Sermon from HP

 I think the Hebrew Poet of Psalms 9-10 has made the point. The sermon here has made a First Nations child be the Hebrew Poet with us as the enemy, the wicked, the criminal. Bear with the whole setup. Listen.

Psalms 1-10 - reading and experience

I have been reading the first 10 psalms in three places this year: First on my own. Second with a group in Cambridge (and they haven't got past Psalms 6 yet). And third with Christopher Page, second hand via comments, these past 10 weeks. Christopher Page has been leading a group from his parish, St Phillip, Oak Bay, not far from where I live. His father was the priest at St Barnabas many years ago. That's even closer to where I live. I don't know if I will meet any of the folks in these groups in person. All discussions have been virtual.

My zeal is troubling to me. I could not stop after 10 weeks, nor could I get bogged down in so much detail that I would never finish. It's a rule of thumb. It comes from having built so many systems and written so many programs, posts, and even books. Have a target and a plan. Get through the content and over the bumps, then review it, then dig in more depth, but keep the overall perspective. It's a multi-pass project.

Here's perhaps the nub of the matter from Psalms 85:11-14. I posted these words a few days ago, but just let them pass without comment or translation. They are a good target for us all.

ksd-vamt npgwu.
xdq vwlom nwqu.
amt marx txmk,
vxdq mwmiim nwqf.
gm-ihvh iitn h'tob,
varxnu titn ibulh.
xdq lpniv ihlç,
viwm ldrç pymiv.

Here are the concordance links for the 20 roots in this section and the lemmas used for them. What alternatives might the poet have considered for this poem? Could we rewrite the poem in Hebrew to express a similar hope? (I've never asked that sort of question before.)

amt	truth	amt(2)
arx	earth, land	arx(2)
gm	yea	gm(1)
drc	way	drc(1)
hlc	walk	hlc(1)
ksd	kindness	ksd(1)
'tvb	good	'tvb(1)
ibl	produce	ibl(1)
ihvh	Yahweh	ihvh(1)
nwq	kissed other	nwq(1)
ntn	give	ntn(2)
pgw	met together	pgw(1)
pnh	before his face	pnh(1)
pym	footfall	pym(1)
xdq	righteousness	xdq(3)
xmk	grow	xmk(1)
wvm	define	wvm(1)
wlm	peace	wlm(1)
wmim	heaven	wmim(1)
wqp	leans look	wqp(1)

Here's the music for just this section (begin at bar 48). You can see that nothing is lost in the automated transformation of the text into music XML to create the score.

Psalms 85:11-14 beginning in bar 48

I counted the letters by hand. 12, 12, 11, 13, 14, 15, 12, 12. 101.

If you allow the hyphen to keep a word together which it does musically, then there are exactly 3 words per line in these 8 verses, 11-14. 

Syllables are below: 8 8 7 8 7 9 8 9 - 64 total.

These two verses are paired 11-12, 13-14. The even numbered verses attach themselves to the odd numbered verses in that they begin on a note other than the default tonic..

Here is the rest of the Psalm.

a lmnxk lbni-qork mzmor	1 For the leader. Of the children of Korah. A psalm.		3e	3e	9
b rxit ihvh arxç wbt wbit iyqob	2 You were favorable Yahweh with your land. You turned the captivity of Jacob.		3e	4B	8 7
g nwat yvon ymç cisit cl-k'tatm slh	3 You bore the iniquity of your people. You covered all their sin. Selah.	g	3e	4B	8 9
d aspt cl-ybrtç hwibot mkron apç	4 You gathered in all your fury. You have turned from your fierce anger.		3e	4A	8 10
h wubnu alohi iwynu vhpr cysç yimnu	5 Turn us O God of our salvation, and thwart your grief with us.	g	3e	4B	9 9
v hlyolm tanf-bnu tmwoç apç ldor vdor	6 Will you forever be angry among us? Will you draw out your anger from generation to generation?		3e	4B	8 8
z hloa-ath twub tkiinu vymç iwmku-bç	7 Will you yourself not turn and revive us, so your people will be glad in you?		3e	4B	9 7
k hranu ihvh ksdç viwyç titn-lnu	8 Show us Yahweh your kindness, and give us your salvation.		3e	4B	8 8
't awmyh mh-idbr hal ihvh ci idbr wlom al-ymo val-ksidiv val-iwubu lcslh	9 I will hear what the God Yahweh will speak, for he will speak peace to his people and to those under his mercy, but let them not turn to folly.		3d	4C	11 14 8
i aç qrob liraiv iwyo lwcon cbod barxnu	10 Surely to those who fear him his salvation is near, that glory may dwell in our land.	C	3e	4C	8 8
ia ksd-vamt npgwu xdq vwlom nwqu	11 Kindness and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.		3e	4B	8 8
ib amt marx txmk vxdq mwmiim nwqf	12 Truth grows from earth,	g	3e	4B	7 8
ig gm-ihvh iitn h'tob varxnu titn ibulh	13 Yea Yahweh gives the good, and our land gives her produce.		3e	4B	7 9
id xdq lpniv ihlç viwm ldrç pymiv	14 Righteousness walks before his face, and defines to the way his footfalls.	g	3e	4B	8 9

I am critical of my word order in verse 12. It could easily be and righteousness from heaven leans over to look. Verse 14, however, is not so easy to say in English with the Hebrew word order. If you are setting the music, feel free to re-order the words.

Here is the music. Some composer somewhere might try an arrangement some day. Recall that this psalm has one of the characteristic shapes of the cantillation in the inscription. See the post on Psalms 69 here.

Starting Psalms 10

Christopher Page says that HP does not have a happy cheery view of life. Ha- ha indeed. :)

We can see our destructive behaviour so clearly these days. Far more of us have become aware of how we exploit transient labour and how we take for granted the essential workers. I grant that we have little control over their working circumstances.

See this article in the Atlantic for instance. 

As you may know, I have written a cantata on the book of Jonah based on the music embedded in the Hebrew text. It is about 20 minutes long. It amazes me how suitable these given melodies were to the English words.

Jonah threatens Nineveh (Cargill) whose evil had come up in Yahweh's face - in your face as the current saying goes, Nineveh is to be 'changed' (not 'destroyed' but 'changed' as in the threat today of 'climate change'). And the king pays attention and all his advisors, and they fast, and so do the animals, and Yahweh changes his mind to Jonah's horror. 

I won't draw any conclusion, because the book of Jonah doesn't, but the story might get the world to change - who is the king who will remove their majestic garments and put on sackcloth for the benefit of his subjects and all the cattle as well?

For more on Jonah and climate change and a link to the cantata, see this post. On writing the cantata, see this post.

Reading in translation - an example Psalms 10:1

How much value is there in reading these texts in translation? This question is from Christopher Page in our blogging dialogue, currently in its 9th week. Here's the first post from April 17th.

My answer must be that there is much value in many ways. I responded quickly in a comment. I have been thinking about the question continuously since he raised it.

It is clear that no one has Biblical Hebrew as a mother tongue. No one ever coins a word or absorbs new words into Biblical Hebrew. Effectively, we can read only in translation. Even a native Hebrew speaker today does not think like an ancient Hebrew. Words change both their sense and their usage over time - and here we are not talking centuries but millennia.

Many people have given this advice, that where possible, we should consult alternate translations. Today that is more easily done than it was in the past. Of course, we may find it threatening to question our traditional words and phrases, and it is more difficult to remember what is unfamiliar, and the music would change - and there is such a long tradition of music from the psalms.

I remember loving the psalms as I gradually learned to sing them. We memorized Psalms 84 and 85 for a choir trip to Kingston, Ontario in the 1950's when I couldn't have been more than 12. 

O how amiable are thy dwellings *
thou Lord of hosts!
My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord *
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young *
even thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house *
they will be alway praising thee. ...

Ah, how that brings back memories, mostly good. Music covers a multitude of sins.

And who can forget the magnificent poetry of Psalms 85.

...

Mercy and truth are met together *
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth shall flourish out of the earth *
and righteousness hath looked down from heaven.
Yea, the Lord shall shew loving-kindness *
and our land shall give her increase.
Righteousness shall go before him *
and he shall direct his going in the way.

(O dear, what have I done to these words! Don't look now - but it's not that bad. The Hebrew here is quite transparent. Notice how compact it is.)

ksd-vamt npgwu.
xdq vwlom nwqu.

amt marx txmk,
vxdq mwmiim nwqf.

gm-ihvh iitn h'tob,
varxnu titn ibulh.

xdq lpniv ihlç,
viwm ldrç pymiv.

But what did I know of these 5 books even after a lifetime of singing them? Selah... the stories of David (book 1+), the exile, the poems of the children of Korah, and Asaph, Ethan the Ezrahite, Jeduthun, (books 2 and 3), the massive laments, the response of what has been called the book of Moses (book 4) to the two books from the exile, the 8 acrostics and the two oracles (books 1 and 5), the patterns of worship in the Temple, the movement from exile to praise, (book 5+). 

The complexity is overwhelming. As I think of school and how much we memorized, I ask myself why we didn't memorize in French and Latin as well. Imagine what we might have learned with a tri-lingual reading.

Today, we can scan many different translations on the web at one go. As we begin Psalms 10, I thought to look at the first verse. Psalms 10 is the continuation of the acrostic of Psalms 9. 

King James Version	Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
Coverdale	Why standest thou so far off, O Lord * and hidest thy face in the needful time of trouble?
Jerusalem Bible	Yahweh, why do you stand aside, why hide from us now the times are hard?
Revised English Bible	Why stand far off, Lord? Why hide away in times of trouble?
Hebrew, the Square text, pointed, from the Leningrad Codex	לָמָ֣ה יְ֭הוָה תַּעֲמֹ֣ד בְּרָח֑וֹק תַּ֝עְלִ֗ים לְעִתּ֥וֹת בַּצָּרֽ͏ָה׃
SimHebrew, a partially vocalized text one for one with the unpointed text.	lmh ihvh tymod brkoq, tylim lyitot bxrh?
Greek	ἵνα τί κύριε ἀφέστηκας μακρόθεν ὑπερορᾷς ἐν εὐκαιρίαις ἐν θλίψει
New English Translation of the Septuagint	Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you overlook, at the right moment, in affliction?
Latin	Ut quid, Domine, recessisti longe; despicis in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione?
French	Pourquoi, ô Éternel, te tiens-tu loin, et te caches-tu au temps de la détresse?
English	Other renderings.

