Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁷³ Thy hands have made me and established me: give me understanding, that I may learn Thy mitzvot.

⁷⁴ They that fear Thee will be glad when they see me; for I have hoped in Thy Davar.

⁷⁵ I know, Hashem, Thy mishpatim are tzedek, and Thou in emunah (faithfulness) hast afflicted me.

⁷⁶ Let now Thy chesed be for my comfort, according to Thy word unto Thy eved.

⁷⁷ Let Thy rachamim come unto me, that I may live: for Thy torah is my delight.

⁷⁸ Let the zedim (arrogant ones) be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate on Thy pikkudim (percepts).

⁷⁹ Let those that fear Thee turn unto me, and those that have known Thy edot.

⁸⁰ Let my lev be tamim (blameless, complete) in Thy chukkot; that I be not ashamed. Kaf

⁴ Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Hashem: Shall they fall, and not get up? Shall one turn away, and not turn back?

⁵ Why then does HaAm Hazeh turn away in perpetual meshuvah (backsliding)? They hold fast to deceit, refusing to make teshuvah.

⁶ I paid heed and heard, but they spoke not aright; no ish made teshuvah from his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one pursues his own course, like the sus (horse) charging into milchamah.

⁷ Yea, the stork in the Shomayim knoweth her mo’adim (appointed times); and the turtledove and the swift and the crane are shomer over their time for migration; but Ami (My People) have no da’as (knowledge) of the Mishpat Hashem (rule, ordinance, regulation, law of Hashem).

⁸ How can ye say, We are chachamim (wise ones), and the torat Hashem is with us, when, hinei, the et sheker (deceiving pen) of the sofrim (scribes) has made it [the torat Hashem] into sheker (a falsehood, i.e., falsely authoritative scribal interpretation has twisted Scripture, perverting its truth; see also Jer 2:8; 2K3:16; here is a warning against false teachers, and it is important because the scribal group in Israel would become the rabbinic group in time to come, and here their doctrines are coming into direct opposition to the Torah and the inerrant prophecies of Jeremiah.).

⁹ The chachamim (wise men) are ashamed, they are dismayed and trapped; they have rejected the Devar Hashem; so what chochmah (wisdom) is in them?

¹⁰ Therefore will I give their nashim unto others, and their sadot to them that shall inherit them; for every one from the katan even unto the gadol is greedy for unjust gain, from the navi even unto the kohen every one doeth sheker.

¹¹ For they give superficial treatment to the hurt of Bat Ami, saying, Shalom, shalom; v’ein shalom.

¹² Were they ashamed when they did to’evah (abomination)? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they know to blush; therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time of their pekuddat (visitation [for punishment], time of reckoning) they shall be brought down, saith Hashem.

¹³ I would surely have harvested them, saith Hashem, but no grapes are on the gefen, nor te’enim (figs) on the te’enah (fig tree), even the leaf shall wither; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

²⁸ And having listened and having become full of ka’as, the idol makers were crying out, saying, "Gedolah is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

²⁹ And the city was filled with tohu, and they rushed with one impulse into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Macedonians and traveling fellow po’alim of Rav Sha’ul.

³⁰ And Rav Sha’ul desired to enter into the crowd in the theater, but the talmidim were not allowing him.

³¹ And also some of the Asiarchs who were his chaverim, sent to him, begging him not to venture into the theater.

³² Then some began shouting one thing, some another, in the theater, for the kahal was in confusion, and most had no da’as of the purpose of the kahal (assembly).

³³ And from the multitude Alexander was pushed forward by Yehudim and some prompted him with shouts, while Alexander waved his hand, wanting to defend himself to the kahal.

³⁴ But having known what the man was, that he was a Yehudi, all in the theater shouted in unison for lav davka two hours crying out, "Gedolah is Artemis of the Ephesians."

³⁵ And the town clerk, when he had restrained the crowd, said, "Anashim, citizens of Ephesus, who indeed is there among Bnei Adam who does not have da’as that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the tzelem (image) that fell from Shomayim?

³⁶ "Since these things are undeniable, it is necessary for you to calm down and to do nothing reckless.

³⁷ "For you brought these anashim here who are neither temple robbers nor speakers of evil against our religion.

³⁸ "Therefore, if Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a tainah (grievance) against anyone, the civil courts are in session and there are proconsuls. Let it be there that they bring charges against one another.

³⁹ "And if you seek anything further, let your settlement be obtained in the lawful assembly.

⁴⁰ "For indeed we are in danger of being indicted for an intifadah (uprising) today, for there is no justification we can render to excuse this disorder and commotion."

⁴¹ And having said these things, the town clerk dismissed the kahal (assembly).