Introduction
The Tehillim Shlomo (Psalms of Solomon) are a collection of eighteen psalms composed by devout Yahudim in Yerushalayim around 63 BCE, in the aftermath of the conquest of Yerushalayim by the Roman general Pompey. Originally written in Hebrew — though only the Greek (LXX) and Syriac translations survive — they are preserved in the Septuagint manuscript tradition.
Psalms 17 and 18 contain the most fully developed portrait of the coming Ben David / HaMashiach in all Second Temple literature — describing a righteous Melekh who will purge Yerushalayim, judge the nations with the Word of his mouth, shepherd Yahuah's flock by the Ruach HaKodesh, and rule in purity and wisdom. They are the living Messianic exegetical context for the proclamation of Yeshua as HaMashiach Yahuah.
Verse numbers have been added following the standard scholarly versification. The divine Name is restored as Yahuah. All Hebraic vocabulary follows the established Ivri Heritage Bible standard. The liturgical notation Selah has been restored where it appeared as 'Sila' in the source transcript.
Chapter 1
1
I cried unto Yahuah when I was in distress, unto Elohim when sinners assailed me.
2
Suddenly the alarm of war was heard before me.
3
I said, "He will hearken to me, for I am full of righteousness."
4
I thought in my heart that I was full of righteousness because I was well off and had become rich in children.
5
Their wealth spread to the whole earth, and their glory unto the end of the earth.
6
They were exalted unto the stars. They said they would never fall.
7
But they became insolent in their prosperity, and they were without understanding.
8
Their sins were in secret, and even I had no knowledge of them.
9
Their transgressions went beyond those of the goyim before them.
10
They utterly polluted the holy things of Yahuah.
Chapter 2 Concerning Yerushalayim
1
When the sinner waxed proud with a battering ram, he cast down fortified walls, and You did not restrain him.
2
Alien nations ascended Your mizbeach (altar). They trampled it proudly with their sandals.
3
Because the sons of Yerushalayim had defiled the holy things of Yahuah, had profaned with iniquities the offerings of Elohim,
4
Therefore He said, "Cast them far from Me." It was held at nothing before Elohim. It was utterly dishonored.
5
The sons and the daughters were in grievous captivity. Sealed was their neck, branded was it among the nations.
6
According to their sins has He done unto them, for He has left them in the hands of them that prevailed.
7
He has turned away His face from pitying them, young and old, and their children together.
8
For they had done evil, one and all, in not hearkening.
9
And the shamayim were angry, and the aretz abhorred them, for no man upon it had done what they did.
10
And the aretz recognized all Your righteous judgments, O Elohim.
11
They set the sons of Yerushalayim to be mocked at in return for the harlots in her. Every wayfarer entered in in the full light of day.
12
They made mock with their transgressions as they themselves were wont to do. In the full light of day they revealed their iniquities.
13
And the daughters of Yerushalayim were defiled in accordance with Your judgment, because they had defiled themselves with unnatural intercourse.
14
I am pained in my bowels and my inward parts for these things. And yet I will justify You, O Elohim, in uprightness of heart.
15
For in Your judgments is Your righteousness displayed, O Elohim.
16
For You have rendered to the sinners according to their deeds, yea, according to their deeds which were very wicked.
17
You have uncovered their sins, that Your judgment might be made manifest. You have wiped out their memorial from the earth.
18
Elohim is a righteous judge, and He is no respecter of persons.
19
For the nations reproached Yerushalayim, trampling it down. Her beauty was dragged down from the throne of glory.
20
She girded on sackcloth instead of comely raiment. A rope was about her head instead of a crown.
21
She put off the glorious diadem which Elohim had set upon her. In dishonor was her beauty cast upon the ground.
22
And I saw and entreated Yahuah and said, "Long enough, O Yahuah, has Your hand been heavy on Yisrael in bringing the nations upon them.
23
For they have made sport unsparingly in wrath and fierce anger, and they will make an utter end, unless You, O Yahuah, rebuke them in Your wrath.
24
For they have done it not in zeal, but in lust of soul, pouring out their wrath upon us with a view to rapine.
25
Delay not, O Elohim, to recompense them on their heads, to turn the pride of the dragon into dishonor."
