Adapted from a Mizmor of David (Psalm 5)

 

Preeminent Musician,

Superintendent of Temple Services:

To be performed on the woodwind instrument (flute)

To the Melody “Behold the Divided Inheritance”

 

Hearken to my words.

Listen,

O, AHAYAH, Self-Existent, Eternal One,

Consider diligently

My murmuring,

My whispered complaint.

Incline Your ears

Unto my voice,

Unto the sound of my cry!

Melek! King and Messenger!

 

I will set my thoughts in order,

I will array myself in battle gear,

Door keeper, Strong Leader,

Keep watch for me.

 

O, ALOHIM, Strong Leader,

Toward You

Do I make supplication.

Hear me.

Consider my meditations;

Incline Your attention.

Mark well

The cry—shevah—

The sound of the woodwind,

The song of my heart.

For unto You,

Melek ALOHIM,

Strong Leader,

I do pray.

YAHUAH,

When night ends

And sunrise brings bright joy,

Grant my request.

Hear with interest

My voice as it breaks

At the coming of daylight.

 

Strong Leader,

You do not desire wickedness.

You do not favor crimes

Against Your moral law.

Violence does not please You.

You do not sojourn

With the disagreeable.

You do not inhabit

The tents of the unkind.

You do not dwell

With the malignant

And quarrelsome.

 

The boastful ones

Shall not present themselves

Before Your eye.

You oppose all

Who practice

Systematic and habitual

Falsehood.

Workers of vanity,

Sowers of sorrow

Shall not position themselves

In Your holy court.

 

Destroyed be speakers of untruth.

They vanish,

Those weavers of deceit.

Liars perish.

The man who sheds innocent blood,

The treacherous,

YAHUAH detests.

 

As for me,

In the abundance of Your kindness,

In the excellence of Your favor,

I come into Your family.

Your faithfulness multiplies!

I shelter in Your house.

In the land of Ephraim,

I bow down.

Within Your set-apart dwelling,

Before the Presence,

I reverence You, O, ALOHIM.

 

O, YAHUAH, turn my eyes

Toward tsedek, righteousness.

As one outside, a weary traveler,

Guide me toward your Tabernacle Bestow upon me the inheritance of righteousness,

In order to reveal the purpose of my opponent,

On account of the insidious watchers.

In front of seraphim

And in the faces of cherubim,

Make straight

My path,

My journey,

The course of my life.

 

Their breath is not stable.

Their mouth is not established.

In due time,

Their work shall be revealed.

In the house of man,

Their thoughts shall be made apparent.

Their throat opens into a chasm.

Their tongue devours calamity and ruin.

With breath, they scatter.

With speech, they divide,

With language, they plunder.

These strong who lead into chaos,

Who ensnare, devour, and offend,

O, ALOHIM, cast down these fallen ones

By their own devices.

Ensnare them with their own counsel.

 

Let all rejoice and be glad

That flee for protection,

That seek refuge in ALOHIM.

You lead them to the ancient house.

You establish them,

Fixed,

Immovable,

For this time,

Further than one could see or perceive,

To the edge of the horizon and beyond.

 

Give a ringing cry!

Exult in praise!

Sing for joy!

Fenced about,

Shut in,

Defended,

They dwell triumphant

In Your house.

They rejoice in Your fame.

 

You bestow gifts of righteousness,

A rich inheritance,

Upon those who guard Your torah.

O, YAHUAH, Self-Existent, Eternal One.

You surround the just with goodwill.

You crown the faithful with favor.

As a barbed shield,

As a buckler crafted of scaly dragon hide

That guards with prickliness

And with piercing cold,

You protect all those who wait on You!