My translation for this 'L' verse is:

LORD why do you stand in the distance,
obscure in times of trouble?

I used Lord for the initial 'L' where I would normally let the letters of the divine name i-h-v-h stand alone or write Yahweh, a pattern I copied from the Jerusalem Bible, partly because the name can be sung. Note that I don't repeat the 'Why', because that rhetorical flourish  is not there in the Hebrew.

Why did I use the gloss obscure and not the common find? Because it is not the common root str for hide. It is the root ylm, (roughly 'olam). Click the link to see that this root is sometimes in the domain of Hide, but is really a much more interesting, almost cosmic root than hide would suggest. I think that obscure catches that hidden sense of the invisible eternal. And I didn't need that gloss for any other Hebrew stem. (I try to keep the locks of my beloved both well combed and braided.)

Besides the myriad of possible renderings in English, there is also the music in the text of the Hebrew itself. I think we could learn Hebrew much easier if we began with singing and memorizing the melodies embedded in the hand-signals in the text. We are doing this a bit at a time at the parish of St John the Divine in the Hebrew Bible Music project. Our third recording is in the final stages of production. The first is a simple live recording on my Iphone of Isaiah 12 sung as the psalm for the day. The second (which includes a 4 minute introductory lecture) is a part of Psalms 145, the last acrostic in the Psalms. The third is Psalms 100, the Jubilate Deo, soon to be available.

The music is sometimes an aria, sometimes a chorus, sometimes a hymn, somtimes a recitation, sometimes slow and tender, and sometimes for robust congregational singing.

The score for psalms 10 is here. You will find all the scores for the whole Bible (929 chapters) in the shared directories on the music page, and many examples of arrangements and performances on this blog.

The last verse of Psalms 9

 Psalms 9 discussion is completed today. I am going to put my comment here since it has too many things for a comment on this first section of the Psalter. (The comment stream is extensive at Christopher's site. The whole is worth some effort.)

There are two words in this section that are used in a circular structure a-b-b-a. This form has come to be known as a chiasm since on paper if you join each of the word pairs with a line, you might see an X, like the Greek letter Chi. These two words, nation and mortal, also tie together these first 10 psalms and focus us on the last three in particular.

Here's the pattern in this last section of Psalms 9. 

Arise Yahweh, let a mortal not be strong.
 Let the nations be judged in your presence.

Impose, Yahweh. Fear to them.
 Let the nations know
 their mortality. Selah.

Note also that the final verse has a strange pause in the middle of a sentence in the translation. This pause is actually on the word goyim, right in the middle of a sentence. It emphasizes the word nation outside of its grammatical context. It is a musical 'rest point'.

The word mortal, enosh, ties Psalms 8, 9, and 10 together. What is this mortal? mh-anow? roughly (ma enosh) The nations first appear in Psalms 2 (twice) then Psalms 9 and 10 - really a single poem in two sections, (6 times).

It is important to use the same gloss if you can in a translation because it is respecting the poet's desire to repeat sounds. This is done both for structure and for emphasis. NRSV in this case imposes a colloquialism (only human) onto the translation. It is not a good choice here because it obscures the repetition of mortal. And it is not a suitable word for human anyway. That should be /adm/, since the human is from the ground (humus).

This section also contains an appeal to y-h-v-h to 'arise'. To do something. To deal with the ruins. This is the third time we have seen this construction qumh ihvh, Psalms 3, 7, here, and again in Psalms 10. This is another verbal connection giving coherence to this section of the Psalter. The first question in Psalms 10 will make this request even more poignant.

There is a general warning that I have expressed here about translation. HP (the Hebrew poet) deliberately repeats words and sounds as a foundational part of Hebrew poetic strategy. Such repetition (two sounds too close to each other) was considered bad style in English composition. The King James and all translations based on it do not allow this technique to be heard. This is even mentioned as a feature in the intro to the KJV. It turns out to be a fundamental error in translation strategy. So for instance, the KJV likes heathen as a synonym for nation. The revisers don't like that word heathen and for good reason. It shows a bias and this revision (at least) is to be welcomed. KJV was making a second more insidious translation error using heathen - imposing their attitude on foreigners.

I have built a concordance these past 16 years to make public the discrete roots of every word in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is available here (https://qonqordnxih-ltnk.blogspot.com/) and is very easy to use. If you hover over a reference, you will see both NRSV and my translation together. My translation has been published (but it's not famous) and is available in ebook form. (See the links on this page.) 

The SimHebrew Bible is nearing completion. Only Chronicles remains. Publication dates are not yet announced. If anyone is interested in reviewing or critiquing a part of the Bible before final release, please let me know.

The prayer of the cosmic Christ (Psalms 9)

 Continuing here.

The pervasiveness of trouble

 I do, of course, have a domain of 'Trouble'. You can't see it in the Glossary since there I have suppressed the domains and listed only the subdomains (non-overlapping). My allocation of each of the 305,000+ words in the Hebrew Bible to their subdomains is imperfect, but it's a start. 

Trouble includes many subdomains. This image is from my published work. It may have morphed slightly over the past 2 years.

Subdivision of 'Trouble' in the Hebrew Scriptures, about 6% of the total words.

At the beginning of the psalms, in the first 9, we see some words associated with trouble and we have focused on them to some extent. Psalms 9 has a few: enemies, stumble, and perish, ruins, blotted out, crushed, trouble, afflicted.

Curious as I explore the words related to trouble and selected glosses, I note that translators tend to move away from what is said to what they think is the consequence of what is said, and towards therefore what is left unsaid by HP. The word for avenges here is not the root for vengeance, but the root for search out. These two statements are significantly different.

For he who avenges blood is mindful of them (NRSV)
Because searching out (drw) blood, he remembers (zcr) them. (What is written)

Searching out is such a positive aspect of God. Searching out is not in the same domain as avenge. 

Vengeance (nqm) may not be in God's mind at all. I am very disappointed in the standard translations we use. KJV - has a searching synonym with the wrong connotations for us today 'makes inquisition for'.  But at least it is in the right semantic domain.

Daresh - is what we are supposed to do with our study - search things out. It is in the domain of Engagement. 

Searching out is not about 'trouble'. It is not that we are hell bent on vengeance.  God is not like this. When he says 'vengeance is mine' it is so that he can 'cease enemy and vengeance', (psalms 8) not do vengeance.

Translation is a very serious problem.

Our dialogue on the psalms is continuing. But the chosen translation is very problematic.

Who has enemies, foes, or adversaries and is there a difference?

 Foe / adversary will be found here. I have not been completely consistent in my semantic domains for this word. I have used two domains, Enemy and Trouble, and the same glosses appear in both. When I get my database restored I may regenerate these pages. 

Enemy will be found here. I may have been slightly inconsistent with domains for a single root that may have Hebrew homonyms, but I have not allowed English synonyms to overlap between Hebrew roots.

Technique aside, do we create enemies? Does God or y-h-v-h have enemies or foes or adversaries?

It appears that some Biblical writers would allow this. Notably Paul (Romans 5) and James (James 4). Are these later uses reflecting the enemies / foes / adversaries of the Old Testament?

The underlying question is, What is God like? Does the character of God permit the idea of 'enemy of God', or is that a human projection onto God's character?

The character of God is noted in Psalms 8 - 

From the mouths of babies and nurslings, you have founded strength,
for the sake of your adversaries,
that you might cease enemy and vengeance.

So if God has adversaries or foes (which maybe should be removed as an unnecessary gloss) then who are they? Us?

Note: I couldn't find many places where God 'has' enemies though there are implications in the letters of Paul and James. God delivers enemies into our hands and God destroys enemies on our behalf. (But while we can infer the  'how', especially in the old stories in Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, I am not convinced we are explicitly told to imitate.) We have our analogies and introspections of course.

Can there be a message of unity when we do not imply uniformity

The other day I attended a lecture through the auspices of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars. I hope the site will eventually contain the lecture from Dr. Stephen Lim of Ming Hua Theological College in Hong Kong on Teaching in context.

It was an excellent lecture on the general subject of Dismantling whiteness. I noted several issues that he touched on that allow those with the 'power of discursive capacity' to avoid real change and even 'enable-and-ignore' the impetus to change.

He used the phrase 'spread the message'. My question was what message, what context and content? 

He noted that his work felt as if it was a 'lonely endeavour'. He has considerable background outside of theology, his third degree. He is also a cellist - I am so pleased that music informs him. He spoke of 'colonized space', 'punishment' - I wrote a note hoping that this is not a part of the message, but rather  'critique, correction, and consequences'. 

In the area of 'classroom as context', and 'systems and tradition', he spoke of the difficulty of allowing 'students to find their own voice'. He said 'we cannot change minds - but we can rearrange desires'. He spoke of the 'teacher as fellow-traveler'.

Just now, I had an insight based on Psalms 9, that we do have a message that can lead to unity and not imply uniformity. It is in the Tanach. And I think we need it. I won't repeat myself here because I am in conversation, I hope not 'lonely', here at the site beautifully named 'in a spacious place'.

Dark side of the moon

 My computer was struck by two power failures in succession and is in for repairs. So I am silent. Check out travels with HP where I am still commenting. Christopher Page is raising some good questions and has the sort of persistence without too much detail that we may not get bogged down in this study.

Recovery, rebuilding, restored to life

What better thought than to begin with an allusion to Dickens. 

It was the worst of times...

Everyone is asking and wondering 'what will be' when we have come through this pandemic. Several days ago, I said to my wife of more than five decades that I felt a bit scrambled. Not that feeling scrambled is uncommon, but the extended scorching of all our bits and pieces has been particularly noticeable these past 16 months, perhaps even 17 since we knew what was coming and that we would not escape. This wasn't SARS or Ebola from which we were largely spared. And we know also that our emergence will not be without difficulty.

It is too general a question. I must narrow it to be about 'church' because that is the issue many of my correspondents have raised. What is my vision of 'church' now that I have been largely deprived of it for 16 months.

Every church service I had been to, prior to pandemic times, but particularly the Eucharist, has ended with the priestly blessing and some form of 'for ever and ever' or 'world without end' or 'from this time forth and for evermore'. Well, it works, and good for the church. So I don't need to go back then, do I? 

I do feel the blessing is for ever, in all seriousness. Without perhaps being fully conscious at any time in my life, I believe I have turned and faced my enemies, and known the love of God which is beyond all knowledge. Yet my enemies are legion. I don't know where they come from, whether nurture or nature. But they are surprisingly emergent, like The Cat who Came Back (NFB 2015).