26
And I had not long to wait before Elohim showed me the insolent one slain on the mountains of Egypt, esteemed of less account than the beast on land and sea.
27
His body too borne hither and thither on the billows with much insolence, with none to bury him, because He had rejected him with dishonor.
28
He reflected not that he was a man and reflected not on the latter end. He said, "I will be Lord of land and sea."
29
And he recognized not that it is Elohim who is great, mighty in His great strength.
30
He is Melekh (King) over the shamayim, and judges kings and kingdoms. It is He who sets up in glory, and brings down the proud to eternal destruction in dishonor, because they knew Him not.
31
And now behold, you princes of the earth, the judgment of Yahuah. For a great Melekh and righteous is He, judging all that is under the shamayim.
32
Bless Elohim, you that fear Yahuah with wisdom. For the mercy of Yahuah will be upon them that fear Him in the judgment,
33
so that He will distinguish between the righteous and the sinner, and recompense the sinners forever according to their deeds,
34
and have mercy on the righteous, delivering him from the affliction of the sinner, and recompensing the sinner for what he has done to the righteous.
35
For Yahuah is good to them that call upon Him in patience, doing according to His mercy to His chasidim (pious ones),
36
establishing them at all times before Him in strength.
37
Blessed be Yahuah forever before His servants.
Chapter 3 Concerning the Righteous
1
Why do you sleep, O my nefesh, and bless not Yahuah? Sing a new song unto Elohim who is worthy to be praised. Sing and be wakeful unto His awakening.
2
For good is a psalm sung to Elohim from a glad heart.
3
The tzaddik (righteous one) remembers Yahuah at all times with thanksgiving and declaration of the righteousness of Yahuah's judgments.
4
The tzaddik despises not the chastening of Yahuah. His will is always before Yahuah.
5
The tzaddik stumbles and holds Yahuah righteous. He falls and looks out for what Elohim will do to him. He seeks out whence his deliverance will come.
6
The steadfastness of the tzaddik is from Elohim their Deliverer.
7
Sin lodges not in the house of the tzaddik upon sin. The tzaddik continually searches his house to remove utterly all iniquity done by him in error.
8
He makes atonement for sins of ignorance by fasting and afflicting his nefesh. And Yahuah counts guiltless every chasid (pious man) and his house.
9
The sinner stumbles and curses his life the day when he was begotten and his mother's travail. He adds sins to sins while he lives.
10
He falls — verily grievous is his fall — and rises no more. The destruction of the sinner is forever, and he shall not be remembered when the tzaddik is visited.
11
This is the portion of sinners forever.
12
But they that fear Yahuah shall rise to life eternal, and their life shall be in the light of Yahuah, and shall come to an end no more.
Chapter 4 A Conversation of Shlomo with the Men-Pleasers
1
Why do you sit, O profane man, in the council of the chasidim (pious), seeing that your heart is far removed from Yahuah,
2
provoking with transgressions the Elohim of Yisrael, extravagant in speech, extravagant in outward seeming beyond all men?
3
He is severe of speech in condemning sinners in judgment, and his hand is first upon him as though he acted in zeal. And yet he is himself guilty in respect of manifold sins and of wantonness.
4
His eyes are upon every woman without distinction. His tongue lies when he makes contract with an oath.
5
By night and in secret he sins as though unseen. With his eyes he talks to every woman of evil compacts. He is swift to enter every house with cheerfulness as though guiltless.
6
Let Elohim remove those that live in hypocrisy in the company of the chasidim, even the life of such a one with corruption of his flesh and penury.
7
Let Elohim reveal the deeds of the men- pleasers with laughter and derision, that the chasidim may count righteous the judgment of their Elohim, when sinners are removed from before the tzaddik,
8
even the man-pleaser who utters Torah unlawfully, and their eyes are fixed upon any man's house that is still secure, that they may, like the serpent, destroy the wisdom of the words of transgressors.
9
His words are deceitful that he may accomplish his wicked desire. He never ceases from scattering families as though they were orphans.
10
Yea, he lays waste a house on account of his lawless desire. He deceives with words, saying, 'There is none that sees or judges.'
11
He fills one house with lawlessness and then his eyes are fixed upon the next house to destroy it with words that give wing to desire.
12
Yet with all these, his nefesh like She'ol is not sated.
