Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

128 (Shir HaMa’alot) Ashrei kol yerei (fearers of) Hashem; that walketh in His drakhim.

² For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall be tov with thee.

³ Thy isha shall be as a fruitful gefen inside thine bais; thy banim like olive shoots around thy shulchan.

⁴ Hinei, thus shall the gever be blessed that feareth Hashem.

⁵ Hashem shall bless thee out of Tziyon; and thou shalt see the tov of Yerushalayim all the days of thy life.

⁶ Yea, thou shalt see thy bnei banim, and shalom upon Yisroel.

¹⁷ For, hinei, I create Shomayim Chadashim and eretz Chadashah; and the rishonot shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

¹⁸ But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, hinei, I create Yerushalayim a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

¹⁹ And I will rejoice in Yerushalayim, and joy in Ami; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying out.

²⁰ There shall be no more in there an infant of days, nor a zaken (old man) that hath not filled his days; for he that shall die a hundred years old will be regarded a na’ar; but the choteh (sinner), a hundred years old, will be accursed.

²¹ And they shall build batim (houses), and inhabit them; and they shall plant kramim (vineyards), and eat the fruit of them.

²² They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the days of HaEtz are the days of Ami, and Mine Bechir shall long enjoy the ma’aseh of their hands.

²³ They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for misfortune; for they are the Zera Beruchei Hashem (Seed of the Blessed ones of Hashem), and their offspring with them.

²⁴ And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet medaberim (speaking), I will hear.

²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and aphar shall be the lechem of the nachash. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Har Kadosh, saith Hashem. [T.N. This last chapter makes a reference to Gehinnom and the just retribution coming.]

⁶ As also Dovid HaMelech speaks of the me’ushar (blessedness) of the person whom Hashem reckons to be YITZDAK IM HASHEM (justified with G-d) without dependence on [zechusearning] ma’asim (works) [T.N. with merit (zechus) viewed as "pay" earned for "work" rendered‖see Ro 4:4]:

⁷ "Ashrey (blessed, happy) are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered over;

⁸ ASHREY ADAM LO YAKHSHOV HASHEM LO AVON. Blessed, happy is the one whose sin Hashem will by no means count." (Ps 32:1-2).

⁹ This me’ushar (blessedness), then, does it come on those of the bris milah (the circumcised) or also on those without the bris milah (the uncircumcised)? For we say, emunah "was counted, reckoned, credited" to Avraham Avinu for TZEDAKAH ("righteousness" BERESHIS 15:6).

¹⁰ When then was it "reckoned"? When Avraham Avinu had the bris milah and was in the state of circumcision? Or when Avraham Avinu did not have the bris milah and was in the state of uncircumcision?

¹¹ Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision! And he received the ot (sign or distinguishing mark) of the milah (circumcision) as a chotam (seal) of the Tzidkat HaEmunah (the Righteousness of Faith) which he had in his uncircumcision, in order that he might be father of all who believe through uncircumcision, that to be YITZDAK IM HASHEM might be reckoned, counted to them as well,

¹² And in order that he might be Av (Father) to the Nimolim (Circumcised ones), to those who are not only HaNimolim but also who follow in the footsteps of the emunah of Avraham Avinu, which he had in [his] uncircumcision.

¹³ For the havtachah (promise) to Avraham Avinu and his zera (seed), that he should be Yoresh HaOlam (Heir of the World), did not come through the context of law but through the Tzidkat HaEmunah (the Righteousness of Faith).