• I refused to sue my school for my confused personal life because to do so would have made me a prostitute. Having been abused by priest and choirmaster, it is a wonder that I am an Anglican or a musician at all.
• I recall in the '50s seeing the images of Auschwitz on the News of the World, a summary of news that was broadcast in movie theatres. Nothing could have made prejudice against Jews and the horror of war more obvious even to a 10 year old. Plenty of such children suffer these things first hand today. Nothing could make the distinction between good and evil more obvious.
• We decided in the '70s, considering the issues of the population explosion, to adopt two children, the first (1970), an African boy born in Ottawa, and the second (1978) a child of a Plains Cree fiddler. What naivety. We had no idea the questions that such a commitment would raise: health, skills, character, succession planning, etc. Who would at age 25? 
• We have been formed and blessed in Anglican churches across Canada, particularly in the musical tradition. Our other two children are both professional musicians, one within the Anglican tradition, the other in a secular school.

These bullets are fully integrated. I cannot tell when one thought changes to another.

• The residential school taught me to read the King James version of the Bible. Eventually, 2006 to date, I began to study the background to the churches by reading the Bible in its original languages with a focus on Hebrew.
• The music at school was of greater influence than the abuse, so I kept singing anyway until cancer stopped me. That music prepared me for the hand-signals embedded in the Hebrew.
• My study of Tanach results directly from the News of the World and the Anglican Christian traditions of school in the style of the British residential school, as well as church tradition in Anglicanism from the conservative to the liberal. Very few of my colleagues, however, were interested in the Hebrew, nor was I for a long time.
• The presence of children of multiple races and capacities in our family has formed us as a family. We experienced directly both the negative results of British colonialism and the facts of racism in this country that, like all countries, must face its own sin and judgment. 

As it happens, both the adopted boys have suffered from significant brain damage, one from birth, through FASD, and one from a car accident in 1996. Just prior to the pandemic, 24 years after his accident, the elder had several subsequent strokes and has now been admitted into long-term care. During the pandemic, we have been able to support him with regular visits. (This simple sentence covers the majority of our focus during the past 21 months.) The younger, in the meanwhile, has a conditional release from the forensic hospital into the care of the John Howard Society through a program begun through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The two musicians have kept up a full program in each of their areas throughout the pandemic, teaching and performing, and learning the benefits of technology suddenly imposed on their profession.

What then, given this brief summary of 75 years, could be my vision for the church in the period upon us, the global recovery from this pandemic?

A is for authority. I think I have always been, as have my children, somewhat anti-authoritarian. Not everything comes from authority. Not everything is under my control, or the church's, or the priest's, or the city's, or the country's. Therefore we should give up our tendency to "harmony, hierarchy, and knowing our place at any cost".  There is always a tension between appointment to authority and authority arising from within the body. There is an Author who gives gifts. We must bear with this on both sides. The appointees to which I have been subject over the past 75 years have been of varying managerial and theological skills. The music I have learned is not subject to hierarchy even though the higher tenors must attenuate their noises. Every note, every part, is part of the whole.

C is for community. Even while isolated, we have been kept together. We have had exposed to us our dependency on others whom we have often taken for granted. And they are often not within a particular church community or indeed even within the same religious tradition. Quite apart from the church claiming to be the one body of Christ, we, the churches, must see that all humanity is one mutually interdependent body. We must learn to pay our thanks with more than lip-service to those whom the capitalist style has relegated to essential but low-paying jobs. The church supports community and in many ways defined us within our community in the past. But it has no monopoly here. We must be much wider in our embrace of others.

G is for God. I mustn't leave God out of mix. God has allowed us to live through this pandemic or die through it. My hope for the churches is for more openness, more participation, more training in critical thinking, and more awareness of the distance between us and the origins of our faith. Also more training in music, more youth workers, and so more youth. The pandemic created an opportunity for our choral scholars and organists to work very hard to become video experts. It was one area where our local churches were prepared since they have had an established tradition of choral and organ scholarships. 

T is for tradition. But tradition critiqued and extended. It is the technology that has kept the church functioning to me. For years, I have been part of many conversations through the web about the raw data of our faith, the Biblical text and its interpretations over the centuries. During the pandemic, music has been of vital importance. I have attended Evensong several times a week from Ely, Selwyn College, St John the Divine in Victoria, and St Barnabas and many sponsored concerts from these sources and particularly from our local Christ Church Cathedral. None of this would have been possible without technology. I hope this will continue. Many more have attended these services and concerts than would have in the days before the pandemic.

So how might we expect the churches to function in the days to come?

True to the judgment of our God, we must know and face the errors of our past. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the abuse of the residential school system in Canada. But it is not only blunt sin that needs to be faced. Also our differences. Bits and pieces of our differences float in the soup of our virtual interactions. 

On the distance between us and the origins of our faith: if the apostle Paul could say, We see through a glass darkly, then how much more are we seeing through a fuzzy lense that resists polishing. The monolingual must meet with the student of tongues, the tone-deaf with the musician, the blind with the painter, and the halt and lame with the mountain climber. Biblical student must meet with the theologian, and storyteller with liturgist, and presbyter with plebeian, and performer with them all to prepare recombinant forms that present the best we have to offer to everyone who needs to fear and love with gentleness in our fraught world. This is both the work of a moment, and the work of a lifetime.

We do say the general confession as part of traditional services. Confession and absolution are fundamentally important to mental health, but they are not an escape from active response. The churches formalize liturgy through the sacrament and administer it through the priestly vocation. The problem here is that this has become a hierarchy and often authoritarian. And while responsibility for the physical plant rests legally with the corporation (rector and wardens) of a parish, the spiritual gift of blessing and absolution should not. 

Did not Jesus say: It shall not be so among you. There must be something to learn here that we have missed. Authority is easy to abuse. The only priest in the New Testament is Jesus, the high priest (hier-archos). The term, hieros, is not used for leadership roles in the churches. We all share in that one priesthood. The whole of Israel was to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). The churches are called to be priests and kings (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6). 

It has been debated with great confusion over the past 1000 years that the accents in the Hebrew text are a hierarchy. They are not. They are a musical phrase, where even the least note is a vital part. Music can be a model for the churches. 

These are high callings. No one is to be left behind in these things. No part of the body is to be considered disposable. The community created by God is to be whole, whether it be the paradigm of Israel formed into a people through wandering in the wilderness, or everything that breathes formed into a community that practices kindness and knows mercy as described in the Psalms, or this body as a royal priesthood destined through its union with Christ to consecrate all things, visible and invisible, in a sacrifice of praise.

It is a 'far better thing' that we could do than we have done hitherto.

[For the DNA metaphor, I am grateful to a recent Oxford lecturer at Cambridge on China.]

Habakkuk 1:14

 Assonance again. Here's a verse I came across somewhat randomly. It came up in the context of a growly nature, pondering things that seem important to the aged that cannot be explained to children because they are really not important.

Notice how impossible it is to catch the compactness of the Hebrew. 8 words. Perhaps I thought of this because Psalm 8 is on the horizon and I wondered what translation and what tack Christopher Page will choose this week as I follow his thoughts.

And you make humanity as the fish of the sea, // as a creeper that has no governor over it.

vtywh adm cdgi him, // crmw la-mowl bo

ve-te-'asah adam ce-degi ha-yam ce-ramas lo-moshal bo (a very rough approximation)

The rhyme is in this verse adam and ha-yam.  h-i-m is two syllables. The i is not a vowel here.

and lo with bo. The aleph a is pronounced o in this case. A guttural (aleph or ayin) can carry any vowel.

Comparing translations

I am very grateful to Christopher Page for doing this verse by verse, section by section study of the Psalms. I will do all I can to encourage it and all I can to participate as gracefully as possible. Even when my irritation level is raised by what we English speakers have done to the text over the years. It takes a long time to become simple. (Thinking of the Shaker song, 'tis a gift to be simple...)

Psalms 7 is butchered in the NRSV. 

repent, God, heads, and other glosses are simply wrong-headed, inconsistent, and ungrammatical. I will not repeat the words on this site. There is a discussion here that you can look at. NRSV is in common use. I don't blame people for using it. It is a 'politically correct' rendering, and like the rendering of animals in a slaughterhouse, it does not leave the text alive, but packaged for ease of consumption.

Reading the Bible should not be a pre-packaged exercise. How will we ever admit our mistakes if we are given wrong information? How will we face what is real instead of our imagined cocoon of lies when a translation explains a pious viewpoint instead of a comical poem on consequences.

repent - is an unnecessary gloss, misunderstood in this era. I use turn / return for the most part for this stem. Turn? Turn away from sin, turn towards the good, turn towards our imagined enemy. Turn up when we are called to account. Turn works. And as long as we have the capacity to turn literally or figuratively, it can apply to individuals or corporations, or nations.

God - is used as the subject of the sentence when there is no subject specified. The poet may be deliberately leaving out the subject. I think REB and JB are on track when they make the poet's 'enemy' the subject, but this too is not translation. Specifying the subject when it is not in the poem is doing the reader's work rather than the translator's work. It takes all the fun out of it.

I have some rules for translation. Sometimes I succeed. Sometimes I am wrong. But the rules are there: 

• don't interpret
• repeat sounds in the host language (in this case English) when they are repeated in the guest language (in this case Hebrew)
• don't repeat sounds when they are not repeated
• try and be true to the genre and the grammar - a dance is not a dirge
• don't assume the Bible is always pious

Recent posts on Psalms 7 are here and here. 

Any translation with new and revised and standard in its name should be discarded. The name says it all: we didn't know what we were doing and we still don't.

Psalms - potential assonance in single verses

What happens when I apply the assonance algorithm to Psalms 119 to see if there are significant pairs of letters in individual verses. I restricted my search to finding a pair. 

One thing I have not considered is assonance between different letters like 't and t or s and w. A glance below at Psalms 119 verse 13 with assonance wp, sp, and wp again. This wouldn't have shown up without the doubled wp in lips and judgments. The c sofit, ç, is quite common in this psalm rendered as the pronoun you/your.

ig bwptii siprti col mwp'ti-piç

i: 6, p: 4, wp: 2,

13 By my lips I have recounted, all the judgments of your mouth.

I tried this algorithm and filter for the whole psalter and got 872 rows with at least one 2 count for a letter-pair. It is more than a few too many to analyse without getting quite tired and cross-eyed. It worked after a fashion. I sharpened the algorithm to let me distinguish pairs more easily and filtered for a count of 3 to reduce the volume. It is a slow process. 152 rows remain after isolating those verses where 3 double letters repeat. This will miss some alliteration since I have already found a few where only two repeats were noted. They were not very revealing to me. If I suppress the difference between the taf and tet, and shin and samekh, I get 10 additional rows in the whole Psalter. 