13
Let his portion, O Yahuah, be dishonored before You. Let him go forth groaning and come home cursed.
14
Let his life be spent in anguish and penury and want. O Yahuah, let his sleep be beset with pains and his awaking with perplexities.
15
Let sleep be withdrawn from his eyelids at night. Let him fail dishonorably in every work of his hands.
16
Let him come home empty-handed to his house, and his house be void of everything wherewith he could satisfy his appetite.
17
Let his old age be spent in childless loneliness until his removal by death.
18
Let the flesh of the men-pleasers be rent by wild beasts, and let the bones of the lawless lie dishonored in the sight of the sun.
19
Let ravens peck out the eyes of the hypocrites, for they have laid waste many houses of men in dishonor, and scattered them in their lust.
20
And they have not remembered Elohim, nor feared Elohim in all these things. But they have provoked Elohim's anger and vexed Him.
21
May He remove them from off the earth because with deceit they beguiled the nefashot (souls) of the flawless.
22
Blessed are they that fear Yahuah in their flawlessness. Yahuah shall deliver them from guileful men and sinners and deliver us from every stumbling block of the lawless.
23
Let Elohim destroy them that incidentally work all unrighteousness. For a great and mighty judge is Yahuah our Elohim in righteousness.
24
Let Your mercy, O Yahuah, be upon all them that love You.
Chapter 5
1
O Yahuah Elohim, I will praise Your Name with joy in the midst of them that know Your righteous judgments.
2
For You are good and merciful, the refuge of the poor. When I cry to You, do not silently disregard me.
3
For no man takes spoil from a mighty man. Who then can take aught of all that You have made except You Yourself give?
4
For man and his portion lie before You in the balance. He cannot add so as to enlarge what has been prescribed by You.
5
O Elohim, when we are in distress, we call upon You for help, and You do not turn back our petition, for You are our Elohim.
6
Cause not Your hand to be heavy upon us, lest through necessity we sin. Even though You restore us not, we will not keep away, but unto You will we come.
7
For if I hunger, unto You will I cry, O Elohim, and You will give to me.
8
Birds and fish do You nourish, in that You give rain to the steppe that green grass may spring up so to prepare fodder in the steppe for every living thing.
9
And if they hunger, unto You do they lift up their face. Kings and rulers and peoples do You nourish, O Elohim.
10
And who is the help of the poor and needy if not You, O Yahuah? And You will hearken.
11
For who is good and gentle but You, making glad the nefesh of the humble by opening Your hand in mercy?
12
Man's goodness is bestowed grudgingly. And if he repeats it without murmuring, even that is marvelous. But Your gift is great in goodness and wealth.
13
And he whose hope is set upon You shall have no lack of gifts. Upon the whole earth is Your mercy, O Yahuah, in goodness.
14
Happy is he whom Elohim remembers in granting to him a due sufficiency. If a man abounds overmuch, he sins. Sufficient are moderate means with righteousness.
15
And hereby the blessing of Yahuah becomes abundance with righteousness.
16
They that fear Yahuah rejoice in good gifts, and Your goodness is upon Yisrael in Your kingdom.
17
Blessed is the glory of Yahuah, for He is our Melekh.
Chapter 6
1
Happy is the man whose heart is fixed to call upon the Name of Yahuah. When he remembers the Name of Yahuah, he will be saved.
2
His ways are made even by Yahuah, and the works of his hands are preserved by Yahuah his Elohim.
3
At what he sees in his bad dreams, his nefesh shall not be troubled.
4
When he passes through rivers and the tossing of the seas, he shall not be dismayed. He arises from his sleep and blesses the Name of Yahuah.
5
When his heart is at peace, he sings to the Name of his Elohim. And he entreats Yahuah for all his house.
6
And Yahuah hears the prayer of everyone that fears Elohim. And every request of the nefesh that hopes in Him does Yahuah accomplish.
7
Blessed is Yahuah who shows mercy to those who love Him in sincerity.
Chapter 7 Of Turning
1
Make not Your dwelling far from us, O Elohim, lest they assail us that hate us without cause.
2
For You have rejected them, O Elohim — let not their foot trample upon Your holy nachalah (inheritance).
3
Chasten us Yourself in Your good pleasure, but give us not up to the nations.
