Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
5 (For the one directing. For the flutes. Mizmor Dovid) Give ear to my words, Hashem, consider my meditation.
2 (3) Pay heed unto the voice of my cry, Malki v’Elohai; for unto Thee will I daven.
3 (4) My voice shalt Thou hear in the boker, Hashem; in the boker will I bring my prayer before Thee as a spiritual sacrifice and wait for an answer.
4 (5) For Thou art not El that hath pleasure in resha; neither shall rah dwell with Thee.
5 (6) The holelim (arrogant) shall not stand in Thy sight; Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
6 (7) Thou shalt destroy them that speak kazav (falsehood); Hashem will abhor the ish damim u’mirmah (bloody and deceitful man).
7 (8) But as for me, I will come into Thy Bais in the multitude of Thy chesed; and in Thy fear will I bow down toward Thy Heikhal Kodesh.
8 (9) Lead me, Hashem, in Thy tzedakah because of mine enemies; make Thy Derech straight before my face.
23 The avadim of Melech Aram said unto him, Their elohim are elohei harim (g-ds of the hills); therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them on the plain; then surely we shall be stronger than they.
24 And do this thing: Remove the melachim, every ish from his makom (place, post), and put officers in their places;
25 And muster thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, sus for sus, and merkavah for merkavah; and we will fight against them on the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he paid heed unto their voice, and did so.
26 And it came to pass at the teshuvat hashanah, that Ben-Hadad mustered Aram, and went up to Aphek, to war against Yisroel.
27 And the Bnei Yisroel were mustered, and were all outfitted as battle-ready, and marched out to meet them; and the Bnei Yisroel encamped opposite them like two little flocks of izzim (goats); but Aram (the Syrians) filled ha’aretz.
28 And there came an Ish HaElohim, and spoke unto Melech Yisroel, and said, Thus saith Hashem, Because Aram have said, Hashem is Elohei Harim, but not Elohei Amakim (G-d of Valleys) therefore will I deliver all this hamon hagadol (vast multitude) into thine yad, and ye shall know that I am Hashem.
29 And they encamped these opposite those shivat yamim. And so it was, that in the yom hashevi’i the milchamah was joined; and the Bnei Yisroel slaughtered of Aram a hundred thousand foot soldiers in yom echad.
30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the Ir; and there a chomah (wall) fell upon twenty and seven elef ish that were left. And Ben-Hadad fled, and went into the Ir, into cheder b’cheder (a room within a room, an inner room).
31 And his avadim said unto him, Hinei now, we have heard that the melachim of Bais Yisroel are malkhei chesed; let us, now, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the Melech Yisroel; perhaps he will save thy nefesh.
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the Melech Yisroel, and said, Thy eved Ben-Hadad saith, Let now my nefesh live. And he said, Is he yet alive? He is achi (my brother).
33 Now the anashim did interpret this as a sign of mercy from him, and did hastily seize on it; and they said, Thy brother Ben-Hadad! Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-Hadad came forth to him; and he brought him up onto the merkavah.
34 And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which Avi took from Avicha, I will return; and thou shalt set up chutzot (market areas) for thee in Damascus, just as Avi set up in Shomron. Then said Ach’av, I will send thee [to let thee go] away with this brit (covenant). So he made a brit (covenant) with him, and sent him [to let him go] away.
11 I ask, therefore, has Hashem repudiated His people? Not at all! Chas v’shalom! For I too am a ben Yisroel, of the zera Avraham (seed of Avraham Avinu), of the tribe of Binyamin.
2 Hashem has not repudiated His people whom He foreknew [TEHILLIM 94:14; Ro 8:29). Or do you not have da’as what the Kitvei Hakodesh says in the section about Eliyahu HaNavi, how he appeals to Hashem against Yisroel?
3 "Adonoi, they have killed your Nevi’im, they have torn down your mizbe’achot (altars), and I alone have been left, and they seek my life." [MELACHIM ALEF 19:10]
4 But what is Hashem’s answer to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Ba’al." [MELACHIM ALEF 19:18]
5 Thus, therefore, also in the zman hazeh, there has come into being a she’erit (remnant, remainder) in accordance with the bechirah (election) of chesed (free, unmerited favor or grace).
6 But if on the mekor (basis) of chen v’chesed (unmerited favor, grace), then not on the mekor (basis) of [loin (wages), batsolen (pay) for] ma’asim (works), vi-bahlt (since) otherwise chesed would no longer be chesed (4:4-5).
7 What then? What Yisroel sought for, that is what it did not obtain; but hannivcharim (the elect, the chosen ones) obtained it. And the rest were hardened (9:17-18)
8 As it is written, "G-d gave to them a ruach tardemah (spirit of deep sleep), eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, until this very day" Isa 29:10.
9 And Dovid said, "Let their shulchan (table) become a snare and a net, a trap and a retribution for them;
10 " Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever." TEHILLIM 68:23-24 TARGUM HASHIVIM; [69:22-23].
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