So far, this method of automatically finding assonance is of limited value. But you can scan these and tell me if you find any good examples :)

a awri haiw awr la hlç byxt rwyim ubdrç k'taim la ymd ubmowb lxim la iwb	a:-7, b:-5, v:-3, i:-6, l:-5, m:-5, y:-3, r:-4, w:-6, aw: 3, la: 3, rw: 1, wb: 2, wr: 2, ym: 2,	1 Happy the person who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, and in the way of sinners does not stand, and in the seat of the scornful does not sit.
ia hawimm alohim iiplu mmoyxotihm brob pwyihm hdikmo ci-mru bç	b:-3, h:-5, v:-7, i:-8, m:-9, br: 1, mm: 2, hm: 3, rb: 1,	11 Declare them guilty O God. Let them fall in their conspiracies. In their many transgressions banish them, for they provoked you.
ib viwmku cl-kosi bç lyolm irnnu vtsç ylimo viylxu bç aohbi wmç	b:-3, v:-10, i:-6, c:-5, l:-5, m:-4, y:-3, bc: 2, lm: 2, ly: 1, wm: 2, yl: 3,	12 And all those who take refuge in you will be glad. Forever they will shout for joy and you will overshadow them. And they who love your name will be elated in you.
't iarob bmstr carih bsuco iarob lk'tof yni ik'tof yni bmowco brwto	a:-3, b:-6, v:-9, 't:-4, i:-6, c:-3, r:-5, ar: 3, bm: 2, br: 1, kt: 2, tt: 2, mw: 2, rb: 2, wc: 2, wt: 2, yn: 2,	9 It lies in wait in its hiding place like lion in lair. It lies in wait to seize the poor. It seizes the poor. It draws him away in Its net.
id rait ci-ath yml vcys tbi't ltt bidç yliç iyzob klch itom ath hiit yozr	a:-3, b:-3, h:-4, v:-4, i:-9, c:-5, l:-4, y:-5, t:-8, at: 3, bt: 1, tb: 1, ht: 1, th: 2, lc: 2, yz: 2,	14 Regard you will, for you yourself take note of toil and grief to give by your hand. To you the hapless defer. The orphan you yourself will help.
'tv wbor zroy rwy vry tdrow-rwyo bl-tmxa	v:-5, y:-4, r:-6, w:-4, rw: 3, ry: 2, wy: 2,	15 Shatter the arm of criminal, and for an evil one, search out its crimes till none is found.
d hloa idyu cl-poyli-avvn aocli ymi aclu lkm ihvh la qrau	a:-6, h:-3, v:-9, i:-5, c:-3, l:-7, y:-3, ac: 2, cl: 3, la: 2,	4 Did they not know, all these workers of mischief, eating my people as they eat bread? Yahweh they do not call.
g la-rgl yl-lwono la-ywh lriyhu ryh vkrph la-nwa yl-qrobo	a:-4, h:-4, v:-6, l:-8, y:-5, r:-5, w:-3, la: 3, nw: 1, ry: 2, wn: 1, yl: 2,	3 He does not slander with his tongue. He does not do evil to his friend, and a reproach he does not lift up over those near him.
h cspo la-ntn bnwç vwokd yl-nqi la lqk yowh-alh la iimo't lyolm	a:-4, v:-6, i:-3, l:-8, n:-4, y:-3, w:-3, al: 1, cw: 1, la: 3, ly: 1, nt: 1, tn: 1, wc: 1, yl: 2,	5 His money he does not give at interest, and a bribe over the innocent he does not take. Doing these things, he will not be moved forever.
id mmtim idç ihvh mmtim mkld klqm bkiim uxpunç tmla b'tnm iwbyu bnim vhniku itrm lyollihm	b:-4, h:-4, v:-7, k:-4, i:-11, l:-6, m:-14, n:-4, t:-4, mm: 2, mk: 1, kl: 2, km: 1, ly: 1, mt: 2, nm: 2, tm: 3, yl: 1,	14 from men, your hand, Yahweh, from men, from transience, their share in their lives, whose bellies you fill with your treasure. Let them be satisfied with children, and leave their surplus to their progeny.
a lmnxk lybd ihvh ldvid awr dibr lihvh at-dbri hwirh hzat biom hxil-ihvh aoto mcf cl-aoibiv umid waul	a:-6, b:-5, d:-6, h:-10, v:-11, i:-12, l:-7, m:-4, r:-4, w:-3, t:-3, at: 3, aw: 1, bd: 1, br: 2, db: 2, wa: 1, wr: 2,	1 For the leader. Of a servant of Yahweh. Of David, who spoke to Yahweh the words of this particular song, in the day Yahweh delivered him from the slap of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
k vtgyw vtryw harx umosdi hrim irgzu vitgywu ci-krh lo	g:-3, h:-3, v:-8, i:-5, y:-3, r:-5, w:-3, t:-3, tg: 2, gy: 2, hr: 1, rh: 1, yw: 3,	8 And the earth shakes and quakes, and the foundations of the hills shudder, and are shaken for he was burning with anger.
ib iwt kowç stro sbibotiv sucto kwct-mim ybi wkqim	b:-3, v:-6, k:-3, i:-6, c:-3, m:-3, s:-3, w:-4, t:-5, ct: 2, kw: 2, wc: 3, wk: 1, wt: 2,	12 He sets darkness his hiding place, round about him his booth, dark waters, thick clouds of the skies.
k alh brcb valh bsusim vanknu bwm-ihvh alohinu nzcir	a:-4, b:-4, h:-5, v:-7, i:-4, l:-3, n:-4, al: 3, bw: 2, cr: 1, rc: 1, kn: 1, lh: 3, nk: 1, wm: 2,	8 Some in the chariot and some in the horses, but we ourselves in the name of Yahweh our God remember.
h bç b'tku abotinu b'tku vtpl'tmo	b:-4, v:-6, 't:-3, bt: 3, tk: 2,	5 In you our ancestors trusted. They trusted and you secured them.
ch ci la-bzh vla wiqx ynut yni vla-hstir pniv mmnu ubwvvyo aliv wmy	a:-4, v:-10, i:-6, l:-4, m:-3, n:-4, y:-4, w:-3, al: 1, la: 3, yn: 2,	25 For he has not despised nor detested the poverty of the poor, and he has not hidden his presence from him, but when he cried to him he heard.
l aclu viwtkvu cl-dwni-arx lpniv icryu cl-iordi ypr vnpwo la kiih	a:-3, v:-9, i:-8, c:-4, l:-5, n:-3, p:-3, r:-4, w:-3, cl: 3, np: 1, pn: 1,	30 All the sleek of the earth will eat and worship in his presence. All who go down to dust will bow, but his being he could not keep alive.
b alohii bç b'tkti al-abowh al-iylxu aoibii li	a:-5, b:-4, v:-4, i:-8, l:-5, ab: 2, al: 3, kt: 1, tk: 1,	2 my God, ב because in you I have trusted. Let me not be ashamed, nor let my enemies be elated over me.
h wnati qhl mryim vym-rwyim la awb	a:-3, i:-3, m:-4, y:-3, w:-3, ym: 3,	5 I have hated a congregation of evildoers, and with the wicked I will not sit.
k awcilç vaorç bdrç-zu tlç aiyxh yliç yini	a:-3, v:-3, i:-5, c:-6, l:-3, y:-3, cl: 1, rc: 2, lc: 3,	8 I will give you insight and instruct you. In this way you will walk. I will advise you with my eye.
'tz ain-hmlç nowy brob-kil gibor la-iinxl brob-cok	b:-5, v:-5, i:-5, l:-4, n:-3, r:-3, br: 3, rb: 2,	16 There is no king victorious by abundant force. One who prevails is not delivered by abundant power.
k tboahu woah la-iidy vrwto awr-'tmn tlcdo bwoah iipol-bh	a:-5, b:-3, h:-4, v:-8, i:-4, l:-3, w:-4, t:-3, ah: 3, aw: 1, rw: 1, wa: 2, wr: 1,	8 Let catastrophe come upon him unknown to him, and let his net which he buried catch him. In catastrophe, he will fall in it.
cv ibowu vikpru ikdiv wmki ryti ilbwu-bowt uclimh hmgdilim ylii	b:-3, v:-8, k:-3, i:-12, l:-4, m:-4, w:-4, bw: 3, lm: 2, hm: 1, mh: 1,	26 Let them be ashamed and disappointed together who are glad in my hurt. Let them be clothed in shame and humiliation, who magnify themselves above me.
cb al-tyzbni ihvh alohii al-trkq mmni	a:-3, h:-3, i:-5, l:-3, al: 3,	22 Do not forsake me Yahweh. My God, do not be distant from me.
b amrti awmrh drcii mk'toa blwoni awmrh lpi mksom byod rwy lngdi	a:-4, d:-3, v:-4, i:-6, l:-3, m:-6, r:-5, w:-4, aw: 2, mk: 2, mr: 3, rh: 2, wm: 3,	2 I said I will keep my ways from sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth muzzled, while a wicked one is before me.
v rbot ywit ath ihvh alohii nplaotiç umkwbotiç alinu ain yroç aliç agidh vadbrh yxmu mspr	a:-8, b:-3, h:-6, v:-10, i:-10, c:-4, l:-4, m:-3, n:-3, y:-3, r:-4, t:-5, al: 3, at: 2, br: 1, bt: 2, la: 1, rb: 1, tc: 2,	6 Many things you have done, you Yahweh, my God, your wonders and your devices for us. (There is nothing to arrange for you.) I will announce them and I will speak. They are too numerous to count.
ia xdqtç la-cisiti btoç libi amuntç utwuytç amrti la-cikdti ksdç vamitç lqhl rb	a:-5, b:-3, d:-3, v:-5, i:-9, c:-8, l:-5, m:-3, t:-9, am: 3, la: 2, tc: 5, tw: 1, wt: 1,	11 Your righteousness I did not cover within my heart. Of your faithfulness and your salvation I have talked. I have not concealed your mercy and your truth in the congregation of the many.