4
For if You send pestilence, You Yourself give the charge concerning us. For You are merciful and will not be angry to the point of consuming us.
5
While Your Name dwells in our midst, we shall find mercy, and the nations shall not prevail against us, for You are our shield.
6
And when we call upon You, You hearken to us. For You will pity the seed of Yisrael forever, and You will not reject them.
7
But we shall be under Your yoke forever, and under the rod of Your chastening. You will establish us in the time that You help us,
8
showing mercy to the house of Ya'akov on the day wherein You did promise to help them.
Chapter 8 Of the Chief Musician
1
Distress and the sound of war has my ear heard. The sound of a shofar (trumpet) announcing slaughter and calamity.
2
The sound of much people as of an exceeding high wind, as a tempest with mighty fire sweeping through the Negev.
3
And I said in my heart, "Surely Elohim judges us." A sound I hear moving toward Yerushalayim, the Ir HaKodesh (holy city).
4
My loins were broken at what I heard. My knees tottered. My heart was afraid. My bones were dismayed like flax.
5
I said, "They established their ways in righteousness." I thought upon the judgments of Elohim since the creation of the shamayim and the aretz.
6
I held Elohim righteous in His judgments, which have been from of old. Elohim laid bare their sins in the full light of day.
7
All the earth came to know the righteous judgments of Elohim. In secret places underground, their iniquities were committed to provoke Him to anger.
8
They wrought confusion, son with mother and father with daughter. They committed adultery every man with his neighbor's wife.
9
They concluded covenants with one another with an oath touching these things.
10
They plundered the Beit HaMikdash (sanctuary) of Elohim as though there was no avenger.
11
They trod the mizbeach of Yahuah coming straight from all manner of uncleanness.
12
And with menstrual blood they defiled the sacrifices as though these were common flesh. They left no sin undone, wherein they surpassed not the goyim.
13
Therefore Elohim mingled for them a spirit of wandering, and gave them to drink a cup of undiluted wine, that they might become drunken.
14
He brought him that is from the end of the earth, that smites mightily. He decreed war against Yerushalayim and against her land.
15
The princes of the land went out to meet him with joy. They said unto him, "Blessed be your way. Come, enter with peace."
16
They made the rough ways even before his entering in. They opened the gates of Yerushalayim. They crowned its walls.
17
As a father enters the house of his sons, so he entered Yerushalayim in peace. He established his feet there in great safety.
18
He captured her fortresses and the wall of Yerushalayim, for Elohim Himself led him in safety while they wandered.
19
He destroyed their princes and everyone wise in counsel. He poured out the blood of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim like the water of uncleanness.
20
He led away their sons and daughters whom they had begotten in defilement. They did according to their uncleanness, even as their fathers had done.
21
They defiled Yerushalayim and the things that had been hallowed to the Name of Elohim.
22
But Elohim has shown Himself righteous in His judgments upon the nations of the earth. And the chasidim (pious servants) of Elohim are like innocent lambs in their midst.
23
Worthy to be praised is Yahuah that judges the whole earth in His righteousness.
24
Behold now, O Elohim, You have shown us Your judgment in Your righteousness. Our eyes have seen Your judgments, O Elohim.
25
We have justified Your Name that is honored forever. For You are the Elohim of righteousness, judging Yisrael with chastening.
26
Turn, O Elohim, Your mercy upon us, and have pity upon us. Gather together the dispersed of Yisrael with mercy and goodness.
27
For Your faithfulness is with us. And though we have stiffened our neck, yet You are our chastener.
28
Overlook us not, O our Elohim, lest the nations swallow us up as though there were none to deliver.
29
But You are our Elohim from the beginning, and upon You is our hope set, O Yahuah, and we will not depart from You.
30
For good are Your judgments upon us. Ours and our children's be Your good pleasure forever, O Yahuah our Elohim.
31
We shall never more be moved. Yahuah is worthy to be praised for His judgments with the mouth of His chasidim.
32
And blessed be Yisrael of Yahuah forever.
Chapter 9 For Rebuke
1
When Yisrael was led away captive into a strange land, when they fell away from Yahuah who redeemed them, they were cast away from the nachalah which Yahuah had given them.
2
Among every nation were the dispersed of Yisrael according to the Word of Elohim — that You might be justified, O Elohim, in Your righteousness by reason of our transgressions.
