Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

145 (Tehillah of Dovid). [Alef} I will extol Thee, Elohai HaMelech; and I will bless Thy Shem l’olam va’ed .

² [Beis] Kol yom will I bless Thee; and I will praise Thy Shem l’olam va’ed.

³ [Gimel] Gadol is Hashem, and me’od to be praised; and His greatness is not cheker (searchable).

⁴ [Dalet] Dor l’dor (generation to generation) shall praise Thy ma’asim, and shall declare Thy gevurot (mighty acts).

⁵ [Heh] I will speak of the hadar kavod of Thy hod, and of Thy nifle’ot (wonderful works).

¹⁷ [Tzadi] Tzaddik is Hashem in all His drakhim, and chasid in all His ma’asim,

¹⁸ [Koph] Karov (near) is Hashem unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in emes.

¹⁹ [Resh] He will fulfil the ratzon of them that fear Him; He also will hear their cry, and will save them.

²⁰ [Shin] Shomer is Hashem over all them that love Him; but kol haresha’im will He destroy.

²¹ [Tav] My mouth shall speak the tehillat Hashem; and let kol basar bless His Shem Kodesh l’olam va’ed. [T.N. See Messianic Psalms which include Ps 2, 22, 45, 72, 110, 47, 93, 96-99, 89 and which indicate Moshiach’s righteous character, experience, ideals, call, and reign.]

⁹ And the Devar Hashem came unto me, saying,

¹⁰ Take of them of the Golus, even of Cheldai, of Toviyah, and of Yedayah, which have arrived from Babylon, and thou go into the bais of Yoshiyah ben Tzephanyah;

¹¹ Then take kesef and zahav, and make atarot (crowns), and set them upon the rosh Yehoshua ben Yehotzadak, the Kohen HaGadol

¹² And speak unto him, saying, Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os: Hinei Ish, TZEMACH Shmo ; [Yehoshua is said to be the namesake of the coming Moshiach Ben Dovid; see Ezra 3:8 for the Aramaic translation of Yehoshua’s name, Yeshua; see Jer 23:5; 30:9; 33:15; Ezra 3:8; Zech 3:8; Mt 2:23; Isa 4:2; 9:2-7; 11:1-12; 53:2, 11; Moshiach the new “Joshua” Isa 49:8].]; and out of his place yitzmach (he [Moshiach] shall sprout up, Yeshayah 53:2), and he shall build the Heikhal Hashem.

¹³ It is he who shall build the Heikhal Hashem; and he shall carry hod (majesty), and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a kohen [Tehillim 110:4] upon his throne; and the atzat shalom (counsel of peace) shall be between them both.

¹⁴ And the atarot (crowns) shall be to Chelem, and to Toviyah, and to Yedayah, and to Chen ben Tzephanyah, for a memorial in the Heikhal Hashem.

¹⁵ And they that are far off shall come and build the Heikhal Hashem, and ye shall know that Hashem Tzva’os hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the kol (voice) Hashem Eloheichem.

¹⁰ And when the Moshel nodded to him to speak, Rav Sha’ul answered, "Knowing that for many years you have been a shofet (judge) to this nation, I cheerfully make my hitstaddekut.

¹¹ "You will be able to learn that not more than twelve days have elapsed since I made an aliyah to worship in Yerushalayim.

¹² "And neither in the Beis Hamikdash did they find me conversing with anyone nor did they find me stirring up the multitude either in the shuls or anywhere in Yerushalayim.

¹³ "Nor are they able to prove to you concerning the things of which now they are accusing me.

¹⁴ "For Ani modeh (I confess) this to you, that according to the Derech Hashem, which they call a ‘kat’ [of Judaism], I serve the Elohei Avoteinu, having emunah in everything written according to the Torah and the Nevi’im.

¹⁵ "I have a tikvah (hope) in Hashem, which also these ones themselves anticipate, the coming Techiyas HaMesim of both the Tzaddikim and the Resha’im.

¹⁶ "In view of this, I always do my best to keep a matzpun naki (clear conscience) before Hashem and before anashim.

¹⁷ "Now after many years, I came bringing nedavot (donations) to my people and also to make korbanot (sacrifices).

¹⁸ "And this is how they found me, having undergone purification in the Beis Hamikdash, not with rioters nor with any disturbance.

¹⁹ "But there were some Yehudim from the Province of Asia who ought to be present before you to make accusation, if they might have something against me.

²⁰ "Or let these themselves say what crime they found in me when they stood me before the Sanhedrin,

²¹ "unless it is about this one statement, which I stood and cried out among them, and that statement was concerning the Techiyas HaMesim, and it is for this that I am being judged today by you."

²² But Felix, who was already rather well informed about the Derech Hashem, adjourned the meeting, saying, "When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case."

²³ Then Felix gave orders to the centurion to guard Rav Sha’ul, but to grant him considerable liberty and not to prevent his chaverim from ministering to his needs.