'tz iwomu yl-yqb bowtm haomrim li hak hak	a:-3, h:-3, v:-4, i:-3, m:-4, ak: 2, ha: 3, mr: 1, rm: 1,	16 Let them be desolate foot firmly planted in their shame, those saying to me, Aha! aha!
b caiil tyrog yl-apiqi-mim cn npwi tyrog aliç alohim	a:-4, v:-3, i:-8, c:-3, l:-4, m:-3, y:-3, al: 3, rg: 2, ty: 2, yr: 2,	2 As a hart yearns over a watercourse, so my being yearns for you, O God.
g xmah npwi lalohim lal ki mtii aboa vairah pni alohim	a:-8, h:-4, v:-4, i:-8, l:-5, m:-4, ab: 1, ah: 2, al: 3, ar: 1, ba: 1, hm: 2, la: 2, lh: 2, np: 1, pn: 1, ra: 1,	3 My being thirsts for God, for the living One. When will I go and see the presence of God?
d vaboah al-mzbk alohim al-al wmkt gili vaodç bcinor alohim alohii	a:-9, b:-3, h:-4, v:-8, i:-7, l:-7, m:-4, ab: 1, al: 6, ba: 1, hm: 2, lh: 3,	4 And I will go to the altar of God, to the One who is the gladness of my rejoicing. And I will thank you on the harp, God my God.
id twimnu krph lwcninu lyg vqls lsbibotinu	v:-5, i:-4, l:-4, n:-4, lw: 3,	14 You set us up as a reproach to our neighbours, derision and ridicule to those around us.
h vhdrç xlk rcb yl-dbr-amt vynvvh-xdq vtorç noraot iminç	d:-3, v:-8, c:-4, n:-3, r:-5, t:-3, rc: 3,	5 And let your honour prosper. Ride upon the matter of truth, and gentleness of righteousness, and let your right hand instruct you in fearful things.
ia hrpu udyu ci-anoci alohim arum bgoiim arum barx	a:-5, v:-8, i:-5, m:-4, r:-4, ar: 3, rm: 2,	11 Desist and set down this: I am God. I will be high in the nations. I will be high in the earth.
i ndibi ymim naspu ym alohi abrhm ci lalohim mgini-arx maod nylh	a:-6, h:-4, v:-4, i:-8, l:-4, m:-7, n:-4, y:-3, al: 2, hm: 2, la: 1, lh: 3, ym: 2,	10 The princes of the peoples are gathered, the people of the God of Abraham, for the shields of earth belong to God, supremacy ascended.
't cawr wmynu cn rainu byir-ihvh xbaot byir alohinu alohim iconnha yd-yolm slh	a:-6, b:-3, h:-6, v:-9, i:-7, c:-3, l:-4, m:-3, n:-6, y:-5, r:-4, al: 2, by: 2, cn: 2, hn: 1, lh: 3, nh: 1, yr: 2,	9 As we have heard rightly we will see in the city of Yahweh of Hosts, in the city of our God. God will establish it for evermore. Selah.
g gm-bni adm gm-bni-aiw ikd ywir vabion	a:-3, b:-3, i:-6, m:-3, n:-3, bn: 3, gm: 2,	3 Hey! children of humanity, ho! children, each one of you, together, rich or needy,
k ak la-pdh ipdh aiw la-iitn lalohim copro	a:-5, h:-3, v:-3, i:-5, l:-4, p:-3, al: 1, dh: 2, la: 3, pd: 2,	8 A sibling's ransom can no one of you ransom, nor give to God the cover-price.
ib qrbm btimo lyolm mwcnotm ldor vdor qrau bwmotm yli admot	b:-3, d:-3, v:-9, l:-4, m:-8, r:-4, t:-4, dr: 2, ly: 1, mt: 2, mw: 1, qr: 2, tm: 3, wm: 1, yl: 2,	12 As far as they are concerned, their houses are forever, their dwellings from generation to generation. They call dust-bowls by their names.
z wmyh ymi vadbrh iwral vayidh bç alohim alohiç anoci	a:-6, h:-5, v:-5, i:-6, c:-3, l:-3, m:-3, y:-3, al: 3, lh: 2, my: 1, ym: 1,	7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will witness in you. I am God your God.
b bboa-aliv ntn hnbia cawr-ba al-bt-wby	a:-6, b:-6, n:-3, al: 2, ba: 3, nt: 1, tn: 1,	2 when Nathan the prophet came to him, as he had come to Bathsheva.
ca az tkpox zbki-xdq yolh vclil az iylu yl-mzbkç prim	v:-4, z:-4, k:-3, i:-4, l:-5, y:-3, az: 2, bk: 2, yl: 3, zb: 2,	21 Then you will delight in offerings of righteousness, burnt offering and whole offering. Then they will offer up young bulls on your altar.
v wm pkdu pkd la-hih-pkd ci-alohim pizr yxmot konç hbiwot ci-alohim masm	a:-4, d:-3, h:-5, v:-6, k:-4, i:-7, c:-3, l:-3, m:-6, p:-4, al: 2, hm: 2, kd: 3, la: 1, lh: 2, pk: 3, wm: 2,	6 There they dread dread where dread is not there, because God scattered the bones of those armed against you. You shamed them, because God refused them.
z mi iitn mxion iwuyot iwral bwub alohim wbut ymo igl iyqob iwmk iwral	a:-3, b:-4, v:-8, i:-11, l:-4, m:-5, y:-3, w:-6, t:-3, al: 3, bw: 1, ra: 2, wb: 2, wr: 2,	7 When will the salvation of Israel be given from Zion? When God turns the captivity of his people, Jacob will rejoice. Israel will be glad.
cg hwlç yl-ihvh ihbç vhua iclclç la-iitn lyolm mo't lxdiq	h:-5, v:-5, i:-6, c:-5, l:-8, cl: 2, lc: 3, ly: 1, yl: 2,	23 Cast your care on Yahweh and he himself will nourish you. He will never let a righteous one be moved.
d iwlk mwmiim viowiyni kirf woapi slh iwlk alohim ksdo vamito	a:-3, v:-7, k:-4, i:-11, l:-4, m:-5, w:-5, lh: 2, lk: 2, mw: 1, wl: 3, wm: 1,	4 He will send from heaven and will save me. He reproached the one bearing down on me. Selah. God will send his kindness and his truth.
't yurh cbodi yurh hnbl vcinor ayirh wkr	h:-4, v:-5, i:-3, y:-3, r:-5, rh: 3, yr: 3,	9 Be roused my glory. Be roused O lute and harp. I will rouse the dawn.
h kmt-lmo cdmut kmt-nkw cmo-ptn kirw ia'tm aozno	v:-5, k:-4, m:-6, n:-3, t:-4, km: 2, mt: 3, tm: 1,	5 Their heat is akin to the heat of a snake. As the deaf adder plugs his ear,
i b'trm ibinu siroticm a'td cmo-ki cmo-kron iwyrnu	v:-6, i:-6, c:-3, m:-4, n:-3, r:-4, cm: 3, rt: 1, rn: 2, tr: 1,	10 Ere your garden-pots discern a brierpatch, like life, like burning, he will sweep him away.
v vath ihvh-alohim xbaot alohi iwral hqixh lpqod cl-hgoiim al-tkon cl-bogdi avvn slh	a:-7, h:-9, v:-11, i:-8, l:-8, t:-3, al: 4, at: 2, cl: 2, lh: 3,	6 But you Yahweh, God of hosts, the God of Israel, awaken to visit all the nations. Do not be gracious to all those treacherous in mischief. Selah.
ik yuzi aliç azmrh ci-alohim mwgbi alohi ksdi	a:-4, h:-3, v:-3, i:-7, l:-3, m:-3, al: 3, lh: 2,	18 O my Strength, to you I will sing a psalm, for God is my retreat, the God of my kindness.
b bhxoto at arm nhriim vat-arm xobh viwb ioab viç at-adom bgia-mlk wnim ywr alf	a:-9, b:-5, h:-3, v:-8, i:-7, m:-6, r:-4, w:-3, t:-4, ar: 2, at: 3, bh: 2, rm: 3,	2 in his struggle with the Aramaeans of the two rivers and the Aramaeans of Zobah, when Joab returned and struck Edom in the salt gorge, twelve thousand.
i moab sir rkxi yl-adom awliç nyli ylii plwt htroyyi	a:-3, v:-3, i:-7, l:-5, y:-5, r:-3, lw: 1, wl: 1, yl: 3,	10 Moab my washpot, on Edom I will fling my sandal. To me Philistia, be jubilant.
ia al-tb'tku byowq ubgzl al-thblu kil ci-inub al-twitu lb	a:-3, b:-6, v:-6, i:-4, l:-7, t:-4, al: 3, bl: 1, bt: 1, tb: 1, lb: 1, tw: 1, wt: 1,	11 Do not trust in oppression or in robbery. Do not become futile. If wealth profits, do not set your heart on it.
z ikpwu yolot tmnu kpw mkupw vqrb aiw vlb ymoq	v:-8, k:-3, m:-3, p:-3, w:-4, kp: 3, pw: 3,	7 They plan injustice. They complete a master plan, of the inner person and inscrutable heart.
i pqdt harx vtwoqqha rbt tywrnh plg alohim mla mim tcin dgnm ci-cn tcinha	a:-5, h:-5, v:-3, i:-5, c:-4, l:-3, m:-5, n:-5, q:-3, r:-3, t:-6, al: 1, cn: 3, ha: 3, la: 1, nh: 2, tc: 2,	10 You visit the earth and make it bountiful, exceedingly you made it rich. The stream of God is full of water. You prepare their grain, for so you prepare for her.
h lcu urau mpylot alohim nora ylilh yl-bni adm	a:-4, v:-6, i:-3, l:-6, m:-3, y:-3, lh: 2, ra: 2, yl: 3,	5 Walk about and see the works of God, a fearful prodigality, above the children of humanity.
ib hrcbt anow lrawnu banu-baw ubmim vtoxianu lrvvih	a:-5, b:-4, v:-9, i:-3, n:-4, r:-3, w:-3, an: 3, aw: 2, ba: 2, hr: 1, nw: 1, rh: 1, wn: 1,	12 You made a mortal ride over our heads. You conduct us through the fire and through the water, but you have brought us out to saturation.