3
For You are a just judge over all the peoples of the earth. For from Your knowledge, none that does unjustly is hidden, and the righteous deeds of Your chasidim are before You, O Yahuah.
4
Where then can a man hide himself from Your knowledge, O Elohim?
5
Our works are subject to our own choice and power to do right or wrong in the works of our hands. And in Your righteousness You visit the sons of men.
6
He that does righteousness lays up for himself with Yahuah. And he that does wrongly forfeits his life to destruction.
7
For the judgments of Yahuah are given in righteousness to every man and his house.
8
Unto whom are You good, O Elohim, except to them that call upon Yahuah? He cleanses from sins a nefesh when it makes confession, when it makes acknowledgment.
9
For shame is upon us and upon our faces on account of all these things. And to whom does He forgive sins, except to them that have sinned?
10
You bless the tzaddik, and You do not reprove them for the sins that they have committed. And Your goodness is upon them that sin when they repent.
11
And now You are our Elohim, and we the people whom You have loved. Behold and show pity, O Elohim of Yisrael, for we are Yours.
12
Remove not Your mercy from us, lest they assail us. For You did choose the seed of Avraham before all the nations, and did set Your Name upon us, O Yahuah, and You will not reject us forever.
13
You made a Beriyt (covenant) with our fathers concerning us, and we hope in You when our nefesh turns unto You.
14
The mercy of Yahuah be upon the house of Yisrael forever and ever.
Chapter 10 A Hymn of Shlomo
1
Happy is the man whom Yahuah remembers with reproving, and whom He restrains from the way of evil with strokes, that he may be cleansed from sin, that it may not be multiplied.
2
He that makes ready his back for strokes shall be cleansed. For Yahuah is good to them that endure chastening.
3
For He makes straight the ways of the tzaddik and does not pervert them by His chastening.
4
And the mercy of Yahuah is upon them that love Him in truth. And Yahuah remembers His servants in mercy.
5
For the testimony is in the Torah of the eternal Beriyt (covenant). The testimony of Yahuah is on the ways of men in His visitation.
6
Just and kind is our Yahuah in His judgments forever.
7
And Yisrael shall praise the Name of Yahuah in gladness. And the chasidim shall give thanks in the assembly of the people.
8
And on the poor shall Elohim have mercy in the gladness of Yisrael. For good and merciful is Elohim forever.
9
And the assemblies of Yisrael shall glorify the Name of Yahuah. The Yeshuah (salvation) of Yahuah is upon the house of Yisrael unto everlasting gladness.
Chapter 11 Unto Expectation
1
Blow the shofar in Tzion (Zion) to summon the kedoshim (saints). Cause to be heard in Yerushalayim the voice of him that brings Besorah (good tidings).
2
For Elohim has had pity on Yisrael in visiting them. Stand on the height, O Yerushalayim, and behold your children from the east and the west, gathered together by Yahuah.
3
From the north they come in the gladness of their Elohim. From the isles of far off Elohim has gathered them.
4
High mountains had He abased into a plain for them. The hills fled at their entrance. The woods gave them shelter as they passed by.
5
Every sweet-smelling tree Elohim caused to spring up for them, that Yisrael might pass by in the visitation of the glory of their Elohim.
6
Put on, Yerushalayim, your glorious garments. Make ready your holy robe, for Elohim has spoken good concerning Yisrael forever and ever.
7
Let Yahuah do what He has spoken concerning Yisrael and Yerushalayim.
8
Let Yahuah raise up Yisrael by His glorious Name.
9
The mercy of Yahuah is upon Yisrael forever and ever.
Chapter 12 Against the Tongue of Transgressors
1
O Yahuah, deliver my nefesh from the lawless and wicked man, from the tongue that is lawless and slanderous, and speaks lies and deceit.
2
Manifoldly twisted are the words of the tongue of the wicked man, even as among a people of fire that burns up their beauty. So he delights to fill houses with a lying tongue, to cut down the trees of gladness.
3
Which sets on fire transgressors, to involve households in warfare by means of slanderous lips. May Elohim remove far from the innocent the lips of transgressors by bringing them to want.
4
May the bones of slanderers be scattered far away from them that fear Yahuah. In flaming fire perish the slanderous tongue far away from the chasidim.
