Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

98 (A Mizmor) O sing unto Hashem a shir chadash; for He hath done marvellous things; His right hand, and His zero’a kodesh, hath gotten Him victory.

² Hashem hath made known His Yeshuah (salvation); His tzedek hath He openly showed in the sight of the Goyim.

³ He hath remembered His chesed and His emes toward the Bais Yisroel; all the ends of ha’aretz have seen the Yeshu’at Eloheinu (salvation of our G-d).

⁴ Make a joyful noise unto Hashem, kol ha’aretz; make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

⁵ Sing unto Hashem with the kinnor; with the kinnor, and the voice of singing.

⁶ With trumpets and sound of the shofar make a joyful noise before HaMelech Hashem.

⁷ Let the yam roar, and the fullness thereof; the tevel, and they that dwell therein.

⁸ Let the floods clap their hands; let the harim be joyful together

⁹ Before Hashem; for He cometh to judge ha’aretz; with tzedek shall He judge the tevel, and the people with meisharim (uprightness).

3 Nevuchadnetzar the king made a tzelem of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits; he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

² Then Nevuchadnetzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the tzelem which Nevuchadnetzar the king had set up.

³ Then the satraps, the prefects, and governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the tzelem that Nevuchadnetzar the king had set up; and they stood before the tzelem that Nevuchadnetzar had set up.

⁴ Then a karoz (herald) cried aloud, To you it is ommanded, O people, nations, and languages,

⁵ That at what time ye hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, pipes, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden tzelem that Nevuchadnetzar the king hath set up;

⁶ And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery attun (furnace).

⁷ Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden tzelem that Nevuchadnetzar the king had set up.

⁸ Wherefore at that time certain Kasdim (Chaldeans) came near, and accused the Yehudim.

⁹ They spoke and said to the king Nevuchadnetzar, O king, live for ever.

¹⁰ Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and pipes, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden tzelem;

¹¹ And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery attun (furnace).

¹² There are certain Yehudim whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have disregarded thee; they serve (pay-lammed-chet, serve as deity) not thy g-ds, nor worship the golden tzelem which thou hast set up.

¹³ Then Nevuchadnetzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.

¹⁴ Nevuchadnetzar spoke and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do ye not serve my g-ds, nor worship the golden tzelem which I have set up?

¹⁵ Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and pipes, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the tzelem which I have made, well; but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery attun; and who is that G-d that shall deliver you out of my hands?

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nevuchadnetzar, we are not needful to answer thee in this matter.

¹⁷ If it be so, Eloheinu whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

¹⁸ But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not be the ones serving as deity (pey-lammed-chet) thy g-ds, nor worship the golden tzelem which thou hast set up.

18 After these things I saw another malach (angel) coming down out of Shomayim having great samchut (authority); and ha’aretz (the earth) was illuminated by the splendor of him. [YECHEZKEL 43:2]

² And he cried in a kol gadol, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Bavel Hagedolah. It has become a habitation of shedim (demons) and a beit hasohar of every ruach temei’ah (unclean spirit) and beit hasohar of every unclean bird and a beit hasohar of every unclean beast. And has become detestable, [YESHAYAH 13:21, 22; 34:11,13-15; YIRMEYAH 50:39; 51:37; TZEFANYAH 2:14,15]

³ Because of the yayin (wine) of the wrath of her zenut (fornication) all the Goyim (Nations) have drunk, and the melachim (kings) of ha’aretz committed zenut with her, and the merchants of ha’aretz by the resources of her luxury became rich." [YECHEZKEL 27:9-25]

⁴ And I heard another kol (voice) out of Shomayim saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you may not participate in the chatta’im (sins) of her, and some of her makkot (plagues) you may not receive, [YESHAYAH 48:20; YIRMEYAH 50:8; 51:6,9,45; BERESHIS 19:15],

⁵ “Because her chatta’im (sins) have piled up reaching up to Shomayim, and Hashem has remembered the unrighteousnesses of her. [2Ch 28:9; Ezra 9:6; Jer 51:9]

⁶ “Render to her as also she herself rendered; serve up double according to her ma’asim, in the kos (cup) which she mixed. [Ps 137:8; Jer 50:15,29; Isa 40:2]

⁷ “As she gave kavod (glory) to herself and lived in luxury, so give her an equal measure of torment and agmat nefesh (grief), because in her lev (heart) she says, ‘I sit as a malkah (queen) and not an almanah (widow), and I will never see agmat nefesh (grief).’ [Ezek 28:2- 8; Ps 10:6; Isa 47:7,8; Zeph 2:15]

⁸ “Therefore in one day will come the makkot (plagues) on her, Mavet (Death) and Avel (Mourning) and Ra’av (Famine), and with eish (fire) she will be burned up, because Chazak is Hashem Adonoi, the Shofet of her. YESHAYAH 9:14; 47:9; YIRMEYAH 50:31,32]

⁹ “And the melachim (kings) of ha’aretz, the ones having committed zenut (fornication) with her and having lived in luxury, when they see the smoke of her burning, will weep and wail over her. [YIRMEYAH 51:8; YECHEZKEL 26:17,18]

¹⁰ “They will stand afar off, because of the fear of her torment, saying ‘Oy, oy to the Ir Hagedolah, Bavel the strong city, because in one hour came the mishpat of you.’

¹⁹ “And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and wailing, saying, ‘Oy, oy, the Ir Hagedolah, by which from her wealth, all the ones having ships in the sea became rich, because in one hour she was laid waste.’ [YEHOSHUA 7:6; EKHAH 2:10; YECHEZKEL 27:30,31]

²⁰ "Have lev same’ach over her, O Shomayim! You Kadoshim and Shlichim and Nevi’im, for Hashem has given mishpat for you against her." [YIRMEYAH 51:48]