h iwmku virnnu laumim ci-twpo't ymim miwor ulaumim barx tnkm slh	a:-3, v:-8, i:-7, l:-3, m:-9, n:-3, r:-3, w:-3, am: 2, mm: 3, mk: 1, km: 1, la: 2, mw: 1, wm: 1,	5 Make tribes glad and shout for joy, for you judge peoples with equity, and tribes on the earth, you guide them. Selah.
z arx ntnh ibulh ibrcnu alohim alohinu	a:-3, h:-4, v:-5, i:-4, l:-3, n:-4, al: 2, hn: 1, lh: 3, nh: 1, nt: 1, tn: 1,	7 Earth has given her produce. God our God will bless us.
z alohim mowib ikidim bith moxia asirim bcowrot aç sorrim wcnu xkikh	a:-4, b:-3, h:-3, v:-7, k:-3, i:-11, c:-3, m:-6, r:-4, w:-3, cw: 1, rm: 2, wc: 1, wr: 3,	7 God seating the solitary in a household, bringing out prisoners into success. Surely the rebellious will dwell in a scorched place.
't arx rywh af-wmiim n'tpu mpni alohim zh sinii mpni alohim alohi iwral	a:-6, h:-5, v:-4, i:-11, l:-4, m:-6, n:-4, p:-3, r:-3, w:-3, al: 4, ar: 1, mp: 2, hm: 2, lh: 3, pn: 2, ra: 1,	9 earth quaked, also the heavens dropped from the presence of God, (that is Sinai), from the presence of God, the God of Israel.
ia kitç iwbu-bh tcin b'tobtç lyni alohim	b:-4, v:-3, i:-5, c:-3, t:-3, bt: 2, tb: 1, tc: 3,	11 Those you gave life sit there. You will establish your goodness for the poor, O God.
ch rau hlicotiç alohim hlicot ali mlci bqodw	a:-3, h:-3, v:-5, i:-6, c:-4, l:-5, al: 2, ct: 2, hl: 2, lc: 3, lh: 1, tc: 1,	25 They have seen your processions, O God, the processions of my God, my king in the sanctuary.
ck wm bnimin xyir rodm wri ihudh rgmtm wri zbulun wri nptli	v:-4, i:-8, m:-5, n:-4, r:-6, w:-4, dh: 1, hd: 1, mn: 1, mt: 1, nm: 1, tm: 1, wr: 3,	28 There is diminutive Benjamin, ruler, the nobility of Judah their crowd, the nobility of Zebulun, the nobility of Naphtali.
l mhiclç yl-iruwlim lç iobilu mlcim wi	v:-3, i:-7, c:-4, l:-6, m:-4, cl: 1, lm: 1, lc: 3, ml: 1,	30 Out of your temple at Jerusalem, to you kings will convey tribute.
h rbu mwyrot rawi wonaii kinm yxmu mxmitii aoibii wqr awr la-gzlti az awib	a:-7, b:-3, v:-5, i:-12, m:-5, r:-5, w:-6, t:-3, aw: 3, mx: 1, xm: 2,	5 More than the hairs of my head are those hating me for nothing, numerous those who would annihilate me, my enemies false. What I did not ravage, must I return?
'tz al-tw'tpni wibolt mim val-tblyni mxulh val-ta'tr-ylii bar pih	a:-5, b:-3, v:-4, i:-7, l:-7, m:-3, t:-4, al: 3, at: 1, bl: 2, ly: 1, ta: 1, tw: 1, wt: 1, yl: 1,	16 Do not let floods of waters overflow me and do not let depth swallow me. And do not let a well close her mouth on me.
cd tkwcnh yinihm mraot umotnihm tmid hmyd	h:-4, v:-3, i:-4, m:-6, n:-3, t:-4, hm: 3, mt: 1, nh: 3, tm: 1,	24 Let their eyes be darkened from seeing, and their loins continually unstable.
d iwubu yl-yqb bowtm haomrim hak hak	a:-3, b:-3, h:-3, v:-4, m:-3, ak: 2, bw: 1, ha: 3, mr: 1, rm: 1, wb: 1,	4 Let them turn, foot firmly planted in their shame, those saying, Aha! aha!
ib alohim al-trkq mmni alohii lyzrti kuwh	a:-3, h:-3, v:-3, i:-5, l:-4, m:-3, al: 3, rt: 1, lh: 2, tr: 1,	12 O God do not be distant from me, My God to my help hurry.
i mlci trwiw vaiim mnkh iwibu mlci wba usba awcr iqribu	a:-4, b:-4, v:-4, i:-9, c:-3, m:-4, r:-3, w:-5, ba: 2, lc: 2, ml: 2, wb: 3,	10 Kings of Tarshish and the coasts will return with a gift. Kings of Sheba and Seba with wages will come near.
iz ihi wmo lyolm lpni-wmw iinon wmo vitbrcu bo cl-goiim iawruhu	v:-10, i:-9, l:-4, m:-5, n:-3, w:-5, ly: 1, mw: 1, wm: 3, yl: 1,	17 His name will be forever. His name will propagate in the presence of the sun, and they will bless themselves in him. All nations will call him happy.
ik bruç ihvh alohim alohi iwral yowh nplaot lbdo	a:-4, h:-5, v:-7, i:-4, l:-5, al: 3, la: 1, lh: 2,	18 Bless Yahweh God, the God of Israel, doing wonders he alone.
k imiqu vidbru bry yowq mmrom idbru	b:-3, v:-6, i:-4, m:-4, r:-4, br: 3, db: 2, mr: 1, rm: 1,	8 They mock and speak in oppressive evil. From on high they speak.
'tv ath bqyt myiin vnkl ath hobwt nhrot aitn	a:-3, h:-4, v:-3, i:-3, n:-4, t:-6, at: 3, th: 2,	15 You yourself split spring and torrent. You yourself dried up the perennial rivers.
z ci la mmoxa ummyrb vla mmdbr hrim	a:-3, v:-3, m:-7, r:-3, br: 1, mm: 3, la: 2, rb: 1,	7 For not from the going forth or from the setting, nor from the wilderness, is exaltation.
i bqum-lmwp't alohim lhowiy cl-ynvvi-arx slh	h:-3, v:-5, i:-3, l:-5, m:-3, lh: 3,	10 When God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted of the earth. Selah.
id alohim bqodw drcç mi-al gdol calohim	a:-3, d:-3, v:-4, i:-3, c:-3, l:-4, m:-3, al: 3, hm: 2, lh: 2,	14 God in holiness is your way. Who is a god as great as God?
c bim drcç uwbilç bmim rbim vyiqbotiç la nodyu	b:-5, v:-5, i:-6, c:-4, m:-4, bm: 3,	20 In the sea is your way, and your wake in abundant waters, and your footprints were not known.
k vla ihiu cabotm dor sorr umorh dor la-hcin libo vla-namnh at-al ruko	a:-7, h:-4, v:-12, i:-4, l:-5, m:-3, n:-3, r:-6, al: 1, dr: 2, la: 3,	8 and not become like their ancestors, a rebellious and provocative generation, a generation not preparing its heart, and whose spirit did not believe God.
la vaf alohim ylh bhm vihrog bmwmnihm ubkuri iwral hcriy	a:-3, b:-3, h:-6, v:-6, i:-6, l:-3, m:-5, r:-4, al: 2, hm: 3, lh: 2, mw: 1, wm: 1,	31 and the anger of God ascended in them, and slew among their stoutest, and the chosen of Israel were bowed down.
lh vizcru ci-alohim xurm val ylion goalm	a:-3, v:-7, i:-4, l:-4, m:-3, al: 3,	35 And they remembered for God is their rock, and God the Most High their redeemer.
d hiinu krph lwcninu lyg vqls lsbibotinu	v:-5, i:-5, l:-4, n:-4, lw: 3,	4 We have become a reproach to our neighbours, derision and ridicule to those around us.
i la-ihih bç al zr vla twtkvvh lal ncr	a:-4, h:-3, v:-3, l:-5, al: 2, la: 3, tw: 1, wt: 1,	10 There will not be among you a strange god, and you will not worship an alien god.
a mzmor lasf alohim nixb bydt-al bqrb alohim iwpo't	a:-4, b:-4, v:-4, i:-4, l:-4, m:-4, al: 3, hm: 2, la: 1, lh: 2, mz: 1, zm: 1,	1 A psalm of Asaph. God takes a stand in the divine assembly, in the close combat of gods he judges.
k gbl vymon vymlq plwt ym-iowbi xor	v:-5, l:-3, m:-3, y:-3, ym: 3,	8 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistines with those sitting in Tyre.
k ilcu mkil al-kil iirah al-alohim bxion	a:-4, v:-3, i:-7, l:-6, al: 3, kl: 2,	8 They will walk on from wealth to wealth, and will appear to God in Zion.
't ihvh alohim xbaot wmyh tpilti hazinh alohi iyqob slh	a:-4, h:-8, v:-5, i:-7, l:-4, t:-3, al: 2, lh: 3,	9 Yahweh God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear God of Jacob. Selah.
i ci-gdol ath vyowh nplaot ath alohim lbdç	a:-4, h:-4, v:-5, l:-4, t:-3, al: 1, at: 3, th: 2, la: 1,	10 For you are great and do wonders, you O God, you alone.
i ath mowl bgaut him bwoa gliv ath twbkm	a:-4, b:-3, h:-3, v:-4, m:-3, w:-3, t:-4, at: 3, bw: 1, th: 2, wb: 1,	10 You yourself govern over the pride of the sea. When its waves gloat, you yourself soothe them.
i imi-wnotinu bhm wbyim wnh vam bgburot wmonim wnh vrohbm yml vavvn ci-gz kiw vnyuph	b:-5, h:-5, v:-13, i:-7, m:-8, n:-7, y:-3, w:-6, bg: 1, bh: 1, gb: 1, hb: 1, mn: 1, nh: 2, nm: 1, nt: 1, tn: 1, wn: 3, ym: 2,	10 The days of our years, in them a seventy year span, and if valiant, an eighty year span, but their boldness is toil and mischief, for they scurry past, and we fly away.
iz vihi noym adonii alohinu ylinu umywh idinu connh ylinu umywh idinu connhu	d:-3, h:-6, v:-14, i:-11, l:-3, m:-3, n:-11, y:-5, cn: 2, dn: 3, hn: 1, my: 2, nh: 2, wh: 2, yl: 2, ym: 1, yw: 2,	17 And let the pleasure of the Lord our God be upon us, and the deed of our hands establish upon us, and the deed of our hands establish.