5
May Yahuah preserve the quiet nefesh that hates the unrighteous. And may Yahuah establish the man that follows peace at home.
6
The Yeshuah of Yahuah be upon Yisrael His servant forever. And let the sinners perish together at the presence of Yahuah. But let the chasidim of Yahuah inherit the promises of Yahuah.
Chapter 13 Comfort for the Righteous
1
The right hand of Yahuah has covered me. The right hand of Yahuah has spared us.
2
The arm of Yahuah has saved us from the sword that passed through, from famine and the death of sinners.
3
Noisome beasts ran upon them. With their teeth they tore their flesh and with their molars crushed their bones. But from all these things Yahuah delivered us.
4
The tzaddik was troubled on account of his errors, lest he should be taken away along with the sinners. For terrible is the overthrow of the sinner.
5
But not one of all these things touches the tzaddik. For not alike are the chastening of the tzaddik for sins done in ignorance, and the overthrow of the sinners.
6
Secretly is the tzaddik chastened, lest the sinner rejoice over the tzaddik.
7
For He corrects the tzaddik as a beloved son, and His chastisement is that of a firstborn.
8
For Yahuah spares His chasidim, and blots out their errors by His chastening.
9
For the life of the tzaddik shall be forever, but sinners shall be taken away into destruction, and their memorial shall be found no more.
10
But upon the chasidim is the mercy of Yahuah, and upon them that fear Him, His mercy.
Chapter 14 A Hymn
1
Faithful is Yahuah to them that love Him in truth, to them that endure His chastening, to them that walk in the righteousness of His commandments,
2
in the Torah which He commanded us that we might live. The chasidim of Yahuah shall live by it forever.
3
The Gan Eden (paradise) of Yahuah, the trees of life, are His chasidim. Their planting is rooted forever. They shall not be plucked up all the days of the shamayim.
4
For the portion and nachalah of Elohim is Yisrael.
5
But not so are the sinners and transgressors who love the brief day spent in companionship with their sin. Their delight is in fleeting corruption, and they remember not Elohim.
6
For the ways of men are known before Him at all times, and He knows the secrets of the heart before they come to pass.
7
Therefore, their nachalah is She'ol and darkness and destruction, and they shall not be found in the day when the tzaddikim obtain mercy.
8
But the chasidim of Yahuah shall inherit life in gladness.
Chapter 15 With a Song
1
When I was in distress, I called upon the Name of Yahuah. I hoped for the help of the Elohim of Ya'akov and was saved.
2
For the hope and refuge of the poor are You, O Elohim. For who, O Elohim, is strong except to give thanks unto You in truth?
3
And wherein is a man powerful except in giving thanks to Your Name?
4
A new psalm with song in gladness of heart. The fruit of the lips with the well-tuned instrument of the tongue. The firstfruits of the lips from a chasid and righteous heart.
5
He that offers these things shall never be shaken by evil.
6
The flame of fire and wrath against the unrighteous shall not touch him when it goes forth from the face of Yahuah against sinners to destroy all the substance of sinners.
7
For the mark of Elohim is upon the tzaddik that they may be saved.
8
Famine and sword and pestilence shall be far from the tzaddikim, for they shall flee away from the chasidim as men pursued in war. But they shall pursue sinners and overtake them.
9
And they that do lawlessness shall not escape the judgment of Elohim — as by enemies experienced in war shall they be overtaken.
10
For the mark of destruction is upon their forehead, and the nachalah of sinners is destruction and darkness, and their iniquities shall pursue them unto She'ol beneath.
11
Their nachalah shall not be found of their children. For sins shall lay waste the house of sinners, and sinners shall perish forever in the day of the judgment of Yahuah.
12
When Elohim visits the earth with His judgment. But they that fear Yahuah shall find mercy therein, and shall live by the compassion of their Elohim,
13
but sinners shall perish forever.
Chapter 16 A Hymn for Help to the Chasidim
1
When my nefesh slumbered, being afar from Yahuah, I had all but slipped down to the pit.
2
When I was far from Elohim, my nefesh had been nigh poured out unto death. I had been nigh unto the gates of She'ol with the sinner.
