Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

129 (Shir HaMa’alot) Many a time have they afflicted me from my ne’ur, may Yisroel now say;

² Many a time have they afflicted me from my ne’ur (youth); yet they have not prevailed against me.

³ The choreshim (plowers) plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.

⁴ Hashem is tzaddik; He hath cut asunder the cords of the resha’im.

⁵ Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Tziyon [i.e, all anti-Semites].

⁶ Let them be as the khatzir (grass) upon the housetops, which withereth before it groweth up;

⁷ With it the kotzer (reaper) filleth not his yad; nor he that gathereth sheaves, his bosom.

⁸ Neither do they which go by say, Birkat Hashem be upon you; we bless you b’Shem Hashem.

¹⁴ Then Tzidkiyah HaMelech sent, and took Yirmeyah HaNavi unto him into the third entrance that is in the Bais Hashem; and HaMelech said unto Yirmeyah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.

¹⁵ Then Yirmeyah said unto Tzidkiyah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? And if I give thee etzah, wilt thou not refuse to pay heed unto me?

¹⁶ So Tzidkiyah HaMelech swore secretly unto Yirmeyah, saying, As Hashem liveth, that made our very nefesh, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the yad of these anashim that seek thy nefesh.

¹⁷ Then said Yirmeyah unto Tzidkiyah, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: If thou wilt assuredly surrender unto the sarim of Melech Bavel, then thy nefesh shall live, and this city shall not be burned down with eish; and thou shalt live, and thine Bais;

¹⁸ But if thou wilt not surrender unto the sarim of Melech Bavel, then shall this city be given into the yad of the Kasdim, and they shall burn it down with eish, and thou shalt not escape out of their yad.

¹⁹ And Tzidkiyah HaMelech said unto Yirmeyah, I am afraid of the Yehudim that are fallen as defectors to the Kasdim (Chaldeans), lest they deliver me into their yad, and they abuse me.

²⁰ But Yirmeyah said, They shall not deliver thee. Now obey the voice of Hashem, which I speak unto thee; so it shall be well unto thee, and thy nefesh shall live.

²¹ But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the davar that Hashem hath showed me:

²² And, hinei, all the nashim that are left in the Bais Melech Yehudah shall be brought forth to the sarim of Melech Bavel, and those nashim shall say, Thy close friends misled thee, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mud, and they desert thee.

²³ So they shall surrender all thy nashim and thy banim to the Kasdim (Chaldeans); and thou shalt not escape out of their yad, but shalt be captured by the yad Melech Bavel; and thou shalt cause this city to be burned down with eish.

²⁴ Then said Tzidkiyah unto Yirmeyah, Let no ish know of these devarim, and thou shalt not die.

²⁵ But if the sarim hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto HaMelech, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what HaMelech said unto thee;

²⁶ Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my techinnah (supplication) before HaMelech, that he would not cause me to return to Bais Yonatan, to die there.

²⁷ Then came all the sarim unto Yirmeyah, and questioned him; and he told them according to all these devarim that HaMelech had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter had not been overheard.

²⁸ So Yirmeyah abode in the Khatzer (courtyard) of the Guard until the day that Yerushalayim was captured; and he was there when Yerushalayim was taken.

6 Does anyone of you having a dispute with an Ach b’Moshiach dare to be judged before the resha’im (unrighteous, evildoers) and not before the Bet Din of the Kadoshim?

² Or do you not have da’as that the Kadoshim will sit in mishpat over the Olam Hazeh? And if the Olam Hazeh is to be judged by you, are you incompetent dayanim to try the smallest cases?

³ Do you lack da’as that the malachim will come before our Bet Din? Not to mention the things of Olam Hazeh!

⁴ If, then, you have cases concerning matters of the Olam Hazeh, how could you appoint as your Bet Din dayanim men who have no standing in the kehillah?

⁵ I speak to your bushah (shame). Is there not among you even one chacham (wise man) who will be able to sit in mishpat between his Achim b’Moshiach?

⁶ But an Ach b’Moshiach takes another Ach b’Moshiach to court, and this before the courtroom of Apikorosim (Unbelievers)?

⁷ Already, therefore, it is a total defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be cheated?

⁸ But you yourselves do wrong and practice hona’ah (cheating), and this to your Achim b’Moshiach.

⁹ Or do you not have da’as that the resha’im (unrighteous ones) will not inherit the Malchut Hashem? Do not be deceived! Neither zannayim (fornicators) nor ovdei elilim (idolaters) nor mena’afim (adulterers) nor effeminate call boys nor homosexuals [IYOV 13:9; VAYIKRA 18:20; DEVARIM 22:22; VAYIKRA 18:22]

¹⁰ Nor ganavim (thieves) nor kamtzanim (misers) nor shikkorim (drunkards) nor megadefim (revilers) nor the ones doing hona’ah (swindling)—none of these will inherit the Malchut Hashem.

¹¹ And some of you were these things. But you were washed and made tehorim (clean), you were made to be Am Kadosh, you were made to be yitzdak im Hashem in the name of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua Adoneinu and in the Ruach Hakodesh of Eloheinu.