d yli-ywor vyli-nbl yli higion bcinor	v:-4, i:-6, l:-4, n:-3, y:-4, yl: 3,	4 on ten-strings and on a lute, on meditation with a harp.
i ci hnh aoibiç ihvh ci-hnh aoibiç iabdu itprdu cl-poyli avvn	a:-4, b:-3, h:-6, v:-8, i:-10, c:-5, n:-3, ab: 3, bc: 2, hn: 2, nh: 2,	10 For behold your enemies Yahweh, for behold your enemies will perish. All workers of mischief will be separated.
g nwau nhrot ihvh nwau nhrot qolm iwau nhrot dociim	a:-3, h:-5, v:-9, i:-4, n:-5, r:-3, w:-3, t:-3, rt: 3, hr: 3, nh: 3, nw: 2, wa: 3,	3 The rivers have lifted up Yahweh. The rivers have lifted up their voice. The rivers will lift up their crushing waves.
ib awri hgbr awr-tiisrnu ih umtortç tlmdnu	v:-4, i:-4, r:-5, t:-4, aw: 2, rt: 1, tr: 1, wr: 3,	12 Happy the valiant whom you chasten Yah, and from your instruction you teach them.
'tz mi-iqum li ym-mryim mi-itiixb li ym-poyli avvn	v:-4, i:-10, l:-3, m:-7, y:-4, ym: 3,	16 Who will arise for me with the evildoers? Who station themselves for me with the workers of mischief?
cg viwb ylihm at-aonm ubrytm ixmitm ixmitm ihvh alohinu	a:-3, h:-4, v:-6, i:-8, m:-7, t:-4, lh: 2, mt: 2, xm: 2, tm: 3,	23 And he will turn their mischief on them and in their evil, he will annihilate them. He will annihilate them, Yahweh our God.
k al-tqwu lbbcm cmribh ciom msh bmdbr	b:-5, c:-3, m:-5, br: 1, cm: 3, rb: 1,	8 Do not harden your heart in contention, as if it were the day of temptation in the wilderness,
a wiru lihvh wir kdw wiru lihvh cl-harx	h:-5, v:-4, i:-5, l:-3, r:-4, w:-4, lh: 2, wr: 3,	1 Sing to Yahweh a new song. Sing to Yahweh all the earth.
ig lpni ihvh ci ba ci ba lwpo't harx iwpo't-tbl bxdq vymim bamunto	a:-4, b:-5, h:-3, v:-6, i:-6, l:-3, m:-3, p:-3, ba: 3, pt: 2, wp: 2,	13 in the presence of Yahweh, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.
d vyoz mlç mwp't ahb ath connt miwrim mwp't uxdqh biyqob ath ywit	a:-3, b:-3, h:-4, v:-5, i:-4, m:-5, y:-3, w:-4, t:-4, at: 2, th: 2, mw: 3, pt: 2, wp: 2,	4 And the king's strength loves judgment. You yourself establish uprightness. Judgment and righteousness in Jacob, you yourself make.
't rommu ihvh alohinu vhwtkvu lhr qodwo ci-qdow ihvh alohinu	h:-8, v:-14, i:-5, l:-3, w:-3, al: 2, dw: 2, hn: 2, lh: 3, qd: 2,	9 Exalt Yahweh our God and worship at his holy hill, for Yahweh our God is holy.
ib crkoq mzrk mmyrb hrkiq mmnu at-pwyinu	v:-3, k:-3, m:-5, r:-4, mm: 2, kq: 2, rk: 3,	12 As distant as sunrise is from evening, so distant from us are our transgressions.
iz vksd ihvh myolm vyd-yolm yl-iraiv vxdqto lbni bnim	d:-3, v:-8, i:-5, l:-4, m:-4, y:-4, bn: 2, lm: 2, yl: 3,	17 But the kindness of Yahweh is from everlasting and unto everlasting to those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children,
't gbul-wmt bl-iyborun bl-iwubun lcsot harx	b:-5, v:-6, l:-4, bl: 3,	9 A border you set up that they will not pass through, so they will not turn again to cover the earth.
lh viacl cl-ywb barxm viacl pri admtm	a:-4, i:-3, c:-3, l:-3, m:-3, ac: 2, cl: 3, mt: 1, tm: 1,	35 And they ate all the herbs in their land, and they ate the fruit of their ground.
z abotinu bmxriim la-hwcilu nplaotiç la zcru at-rob ksdiç vimru yl-im bim-suf	a:-5, b:-4, v:-9, i:-9, c:-4, l:-5, m:-5, r:-4, t:-3, at: 2, bm: 2, mr: 1, la: 3, rm: 1,	7 Our ancestors in Egypt did not have insight into your wonders. They did not remember your many kindnesses, but they were provocative over the sea, at that sea of reeds.
cg viamr lhwmidm luli mwh bkiro ymd bprx lpniv lhwib kmto mhwkit	b:-3, h:-4, v:-5, k:-3, i:-7, l:-5, m:-7, r:-3, w:-4, hw: 3, dm: 1, lh: 2, md: 2, mw: 1, wh: 1, wm: 1,	23 And he promised to exterminate them, unless Moses his chosen had stood in the breach in his presence, to turn away his heat to destroy.
lk viwpcu dm nqi dm-bnihm ubnotihm awr zibku lyxbi cnyn vtknf harx bdmim	b:-5, d:-3, h:-3, v:-6, i:-7, m:-6, n:-6, bn: 2, dm: 3, hm: 2, nt: 2, ny: 1, yn: 1,	38 And poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, which they offered to idols of Canaan, and polluted the land with blood.
mz howiynu ihvh alohinu vqbxnu mn-hgoiim lhodot lwm qodwç lhwtbk bthiltç	b:-3, h:-8, v:-11, i:-6, l:-5, m:-3, n:-4, w:-4, t:-4, hw: 2, bt: 1, tb: 1, hl: 1, lh: 3,	47 Save us Yahweh our God, and collect us from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to commend your praises.
g umarxot qibxm mmzrk ummyrb mxpon umim	v:-5, m:-9, x:-3, r:-3, mm: 3, mx: 1, xm: 1,	3 and from lands collected them, from the sunrise and from the sunset from the treasured place and from the sea.
'tz ci-wibr dltot nkowt ubriki brzl gidy	b:-3, v:-3, i:-5, r:-3, t:-3, br: 3,	16 For he has broken the gateways of brass, and bars of iron he has chopped.
i moab sir rkxi yl-adom awliç nyli yli-plwt atroyy	a:-4, v:-3, i:-5, l:-5, y:-5, r:-3, lw: 1, wl: 1, yl: 3,	10 Moab my washpot, on Edom I fling my sandal. To me Philistia, I will be jubilant.
a hllu-ih hllu ybdi ihvh hllu at-wm ihvh	h:-8, v:-5, i:-4, l:-6, hl: 3,	1 Hallelu Yah. Praise servants of Yahweh. Praise the name of Yahweh.
k lhowibi ym-ndibim ym ndibi ymo	b:-3, i:-6, m:-4, y:-3, db: 2, nd: 2, ym: 3,	8 to make him sit with princes, with the princes of his people?
z idihm vla imiwun rglihm vla ihlcu la-ihgu bgronm	a:-3, g:-3, h:-4, v:-6, i:-7, l:-5, m:-4, gr: 1, hl: 1, hm: 2, la: 3, lh: 1, rg: 1,	7 Their hands and they feel not, their feet and they walk not, nor do they mutter through their gullet.
k cmohm ihiu yowihm col awr-bo'tk bhm	h:-4, v:-5, i:-3, m:-4, hm: 3, mh: 1,	8 Like them their makers will become, all who trust in them.
ib ihvh zcrnu ibrç ibrç at-bit iwral ibrç at-bit ahron	a:-4, b:-5, h:-3, v:-3, i:-7, c:-4, r:-6, t:-4, at: 2, br: 3, bt: 2, cr: 1, rc: 3, rn: 2,	12 Yahweh remembers us - he will bless. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
id iosf ihvh ylicm ylicm vyl-bnicm	v:-3, i:-5, c:-3, l:-3, m:-3, y:-3, cm: 3, lc: 2, yl: 3,	14 Yahweh will add to you, to you and to your children.
g appuni kbli-mvvt umxri waol mxauni xrh vigon amxa	a:-5, v:-8, i:-5, m:-4, n:-3, x:-4, mx: 3, xa: 2, xr: 2,	3 The pangs of death enveloped me and anguish of Sheol found me. Trouble and sadness I find.
'tz anh ihvh ci-ani ybdç ani-ybdç bn-amtç pitkt lmosrii	a:-4, b:-3, h:-3, i:-7, c:-4, n:-4, t:-3, an: 3, bd: 2, dc: 2, kt: 1, tk: 1, yb: 2,	16 Yahweh beseeching, for I myself am your servant, I myself your servant and child of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.
cg mat ihvh hiith zat hia nplat byininu	a:-4, h:-5, i:-6, n:-3, t:-4, at: 3, ht: 1, th: 1,	23 From Yahweh is this. It is wonderful in our eyes.
ig bwptii siprti col mwp'ti-piç	i:-6, p:-4, pt: 2, wp: 3,	13 By my lips I have recounted, all the judgments of your mouth.
lv h't-libi al-ydvotiç val al-bxy	a:-3, v:-3, i:-3, l:-4, al: 3,	36 Hearten me to your testimonies and not to extortion.
mk vawa-cpii al-mxvotiç awr ahbti vawikh bkuqiç	a:-6, v:-5, i:-6, c:-3, w:-3, aw: 3, wa: 1,	48 Wave my palms I will to your commandments, which I have loved and I will ponder on your statutes.
pa clth ltwuytç npwi ldbrç iiklti	i:-4, c:-3, l:-4, t:-4, lt: 3,	81 Faints my being for your salvation. Of your word I have hoped.
qiz sydni vaivvwyh vawyh bkuqiç tmid	v:-5, i:-4, y:-3, aw: 2, wy: 3,	117 Sustain me and I will be saved, and I will look to your statutes continually.
