Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

112 Praise Hashem. Ashrei is the ish that feareth Hashem, that delighteth greatly in His mitzvot.

² His zera shall be gibbor ba’aretz; the dor (generation) of the Yesharim (upright ones) shall be blessed.

³ Wealth and osher (riches) shall be in his bais; and his tzedakah endureth forever.

⁴ Unto the Yesharim (upright ones) there ariseth ohr in the choshech; he is channun, and rachum, and tzaddik.

⁵ A tov ish is generous, and lendeth; he will guide his affairs with mishpat.

⁶ Surely he shall never falter; the tzaddik shall be in remembrance olam (forever).

⁷ He shall not be afraid of mishmu’ah ra’ah (news of misfortune, evil tidings); his lev is nachon (steadfast), trusting in Hashem.

⁸ His lev is samuch (sustained), he shall not be afraid, until he look in triumph upon his foes.

⁹ He hath contributed freely, he hath given to the evyonim (needy); his tzedakah endureth forever; his keren shall be lifted up in kavod.

¹⁰ The rasha shall see it, and be incensed; he shall gnash his teeth, and waste away; the ta’avot resha’im (desire of the wicked ones) shall come to nothing.

¹³ If any ish take an isha, and go in unto her, and hate her,

¹⁴ And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up a shem rah (bad name) upon her, and say, I took this isha, and when I came to her, I found her with no betulim (proofs of virginity);

¹⁵ Then shall the av of the na’arah, and her em, take and bring forth the betulim (proofs of virginity) unto the zekenim of the town in the sha’arah (gate);

¹⁶ And the avi hana’arah shall say unto the zekenim, I gave my bat unto this ish as isha (wife) and he hateth her;

¹⁷ And, hinei, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy bat with betulim; and yet these are my bat’s betulim. And they shall spread the simlah (clothing) before the zekenim of the town.

¹⁸ And the zekenim of that town shall take that ish and punish him;

¹⁹ And they shall fine him a hundred shekels of kesef, and give them unto the avi hana’arah, because he hath brought a shem rah (bad name) upon a betulat Yisroel; and she shall be his isha; he may not put her away all his yamim.

²⁰ But if this thing be emes, and the betulim be not found for the na’arah;

²¹ Then they shall bring out the na’arah to the door of her bais avi, and the anashim of her town shall stone her with avanim that she die; because she hath committed an outrage in Yisroel, to play the whore in her bais avi; so shalt thou put away the rah from among you.

²² If an ish be found lying with an isha married to a husband then they shall both of them die, both the ish that lay with the isha, and the isha; so shalt thou put away the rah from Yisroel.

²³ If a na’arah that is a betulah be betrothed unto a husband, and an ish find her in the town, and lie with her;

²⁴ Then ye shall bring them both out unto the sha’ar of that town, and ye shall stone them with avanim that they die; the na’arah, because she cried not, being in the town; and the ish, because he hath humbled his neighbor’s isha; so thou shalt put away the rah from among you.

²⁵ But if the ish find a na’arah hame’orasah (betrothed woman) in the sadeh, and the ish overpower her, and lie with her; then the ish only that lay with her shall die.

²⁶ But unto the na’arah thou shalt do nothing; there is in the na’arah no chet mavet (sin worthy of death); for as when an ish riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter;

²⁷ For he found her in the sadeh, and the na’arah hame’orasah cried, and there was no moshia (savior) for her [see 2C 11:2-3 regarding Moshiach and his Kehillah Kallah and Hasatan’s evil interference with the betrothal and the above three Scriptures T.N.].

²⁸ If an ish find a na’arah that is a betulah, which is not orasah (betrothed), and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;

²⁹ Then the ish that lay with her shall give unto the avi hana’arah fifty [shekels] of kesef, and she shall be his isha; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his yamim.

^30 (23:1) An ish shall not take eshet aviv (his father’s wife), nor uncover his father’s robe.

7 Now, concerning the things in your iggeret, let’s take up the next inyan (topic): “it is beneficial for a man not to touch an isha” [i.e., postpone the chasunoh (wedding)].

² But, because of the acts of zenut, let each Ben Adam have his own Isha, and let each Isha have her own Ba’al (Husband).

³ Let the ba’al render the conjugal choiv (debt) to his isha, and likewise also the isha to her ba’al (husband).

⁴ It is not the isha who has samchut (authority) over her own body, but the ba’al (husband); likewise, also it is not the ba’al (husband) who has samchut over his own body, but the isha.

⁵ Do not deprive each other, unless by agreement for a set time, that you may renew zerizut (diligence) to tefillah (prayer) and again you may be together, lest Hasatan lead you into nissayon (temptation) because of your lack of shlitah atzmi (self-control). [SHEMOT 19:15; SHMUEL ALEF 21:4,5]

⁶ But I say this according to concession (T.N. in view of 5:1-5; 6:12-20), not according to [Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach’s] mitzvoh.

⁷ But, I wish kol Bnei Adam even to be as I am; however, [this is impossible since] each has his own matanah (gift) from Hashem: one this; and another that.

⁸ But, I say to the bochrim and the almanot (widows), it is beneficial for them if they remain as I am;

⁹ But if they do not have shlitah atzmi, let them marry. For better it is to marry than with Eish to be set ablaze.