, and daven for me, that my yad may be restored to me. And the Ish HaElohim made intercessory prayer before Hashem, and the yad HaMelech was restored to him, and became as it was before.

⁷ And HaMelech said unto the Ish HaElohim, Come with me habaytah (home), and have seudah, and I will give thee a mattat (gift).

⁸ And the Ish HaElohim said unto HaMelech, If thou wilt give me half thine bais, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat lechem nor drink mayim in this makom;

⁹ For so was it charged me by the Devar Hashem, saying, Eat no lechem, nor drink mayim, nor return again by the same derech that thou camest.

¹⁰ So he went another derech, and returned not by the derech that he came to Beit-El.

⁹ What then? Are we (Yehudim) better off? Not altogether. For we have now charged both Yehudim and non-Jews as all alike under HaChet (sin, i.e., the power of Chet Kadmon Ro 7:23),

¹⁰ As it is written, EIN TZADDIK BA’ARETZ (KOHELET 7:20), There is none [on earth] righteous, not even one.

¹¹ There is none who has binah, there is none who seeks out G-d.

¹² All have turned aside, they have become altogether paskudneh, worthless; there is none who does good, there is none, not so much as one.

¹³ Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips,

¹⁴ Whose mouth is full of curses and bitterness.

¹⁵ Their feet are swift when it comes to shefach dahm.

¹⁶ Ruin and wretchedness are in their ways,

¹⁷ And the derech Shalom (the way of peace) they have not known.

¹⁸ There is no yirat Shomayim (fear of G-d) before their eyes. (See TEHILLIM 13:1-3; 14:1-3; 5:9,10; 139:4; 140:3; 9:28; 10:7; YESHAYAH 59:7 8; TEHILLIM 36:1; MISHLE 1:16; TEHILLIM 35:2.)

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those under the Torah, in order that every mouth might be stopped and kol HaOlam Hazeh become ashem (guilty) and liable to the Mishpat Hashem [TEHILLIM 1:5].

²⁰ For by Ma’asim (Works) of Chok (Law) shall KOL CHAI LO YITZDAK ("all living not be justified" TEHILLIM 143:2), for through the Chok (Law) comes the da’as HaChet (the knowledge of sin, BERESHIS 3:7).