3
When my nefesh departed from Yahuah Elohim of Yisrael, had not Yahuah helped me with His everlasting mercy,
4
He pricked me as a horse is pricked that I might serve Him — my Savior and Helper at all times saved me.
5
I will give thanks unto You, O Elohim, for You have helped me to my Yeshuah (salvation), and have not counted me with sinners to my destruction.
6
Remove not Your mercy from me, O Elohim, nor Your memorial from my heart until I die.
7
Rule me, O Elohim, keeping me back from wicked sin, and from every wicked woman that causes the simple to stumble.
8
And let not the beauty of a lawless woman beguile me, nor anyone that is subject to unprofitable sin.
9
Establish the works of my hands before You, and preserve my goings in the remembrance of You.
10
Protect my tongue and my lips with words of truth. Anger and unreasoning wrath far from me. Murmuring and impatience in affliction remove far from me.
11
When I sin, You chasten me that I may return unto You. But with good will and cheerfulness support my nefesh.
12
When You strengthen my nefesh, what is given to me will be sufficient for me.
13
For if You give not strength, who can endure chastisement with poverty? When a man is rebuked by means of his corruption, the testing of him is in his flesh and in the affliction of poverty.
14
If the tzaddik endures in all these trials, he shall receive mercy from Yahuah.
Chapter 17 With Song of the Melekh (King)
1
O Yahuah, You are our Melekh (King) forever and ever. For in You, O Elohim, does our nefesh glory.
2
How long are the days of man's life upon the earth? As are his days, so is the hope set upon him. But we hope in Elohim our Deliverer.
3
For the might of our Elohim is forever with mercy, and the kingdom of our Elohim is forever over the nations in judgment.
4
You, O Yahuah, did choose David to be Melekh over Yisrael, and swore to him touching his seed that never should his kingdom fail before You.
5
But for our sins, sinners rose up against us. They assailed us and thrust us out.
6
What You had not promised to them, they took away from us with violence. They in no wise glorified Your honorable Name.
7
They set a worldly monarchy in place of that which was their excellency. They laid waste the throne of David in tumultuous arrogance.
8
But You, O Elohim, did cast them down and remove their seed from the earth.
9
In that there rose up against them a man that was alien to our race — according to their sins did You recompense them, O Elohim, so that it befell them according to their deeds.
10
Elohim showed them no pity. He sought out their seed, and let not one of them go free.
11
Faithful is Yahuah in all His judgments, which He does upon the earth.
12
The lawless one laid waste our land so that none inhabited it. They destroyed young and old and their children together.
13
In the heat of His anger, He sent them away even unto the west. And He exposed the rulers of the land unsparingly to derision.
14
Being an alien, the enemy acted proudly, and his heart was alien from our Elohim.
15
And all things whatsoever he did in Yerushalayim, as also the nations did in the cities to their gods.
16
And the children of the Beriyt in the midst of the mingled peoples surpassed them in evil. There was not among them one that wrought in the midst of Yerushalayim mercy and truth.
17
But they that loved the batei knesset (synagogues) of the chasidim fled from them as sparrows that fly from their nest.
18
They wandered in deserts that their lives might be saved from harm. And precious in the eyes of them that lived abroad was any that escaped alive from them.
19
Over the whole earth were they scattered by lawless men. For the shamayim withheld the rain from dropping upon the earth.
20
Springs were stopped that sprang perennial out of the deeps that ran down from lofty mountains.
21
For there was none among them that wrought righteousness and justice, from the chief of them to the least of them. All were sinful.
22
The Melekh was a transgressor and the judge disobedient and the people sinful.
23
Behold, O Yahuah, and raise up unto them their Melekh, the Ben David (son of David), at the time in which You see, O Elohim, that he may reign over Yisrael Your servant.
24
And gird him with strength, that he may shatter unrighteous rulers, and that he may purge Yerushalayim from nations that trample her down to destruction.
25
Wisely, righteously, he shall thrust out sinners from the nachalah.
26
He shall destroy the pride of the sinner as a potter's vessel. With a rod of iron he shall break in pieces all their substance.
27
He shall destroy the godless nations with the Word of his mouth. At his rebuke, nations shall flee before him,
28
and he shall reprove sinners for the thoughts of their heart.
