Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

148 Praise Hashem. Praise Hashem from HaShomayim: praise Him in the heights above.

² Praise ye Him, all His malachim: praise ye Him, all Tzivos Hashem.

³ Praise ye Him, shemesh and yarei’ach: praise Him, all ye kokhavim of ohr.

⁴ Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above HaShomayim.

⁵ Let them praise the Shem of Hashem: for He commanded, and they were created.

⁶ He hath also established them forever and ever: He hath made a Chok (decree) which shall not pass away.

⁷ Hallelu Hashem from ha’aretz, ye sea creatures, and all tehomot:

⁸ Eish, and barad; snow, and cloud; stormy wind fulfilling His Devar:

⁹ Mountains, and all hills; etz pri (fruitful trees), and all cedars:

¹⁰ Beasts, and all cattle; remesh (creeping things), and flying fowl:

¹¹ Malchei eretz, and all people; sarim (princes), and all shoftei aretz:

¹² Both bochurim, and betulot; zekenim, and ne’arim:

¹³ Let them praise the Shem of Hashem: for Shmo alone is excellent; His hod is above Eretz and Shomayim.

¹⁴ He also exalteth the keren of His people, tehillah (the praise) of all His Chasidim; even of the Bnei Yisroel, an Am (people) close unto Him. Hallelu Hashem.

26 In the beginning of the reign of Y’hoyakim (Jehoiakim) Ben Yoshiyah Melech Yehudah came this Davar from Hashem saying

² Thus saith Hashem: Stand in the khatzer (courtyard) of the Bais Hashem, and speak unto all the towns of Yehudah, which come to worship in the Bais Hashem, all the Devarim that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word;

³ If so be they will pay heed, turn every man from his derech hara’ah, that I may relent of the ra’ah, which I purpose to do unto them for the evil of their doings.

⁴ And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Hashem: If ye will not pay heed to Me, to walk in My torah, which I have set before you,

⁵ To pay heed to the Devarim of My Avadim the Nevi’im, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early and sending them, but ye have not paid heed;

⁶ Then will I make this Bais like Shiloh, and will make this city a kelalah (curse) to all the Goyim of Ha’Aretz.

⁷ So the kohanim and the nevi’im and kol HaAm heard Yirmeyah speaking these Devarim in the Bais Hashem.

⁸ Now it came to pass, when Yirmeyah had made an end of speaking all that Hashem had commanded him to speak unto kol HaAm, that the kohanim and the nevi’im and kol HaAm laid hold of him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

⁹ Why hast thou prophesied B’Shem Hashem, saying, This Bais shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And kol HaAm were gathered against Yirmeyah in the Bais Hashem.

¹² Then spoke Yirmeyah unto all the sarim and to kol HaAm, saying, Hashem sent me to prophesy against this Bais and against this city all the Devarim that ye have heard.

¹³ Therefore now reform your drakhim and your doings, and obey the voice of Hashem Eloheichem; and Hashem will relent of the ra’ah that He hath pronounced against you.

¹⁴ As for me, see, I am in your yad; do with me as seemeth tov and yashar unto you.

¹⁵ But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring dahm naki upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof; for b’emes Hashem hath sent me unto you to speak all these Devarim in your oznayim.

⁸ And Stefanos, full of the Chen v’Chesed Hashem and ko’ach (power), was effecting otot and moftim gedolim among the people.

⁹ But some of the men from the shul called the Beit Knesset of the Meshuchrarim (the Freedmen) and the Cyrenians and the Alexandrians, and the ones from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stefanos,

¹⁰ And they were not able to contradict the chochmah and the Ruach Hakodesh with which he was speaking.

¹¹ Then they secretly induced anashim to say, "We have heard him commit Chillul Hashem in the words he spoke keneged (against) Moshe Rabbenu and Hashem." [MELACHIM ALEF 21:10]

¹² And they aroused the people and the Zekenim and the Sofrim and they came upon Stefanos and they seized him and they brought him to the Sanhedrin,

¹³ And edei sheker (false witnesses) swore falsely, saying, "This man is not ceasing to speak words keneged (against) Makom HaKadosh HaZeh and the Torah. [SHEMOT 23:1; TEHILLIM 27:12]

¹⁴ "For we have heard him saying that this Yehoshua from Natzeret will destroy this place [the Beis Hamikdash] and will change the chukim of the Torah which Moshe Rabbenu handed down to us."

¹⁵ And having stared intently at him, all the ones sitting in the Sanhedrin saw his ponem looking like the face of a malach.

⁵¹ "You AM KESHEH OREF ("stiff-necked people" SHEMOT 33:5), you who are without the “bris milah” of the lev (heart) and of the oznayim (ears), you always resist the Ruach Hakodesh; you are doing like your Avot. [Ex 32:9; 33:3,5; Lv 26:41; Dt 10:16; Jer 4:4; 9:26; Isa 63:10]

⁵² "Which of the Nevi’im (prophets) did your Avot not persecute? And they killed the ones having announced beforehand about the Bias HaMoshiach, the coming of the Tzaddik of whom now you became bogedim and rotzechim (murderers);

⁵³ "You who received the Torah at the directions of malachim and were not shomer of it."

⁵⁴ And hearing these things, they were infuriated in their levavot, and they were grinding their teeth at him.

⁵⁵ But being full of the Ruach Hakodesh and having gazed into Shomayim, Stefanos saw the kavod (glory) of Hashem and Yehoshua standing limin Hashem.

⁵⁶ And Stefanos said, "Hinei, I see Shomayim having been opened and the Ben HaAdam (Moshiach, DANIEL 7:13-14) standing limin Hashem."

⁵⁷ And having cried out with a kol gadol, they shut their oznayim and they rushed down with one impulse upon Stefanos.

⁵⁸ And having driven Stefanos outside the Ir (City), they were stoning him. And the edim took off their garments at the feet of a bochur named Sha’ul. [Lv 24:14,16; Dt 17:7]

⁵⁹ And they went on stoning Stefanos as he called upon Hashem, saying, "Adoneinu, receive my neshamah." [TEHILLIM 31:5]

⁶⁰ And having fallen down, he cried out in a kol gadol, "Adoneinu, may this aveirah not be held against them!" And having said this, Stefanos fell asleep.