Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
135 Praise Hashem. Halelu Shem Hashem; Halelu, O ye avadim of Hashem.
2 Ye that stand ministering in the Beis Hashem, in the khatzerot Beis Eloheinu.
3 Praise Hashem; for Hashem is tov; sing praise unto Shmo; for it is na’im (lovely, pleasing).
4 For Hashem hath chosen Ya’akov unto Himself, and Yisroel for His segullah (peculiar treasure).
5 For I know that Hashem is gadol, and that Adoneinu is above kol elohim.
6 Whatsoever Hashem pleases, that He does in Shomayim, and in HaAretz, in HaYam, and kol tehomot.
7 He causeth the clouds to ascend at the end of HaAretz; He maketh lightning for the matar (rain); He bringeth the ruach out of His otzarot.
8 Who struck down the Bechorei Mitzrayim, both of adam and behemah.
9 Who sent otot and mofetim into the midst of thee, O Mitzrayim, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his avadim.
10 Who struck down Goyim rabbim, and slaughtered melachim atzumim (powerful kings);
11 Sichon Melech HaEmori, and Og Melech HaBashan, and all the mamlechot Kena’an;
12 And gave their land for a nachalah, an inheritance unto Yisroel Amo (His people).
13 Thy Shem, Hashem, endureth l’olam; and Thy remembrance, Hashem, l’dor vador.
14 For Hashem will vindicate His people; He will have compassion on His avadim.
15 The idols of the Goyim are kesef and zahav, the ma’aseh yedei adam.
16 They have mouths, but they speak not; einayim have they, but they see not;
17 They have oznayim, but they hear not; neither is there any ruach in their mouths.
18 They that oseihem (make them) will be like them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
19 Barakhu Hashem, O Bais Yisroel; barakhu Hashem, O Bais Aharon;
20 Barakhu Hashem, O Bais HaLevi; ye that fear Hashem, barakhu Hashem.
21 Baruch Hashem out of Tziyon, which dwelleth at Yerushalayim. Praise Hashem.
8 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine bais, and the zekenim of Yehudah sat before me, that the yad Adonoi Hashem fell there upon me.
2 Then I beheld, and hinei a demut (likeness) as of the appearance of eish; from the appearance of His waist and downward, eish; and from His waist and upward, as the appearance of zohar (brightness), as of gleaming amber.
3 And He put forth the form of a yad, and took me by a lock of mine rosh; and the Ruach lifted me up between Ha’Aretz and Shomayim, and brought me in mar’ot Elohim ([divinely granted] visions) to Yerushalayim, to the Petach Sha’ar Hapenimit (entrance of the inner gate), the one facing north; where was the moshav (seat) of the semel hakinah (statue of jealousy), which provoketh [Hashem’s] jealousy.
4 And, hinei, the Kavod Elohei Yisroel was there, according to the mareh (vision) that I saw in the plain.
5 Then said He unto me, Ben adam, lift up thine eynayim now the derech (toward) north. So I lifted up mine eynayim the derech (toward) north, and hinei northward at the Sha’ar HaMizbe’ach was this semel hakinah in the entrance.
6 He said furthermore unto me, Ben adam, seest thou what they do? Even the to’evot gedolot (great abominations) that Bais Yisroel committeth here, causing that I go far off from My Mikdash? But turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see to’evot gedolot (greater abominations).
7 And He brought me to the petach (entrance) of the khatzer (court); and when I looked, hinei, a hole in the kir (wall)!
8 Then said He unto me, Ben adam, dig now in the kir (wall); and when I had dug in the kir (wall), hinei, a petach (entrance).
9 And He said unto me, Go in, and behold the to’evot hara’ot (wicked abominations) that they do here.
10 So I went in and saw; and, hinei, every form of remes (creeping things), and behemah sheketz (abominable beasts), and all the gillulim (idols) of the Bais Yisroel, portrayed upon the kir (wall) all around.