29
And he shall gather together a holy people, whom he shall lead in righteousness, and he shall judge the tribes of the people that has been sanctified by Yahuah his Elohim.
30
And he shall not suffer unrighteousness to lodge anymore in their midst. Nor shall there dwell with them any man that knows wickedness.
31
For he shall know them that they are all sons of their Elohim. And he shall divide them according to their tribes upon the land. And neither sojourner nor alien shall sojourn with them anymore.
32
He shall judge peoples and nations in the wisdom of his righteousness. Selah.
33
And he shall have the goyim serve him under his yoke. And he shall glorify Yahuah in a place to be seen of all the earth.
34
And he shall purge Yerushalayim, making it holy as of old, so that nations shall come from the ends of the earth to see his glory,
35
bringing as gifts her sons who had fainted, and to see the glory of Yahuah wherewith Elohim has glorified her.
36
And he shall be a righteous Melekh taught of Elohim over them. And there shall be no unrighteousness in his days in their midst.
37
For all shall be holy, and their Melekh — the HaMashiach (Anointed) of Yahuah.
38
For he shall not put his trust in horse and rider and bow, nor shall he multiply for himself gold and silver for war, nor shall he gather confidence from a multitude for the day of battle.
39
Yahuah Himself is his Melekh. The hope of him that is mighty through his hope in Elohim.
40
All nations shall be in fear before him. For he will smite the earth with the Word of his mouth forever.
41
He will bless the people of Yahuah with wisdom and gladness. And he himself will be pure from sin so that he may rule a great people.
42
He will rebuke rulers and remove sinners by the might of his Word.
43
And relying upon his Elohim throughout his days, he will not stumble. For Elohim will make him mighty by means of the Ruach HaKodesh (holy spirit)
44
and wise by means of the spirit of understanding, with strength and righteousness. And the blessing of Yahuah will be with him.
45
He will be strong and stumble not. His hope will be in Yahuah. Who then can prevail against him?
46
He will be mighty in his works and strong in the fear of Elohim.
47
He will be shepherding the flock of Yahuah faithfully and righteously and will suffer none among them to stumble in their pasture.
48
He will lead them all aright and there will be no pride among them that any among them should be oppressed.
49
This will be the majesty of the Melekh of Yisrael whom Elohim knows. He will raise them up over the house of Yisrael to correct them.
50
His words shall be more refined than the choicest gold. In the assemblies he will judge the peoples, the tribes of the sanctified. His words shall be like the words of the kedoshim in the midst of sanctified peoples.
51
Blessed be they that shall be in those days, in that they shall see the good fortune of Yisrael which Elohim shall bring to pass in the gathering together of the tribes. May Yahuah hasten His mercy upon Yisrael. May He deliver us from the uncleanness of unholy enemies. Yahuah Himself is our Melekh forever and ever.
Chapter 18 Again of the Mashiach of Yahuah
1
Yahuah, Your mercy is over the works of Your hands forever. Your goodness is over Yisrael with a rich gift.
2
Your eyes look upon them so that none of them suffers want. Your ears listen to the hopeful prayer of the poor.
3
Your judgments are executed upon the whole earth in mercy, and Your love is toward the seed of Avraham, the children of Yisrael.
4
Your chastisement is upon us as upon a firstborn only-begotten son to turn back the obedient nefesh from folly that is wrought in ignorance.
5
May Elohim cleanse Yisrael against the day of mercy and blessing, against the day of choice when He brings back His Mashiach.
6
Blessed shall they be that shall be in those days, in that they shall see the goodness of Yahuah which He shall perform for the generation that is to come,
7
under the rod of chastening of the Mashiach of Yahuah, in the fear of his Elohim, in the spirit of wisdom and righteousness and strength,
8
that he may direct every man in the works of righteousness by the fear of Elohim, that he may establish them all before Yahuah.
9
A good generation living in the fear of Elohim in the days of His mercy. Selah.
10
Great is our Elohim and glorious, dwelling in the highest. It is He who has established in their courses the lights of the shamayim for determining seasons from year to year.
11
And they have not turned aside from the way which He appointed them. In the fear of Yahuah they pursue their path every day from the day Elohim created them.
12
And forevermore they have erred not since the day He created them. Since the generations of old, they have not withdrawn from their path, unless Elohim commanded them to do so by the command of His servants.