Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

145 (Tehillah of Dovid). [Alef} I will extol Thee, Elohai HaMelech; and I will bless Thy Shem l’olam va’ed .

² [Beis] Kol yom will I bless Thee; and I will praise Thy Shem l’olam va’ed.

³ [Gimel] Gadol is Hashem, and me’od to be praised; and His greatness is not cheker (searchable).

⁴ [Dalet] Dor l’dor (generation to generation) shall praise Thy ma’asim, and shall declare Thy gevurot (mighty acts).

⁵ [Heh] I will speak of the hadar kavod of Thy hod, and of Thy nifle’ot (wonderful works).

⁶ [Vav] And men shall speak of the power of Thy norot; and I will declare Thy greatness.

⁷ [Zayin] They shall utter the zekher (memory, recollection) of Thy rav tov and shall sing of Thy tzedakah.

⁸ [Chet] Channun (gracious) is Hashem, and full of compassion; erech apayim (slow to anger), and of great chesed.

^3 (2:4) The mogen (shield) of his gibborim is made red, the anshei chayil (valiant men) are in scarlet; the chariot shall flash like fire in the day of its array, and the spears shall be brandished.

^4 (2:5) The chariot shall rage in the streets, they shall jostle one against another in the rechovot, they shall seem like flaming torches, they shall dart about like the lightnings.

^5 (2:6) He [the Assyrian king] shall remember his mighty ones; they stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the chomah (wall) of it [Nineveh], and the defense shall be prepared.

^6 (2:7) The sha’arei haneharot (the gates of the rivers) shall be thrown open, and the heikhal (palace) reels.

^7 (2:8) Her [Nineveh’s] golus (exile) is decreed, she shall be carried away, her slave girls moaning like the kol yonim (voice of doves), beating their breasts.

^8 (2:9) But Nineveh is like a pool of mayim; and her mayim is draining away. Stop, stop, shall they cry; but no one turns back.

^9 (2:10) Take ye the plunder of kesef, take the plunder of zahav; for there is no end of the treasures, heaps of kol keli chemdah (every delightful vessel).

^10 (2:11) She is empty, and void, and stripped; and the lev melteth, and the knees give way, bodies tremble, and the faces of them all grow pale.

^11 (2:12) Where is the ma’on arayot (den of lions), and the feeding place of the young lions, where the aryeh, even the lioness, walked with their cubs, and none made them afraid?

^12 (2:13) The aryeh did tear in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his lairs with prey, and his dens with torn flesh.

^13 (2:14) Hineni, I am against thee [O Nineveh], saith Hashem Tzva’os, and I will burn your chariots in the smoke, and the cherev shall devour thy young lions; and I will cut off thy prey from ha’aretz, and the voice of thy malachim (messengers) shall no more be heard.

⁵ Perform a bedikah (examination) on yourselves to see if you are in the [Orthodox Jewish] emunah (faith). Test and prove yourselves [1C 11:28]. Or do you yourselves not have da’as that Moshiach is in you? Unless you are reprobate and unapproved. [EKHAH 3:40]

⁶ But I have tikvah that you will have da’as that we are not unapproved.

⁷ Now we daven (pray) to Hashem that you do not do any rah (evil), not that we Shlichim may appear to have stood the test, but that you may do hatov (the good), though we may seem to have failed.

⁸ For we are not able to do anything against HaEmes, but only for HaEmes. [1C 13:6]

⁹ For we have lev same’ach when we are megareia (weakened) and you are strong, for this also we daven (pray), that is, for your shelemut (perfection), your tikkun (restoration repair).

¹⁰ Therefore, while I am absent I write this iggeret so that when I am present I may not treat you with severity, according to the samchut (authority) which Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu gave me for your chozek (strength) and not for your churban. [2C 2:3; 10:8,11]