Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

85 (For the one directing. Of the Bnei Korach. Mizmor.) Hashem, Thou hast been favorable unto Thy land; Thou hast brought back the captivity of Ya’akov.

^2 (3) Thou hast forgiven the avon (iniquity) of Amecha (Thy people); Thou hast covered all their chattat (sin). Selah.

^3 (4) Thou hast withdrawn all Thy wrath; Thou hast turned from Thine charon af.

^4 (5) Turn us, O Elohei Yisheinu (G-d of our salvation), and put away Thine ka’as (anger) toward us.

^5 (6) Wilt Thou be angry with us l’olam? Wilt Thou draw out Thine anger l’dor vador?

^6 (7) Wilt Thou not revive us again; that Amecha (Thy people) may rejoice in Thee?

^7 (8) Show us chasdecha (Thy chesed, kindness, steadfast love), Hashem, and grant us Thy salvation.

^8 (9) I will hear what HaEl Hashem will say; for He will speak shalom unto His people, and to His Chasidim; but let them not turn again to folly.

^9 (10) Surely His salvation is karov (near) them that fear Him; that kavod may dwell in Artzeinu (our land).

^10 (11) Chesed and emes will meet together; tzedek and shalom will kiss each other.

^11 (12) Emes shall titzmach (sprout forth [T.N. Tzemach—Branch, Sprout—is the code name for Moshiach and the coming Tzemach’s Namesake in Zecharyah 6:11-12 is Yehoshua, Yeshua—see Ezra 3:8; Zech 3:8; 6:11-12. Go to Jer 23:5 and look at all the references. These are among the most important Scriptures in the Bible because it is here that the saving Name of Moshiach Tzidkeinu is prophetically communicated for salvation; the word Tzemach means “Moshiach” and it is the code word par excellence for Moshiach in the post-Exilic references in the minor prophets; this veiled reference to Moshiach was necessary in the situation of the Return under Persian rule when talk of a coming king was a delicate matter.]) out of ha’aretz; and tzedek shall look down from Shomayim.

^12 (13) Yes, Hashem shall give that which is tov; and Artzeinu (our land) shall yield her yevul (increase, produce).

^13 (14) Tzedek shall go before Him; and shall set us in the Derech of His steps.

4 Hear the Devar Hashem, ye Bnei Yisroel: for Hashem hath a controversy with the yoshvei ha’aretz, because there is no emes, nor chesed, nor da’as Elohim in ha’aretz. [See 11:7-9; 1K 1:18-19 OJBC]

² By aloh (false swearing, perjury), and kachash (lying), and ratzo’ach (murder), and ganov (stealing), and na’of (committing adultery) they break away, and damim b’damim they follow (bloodshed follows bloodshed).

³ Therefore shall ha’aretz mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall waste away languishing, with the wild beasts of the sadeh, and with the fowls of Shomayim; yea, the dagim of the yam also shall disappear.

⁴ Yet let no ish bring a point of contention, nor reprove another; for thy people are as they that strive with the kohen.

⁵ Therefore shalt thou stumble and fall in the yom, and the navi also shall stumble and fall with thee in the lailah, and I will destroy thy em.

⁶ Ami are destroyed for lack of da’as (knowledge); because thou hast rejected da’as, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no kohen to Me; seeing thou hast forgotten the torat Eloheicha, I will also forget thy banim.

⁷ The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; therefore will I change their kavod into kalon (ignominy, shame).

⁸ They [i.e., the kohanim] feed on the chattat (sin) of Ami, and they relish their avon (iniquity).

⁹ And there shall be, like Am (People), like kohen; and I will visit them with punishment for their ways, and repay them for their doings.

¹⁰ For they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase; because they have abandoned being shomer to heed Hashem.

¹¹ Zenut (prostitution, whoredom) and yayin and tirosh take away the lev (understanding).

¹² Ami (My people) consult a piece of wood, and their staff declareth unto them; for the ruach zenunim hath caused them to err, and they have played the zonah, forsaking Eloheihem.

¹³ They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oak and poplar and terebinth, because the shade thereof is tov; therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law shall commit ni’uf (adultery).

¹⁴ I will not visit punishment upon your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit ni’uf (adultery); because the men consort with zonot, and they sacrifice with kedeshot (temple prostitutes); thus the Am without binah (understanding) shall come to ruin.

¹⁵ Though thou, Yisroel, play the zonah, yet let not Yehudah become guilty; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beit-Aven (House of Iniquity, pejorative name for Bethel), nor swear, Chai Hashem (As the L-rd lives).

¹⁶ For Yisroel slideth back (i.e., is stubborn, rebellious, unmanageable) like a backsliding parah (stubborn, rebellious cow); now Hashem will feed them like a lamb in a wide field.

¹⁷ Ephrayim [i.e., the Northern Kingdom, Israel] is joined to atzabim (idols); leave him alone.

¹⁸ When their drink is sour [i.e., when intoxicated], they have committed whoredom; her mogenim (shields, rulers) deeply love kalon (ignominy, shame).

¹⁹ The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and their zevakhot (sacrifices) shall bring them bushah (shame).

¹⁵ And at this time, having stood up, Kefa, in the midst of the Achim b’Moshiach (there were 120 persons in the place)

¹⁶ —Said, "Achim b’Moshiach, the Kitvei Hakodesh had to be fulfilled, which the Ruach Hakodesh foretold through the peh of Dovid Hamelech concerning Yehudah, who became a guide to the ones arresting Yehoshua.

¹⁷ "For he had been numbered among us, and he received his ministry in the Messianic avodas kodesh of the Moshiach’s Shlichim.

¹⁸ (Now this man, therefore, acquired a sadeh out of the sachar [reward] of his peysha and, having fallen headlong, he plotst [burst] open in the middle and all the inward parts of him were poured out.

¹⁹ And this became known to all the ones inhabiting Yerushalayim, so that the sadeh [field] became known in their language as 'Akeldama’‖that is 'Sadeh of Dahm.')

²⁰ "For it has been written in the Sefer Tehillim, "TEHI the place of him NESHAMMAH (one being deserted)... V’AL YEHI YOSHEV" ("May his place be deserted and let him not be the one dwelling in it": TEHILLIM 69:26) and "PEKUDATO YIKACH ACHER" ("his place of leadership may another take". TEHILLIM 109:8)