Adapted from A Mizmor of David (Psalm 8)
To the Preeminent Musician
To be performed on the Gittiyth (a harp of Gath)
For Sukkot
YAHUAH Adoneynu
O, YAHUAH, Adoneynu,
How excellent Your name in all the earth!
Who has set Your Splendor
Above the heavens,
Above the visible arch of sky
Where the celestial bodies revolve,
With waters beneath and above
The space cleared by Ruah!
O, ALOHIM,
From the mouth of infants
And nursing mothers,
You have brought forth
Your praise.
You have laid the foundation
Of strength
And of boldness,
For the purpose of
Those who travail,
Because of the adversary,
The foe who causes
Distress,
Narrowness,
Vexation.
That You might rest
From Your labors—
Shabbat—
That You might bring to an end
Your haters
And be avenged upon the vengeful.
I look intently
Upon the face
Of the lofty sky.
I observe
Your achievement,
Those things You have made,
Your labors,
The place
Where You dipped
The fingers of your feet.
I see the moon,
And the blazing star,
Your progeny,
Which You established
And arranged to be steadfast.
What is mankind—
Mortal, weak and frail—
That You remember him,
The sons of A’dam
That You watch over them?
You have caused him
To lack,
To be in need,
To decrease
And be smaller,
Less
Than ELOHIM,
Than the mighty rulers,
The divine judges,
And the mighty ones,
Yet with abundance,
Riches,
Honor,
You encircled him.
You have given him
Dominion over Your achievement,
He reigns over the labors
Of Your hands.
You appointed him for this,
You lay these at his feet,
Like the sweetness
Of a woman in subjection
Beneath him.
You give increase
Of family,
Flocks,
Oxen—
All these and more,
The wild beast—
Behemoth—
And the fields,
The sparrow
Of the arched sky,
The fish,
That great traveler,
Across the westward sea.
O, YAHUAH ADONEYNU,
How excellent is Your name
In all the earth!
Pamela Glasgow
The Psalm Project represents my desire for a deeper understanding of the Word of YAHUAH. It is not a mechanical translation, a one-word-for-word exchange from Hebrew to English. We have those. This is is a lyrical adaptation of the many possibilities hidden in the Hebrew, arranged with consideration for the poetic and musical intent of the original writer. I pray you are as enriched in the reading as I was in the transcribing.
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