11 And there stood before them seventy ish of the zekenim of the Bais Yisroel, and in the midst of them stood Ya’azanyahu Ben Shaphan, with every ish his mikteret (censer, incense burner) in his yad; and a thick anan (cloud) of ketoret (incense) went up.
12 Then said He unto me, Ben adam, hast thou seen what the zekenim of Bais Yisroel do in the choshech (dark), every ish in the cheder (room) of his maskit (image)? For they say, Hashem seeth us not; Hashem hath forsaken ha’aretz.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see to’evot gedolot (greater abominations) that they do.
14 Then He brought me to the petach sha’ar Beis Hashem toward the north; and, hinei, there sat nashim weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said He unto me, Hast thou seen this, O ben adam? Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see to’evot gedolot (greater abominations) than these.
16 And He brought me into the khatzer Beis Hashem hapenimit [i.e., the Court of the Kohanim], and, hinei, at the petach (entrance) of the Heikhal Hashem, between the Ulam and the Mizbe’ach, were about five and twenty ish, with their backs toward the Heikhal Hashem, and their faces toward the east; and they bowing down toward the east worshiping the sun.
17 Then He said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O ben adam? Is it a trivial thing to Bais Yehudah that they commit the to’evot (abominations) which they commit here? For they have filled ha’aretz with chamas, and yet have returned to provoke Me to anger; and, behold, they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore will I also deal in chemah (fury); Mine eye shall not pity, neither will I spare; and though they cry in Mine oznayim with a kol gadol, yet will I not hear them.
26 And a malach Adonoi spoke to Philippos, saying, "Get up and go south on the derech going down from Yerushalayim to Gaza." This is desert.
27 And having got up, Philippos went. And, hinei, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, a court official of the Kandake of the Ethiopians! He was over all of her Otzrot (treasury) and had come worshipping to Yerushalayim, [Ps 68:31; 87:4; Zeph 3:10; Isa 56:3-5; 1Kgs 8:41-43]
28 And he was returning and sitting in his chariot and he was reading Yeshayah HaNavi.
29 And the Ruach Hakodesh said to Philippos, "Approach and join this chariot."
30 And having run, Philippos heard him reading Yeshayah HaNavi, and Philippos said, "So do you have binah of what you are reading?"
31 And he said, "How then might I be able, unless someone will guide me?" And he invited Philippos to come up and sit with him.
32 Now the keta (section) of the Tanakh which he was reading was this: KASEH LATEVACH YUVAL ("He [Moshiach] was led as a lamb to the slaughter") and as a Seh (Lamb, YESHAYAH 53:7) before the one having sheared it is silent, LO YIFTACH PIV ("He does not open his mouth").
33 ‘In humiliation his justice was taken away. The descendants of him who will tell? Because he is taken away from HA’ARETZ CHAYYIM.' [Isa 53:7,8; 57:7f TARGUM HASHIVIM]
34 And in reply the eunuch said to Philippos, "I ask you about whom the Navi (prophet) says this? About himself or about some other person?"
35 And having opened his mouth, and beginning from this keta (section) of the Kitvei Hakodesh, Philippos began to preach and fier ois (elucidate) Yehoshua/Yeshua to him.
36 And as they were going along the derech, they came upon some mayim and the eunuch says, "Hinei, mayim! What prevents me from being given Moshiach’s tevilah of teshuva in the mikveh mayim?"
37 [And Philippos said, “If you have emunah b’chol levavcha, it is mutar. And he answered, saying, Ani ma’amin ki Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua Ben HaElohim hu.]
38 And he commanded the chariot to stop and both went down into the mikveh mayim, both Philippos and the eunuch, and Philippos gave him Moshiach’s tevilah of teshuva in the mikveh mayim.
39 And when they came up from the mikveh mayim, the Ruach Hakodesh of Hashem took Philippos away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer, but was going on his way with lev same’ach. [1Kgs 18:12; 2Kgs 2:16; Ezek 3:12,14; 8:3; 11:1,24; 43:5]
40 But Philippos was found in Ashdod, and passing through, he was preaching the Besuras HaGeulah to all the towns until he came to
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International