qck yl-cn cl-piqudi col iiwrti cl-aork wqr wnati	v:-3, i:-6, c:-4, l:-4, r:-3, w:-3, cl: 3,	128 Indeed all your precepts, all I find upright. Every path of falsehood I hate.
qmg xr-umxoq mxauni mxvotiç wywuyii	v:-6, i:-4, m:-3, x:-4, mx: 3, wy: 2, yw: 1,	143 Strain and distress find me out. Your commandments are my revel.
qyd tabti liwuytç ihvh vtortç wywuyii	v:-5, i:-5, y:-3, w:-3, t:-5, rt: 1, tc: 2, tr: 1, wy: 3, yw: 1,	174 To your salvation I have longed to come, Yahweh, and your instruction is my revel.
g mh-iitn lç umh-iosif lç lwon rmiih	h:-3, v:-3, i:-6, l:-3, m:-3, lc: 2, mh: 3,	3 What gives with you or what next with you deceitful tongue?
v walu wlom iruwlim iwliu aohbiiç	v:-5, i:-6, l:-4, w:-4, lm: 2, wl: 3,	6 Ask peace for Jerusalem. Those who love you will be at ease.
b hnh cyini ybdim al-id adonihm cyini wpkh al-id gbrth cn yininu al-ihvh alohinu yd wikonnu	a:-5, d:-5, h:-8, v:-7, i:-13, c:-3, l:-4, n:-10, y:-5, al: 4, cy: 2, hn: 2, nh: 2, yn: 3,	2 Here! as the eyes of servants to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes to Yahweh our God, until he will be gracious to us.
h awri hgbr awr mila at-awpto mhm la-ibowu ci-idbru at-aoibim bwyr	a:-8, b:-5, v:-5, i:-7, m:-4, r:-5, w:-5, t:-3, at: 2, aw: 3, br: 2, bw: 2, hm: 1, la: 2, mh: 1, wr: 2,	5 Happy the valiant who filled his quiver with them. He will not be ashamed, when he speaks with enemies at the gate.
k vla amru hyobrim brct-ihvh alicm bircnu atcm bwm ihvh	a:-4, b:-4, h:-5, v:-6, i:-5, c:-4, m:-5, r:-4, al: 1, br: 3, cm: 2, ct: 1, rc: 2, mr: 1, la: 1, rm: 1, tc: 1,	8 And those going by will not say, The blessing of Yahweh on you. We bless you in the name of Yahweh.
v hnh-wmynuh baprth mxanuh bwdi-iyr	h:-5, n:-3, hn: 1, nh: 3,	6 Here! we heard of it in Ephrata, and we have found it in the fields of the forest.
ib am-iwmru bniç briti vydoti zo almdm gm-bnihm ydi-yd iiwbu lcisa-lç	a:-3, b:-4, d:-4, v:-5, i:-10, c:-3, l:-3, m:-6, y:-3, bn: 2, dm: 1, lc: 2, md: 1, yd: 3,	12 If your children will keep my covenant and my testimonies that I will teach them, even their children for ever and ever. will sit on your throne.
b cwmn h'tob yl-hraw iord yl-hzqn zqn-ahron wiord yl-pi midotiv	d:-3, h:-4, v:-6, i:-5, l:-3, n:-4, y:-3, r:-4, w:-3, hr: 2, qn: 2, rd: 2, yl: 3, zq: 2,	2 As the finest oil on the head running down on the beard, even Aaron's beard, running down on the collar of his shirt.
a hllu-ih hllu at-wm ihvh hllu ybdi ihvh	h:-8, v:-5, i:-4, l:-6, hl: 3,	1 Hallelu Yah. Praise the name of Yahweh. Praise O servants of Yahweh,
ia lsikon mlç hamori ulyog mlç hbwn ulcol mmlcot cnyn	v:-7, c:-5, l:-7, m:-5, n:-4, cl: 1, lc: 4, ml: 3, ny: 1, yn: 1,	11 So Sihon king of the Amorites, and so Og king of fruitful Bashan. and so all the kings of Canaan,
ik cmohm ihiu yowihm col awr-bo'tk bhm	h:-4, v:-5, i:-3, m:-4, hm: 3, mh: 1,	18 Like them become those who make them, all who trust in them.
iz lmch mlcim gdolim ci lyolm ksdo	v:-3, i:-3, c:-3, l:-5, m:-5, cm: 1, lm: 3, ly: 1, mc: 1, ml: 1, yl: 1,	17 and he struck great kings, because forever is his kindness,
g ci wm walunu wobinu dbri-wir vtollinu wmkh wiru lnu mwir xion	v:-10, i:-8, l:-4, m:-3, n:-5, r:-4, w:-7, mw: 1, wm: 2, wr: 3,	3 For there our captors asked us the words of a song, and our tormentors mirth. "Sing to us a song of Zion"
b awtkvvh al-hicl qodwç vaodh at-wmç yl-ksdç vyl-amitç ci-hgdlt yl-cl-wmç amrtç	a:-6, d:-4, h:-4, v:-6, i:-3, c:-9, l:-7, m:-4, y:-3, w:-4, t:-5, am: 2, cl: 2, dw: 1, mc: 2, tc: 2, wd: 1, wm: 2, yl: 3,	2 I will worship in your holy temple and give thanks to your name over your kindness, and over your truth, for you magnify your promise over all your name.
ib gm-kowç la-ikwiç mmç vlilh ciom iair ckwich caorh	a:-3, h:-3, v:-4, k:-3, i:-7, c:-7, l:-3, m:-4, w:-3, ar: 2, cm: 1, kw: 3, mc: 1, wc: 3,	12 even darkness is not darkness from you, and night like day enlightens, as darkness as light.
id aodç yl ci noraot npliti nplaim mywiç vnpwi iodyt maod	a:-4, d:-3, v:-6, i:-7, c:-3, l:-3, m:-3, n:-4, y:-3, p:-3, t:-3, ad: 2, am: 1, ma: 1, np: 3, pl: 2,	14 I will thank you for fearfully I am reserved. Wonderful your deeds, as my self knows in full.
d al-t't-libi ldbr ry lhtyoll ylilot brwy at-aiwim poyli-avvn ubl-alkm bmnymihm	a:-5, b:-5, v:-6, i:-7, l:-11, m:-5, y:-6, r:-3, t:-4, al: 2, bl: 1, br: 2, hm: 1, lb: 1, mh: 1, yl: 3,	4 Do not bend my heart to a word of evil, wantonly wanton in wickedness with others, workers of mischief, and let me not partake in their pleasures.
h hb't imin urah vain-li mcir abd mnos mmni ain dorw lnpwi	a:-4, v:-4, i:-8, m:-5, n:-6, r:-3, an: 2, mn: 3,	5 Take note on the right and see. There is no one recognizing me. Haven perished beyond me. There is no one searching for my being.
't alohim wir kdw awirh lç bnbl ywor azmrh-lç	a:-3, h:-3, i:-3, l:-4, r:-4, w:-4, bn: 1, lc: 2, nb: 1, rh: 2, wr: 3,	9 O God, a new song I will sing to you. On a ten-stringed lute I will sing a psalm to you.
ib awr bninu cn'tiyim mgudlim bnyurihm bnotinu czvviiot mku'tbot tbnit hicl	b:-5, v:-10, i:-10, c:-3, m:-5, n:-7, t:-5, bn: 4, bt: 1, tb: 2, nt: 3, tn: 1,	12 that our sons may be as plants developed in their youth, with our daughters as cornerstones, dressed in the manner of a temple,
ig mzvvinu mlaim mpiqim mzn al-zn xannu malipot mrubbot bkuxotinu	a:-4, b:-3, v:-10, z:-3, i:-6, l:-3, m:-8, n:-6, t:-3, al: 2, am: 1, la: 1, zn: 3, ma: 1, mz: 2,	13 so our granaries are full furnished from kind to kind, our sheep by thousands, to ten thousands in our streets,
id alupinu msublim ain-prx vain ioxat vain xvvkh brkobotinu	a:-5, b:-3, v:-11, i:-7, n:-5, x:-3, an: 3,	14 our droves bearing burdens, without breach without sally, without complaint in our piazzas.
ig mlcutç mlcut cl-yolmim ummwltç bcl-dor vdor namn ihvh bdbriv vksid bcol mywiv	b:-4, d:-4, v:-12, i:-5, c:-7, l:-7, m:-8, r:-3, t:-3, bc: 2, bd: 1, cl: 3, ct: 2, db: 1, lm: 1, dr: 2, mm: 2, lc: 2, ml: 2, tc: 2,	13 Making your reign a reign for every era, and your governance in all generations. Note that faithful is Yahweh in his words, and merciful in all his deeds.
ik qrob ihvh lcl-qoraiv lcol awr iqrauhu bamt	a:-4, h:-3, v:-7, i:-3, l:-4, q:-3, r:-4, cl: 2, lc: 2, qr: 3, ra: 2,	18 Quick is Yahweh to all calling him, to all who call him in truth.
k hmcsh wmiim bybim hmcin larx m'tr hmxmik hrim kxir	h:-5, i:-7, m:-9, x:-3, r:-4, by: 1, hm: 3, mc: 2, mx: 1, rx: 1, xm: 1, xr: 1, yb: 1,	8 who covers the heavens with thick clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the hills,
a hllu-ih hllu at-ihvh mn-hwmiim hlluhu bmromim	h:-8, v:-6, i:-5, l:-6, m:-6, mm: 2, hl: 3, mr: 1, lh: 1, rm: 1,	1 Hallelu Yah. Praise Yahweh from the heavens. Praise him on the high ground.
d hlluhu wmi hwmiim vhmim awr myl hwmiim	h:-5, v:-3, i:-6, l:-3, m:-8, w:-4, hw: 2, mm: 3, hl: 1, lh: 1, wm: 3,	4 Praise him the heaven of heavens, and the waters which are above the heavens.
ig ihllu at-wm ihvh ci-nwgb wmo lbdo hodo yl-arx vwmiim	h:-4, v:-7, i:-5, l:-4, m:-4, w:-4, wm: 3,	13 Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for set on high is his name, his alone, his splendour over earth and heaven.
a hllu-ih wiru lihvh wir kdw thilto bqhl ksidim	h:-6, v:-4, i:-7, l:-5, w:-3, dw: 1, hl: 3, lh: 1, wd: 1, wr: 2,	1 Hallelu Yah. Sing to Yahweh a new song. His praise in the congregation of the-many who are under mercy.
a hllu-ih hllu-al bqodwo hlluhu brqiy yuzo	h:-5, v:-8, l:-7, hl: 3, lh: 1,	1 Hallelu Yah. Praise God in his holiness. Praise him in the expanse of his strength.