Historical
86 (A tefillah of Dovid) Incline Thine ear, Hashem; hear me; for I am ani (poor) and evyon (needy).
2 Be shomer over my nefesh; for I am chasid; O Thou Elohai, save Thy eved that trusteth in Thee.
3 Channeni (be merciful) unto me, Adonoi; for I cry unto Thee kol hayom.
4 Samei’ach (rejoice) the nefesh of Thy eved; for unto Thee, Adonoi, do I lift up my nefesh.
5 For Thou, Adonoi, art tov, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in chesed unto all them that call upon Thee.
6 Give ear, Hashem, unto my tefillah (prayer); and attend to the voice of my techinnot (supplications).
7 In my yom tzoros I will call upon Thee; for Thou wilt answer me.
8 Ein kamocha vaelohim (there is none like Thee among the g-ds), Adonoi; nor are there any ma’asim like Thine.
9 Kol Goyim whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, Adonoi; and shall glorify Shimcha.
10 For Thou art gadol, and doest nifla’ot (wondrous things); Thou alone art Elohim.
11 Teach me Thy Derech, Hashem; I will walk in Thy emes; Yachad (make undivided) levavi (my heart) to fear Thy Shem.
12 I will praise Thee, Adonoi Elohai, with all my lev; and I will glorify Shimecha l’olam.
13 For gadol is Thy chesed toward me; and Thou hast saved my nefesh from the lowermost Sheol.
14 O Elohim, the zedim (arrogant ones, proud, insolent ones) are risen up against me, and the adat aritzim (band of violent men) seek my nefesh; and have not set Thee before them.
15 But Thou, Adonoi, art El Rachum and Channun, slow to anger, and plenteous in chesed and emes.
16 O turn unto me, and be gracious upon me; give Thy oz (strength) unto Thy eved, and save the ben amatecha (the son of Thy handmaid).
17 Show me an ot (sign) for tovah; that they which hate me may see it, and be put to shame; because Thou, Hashem, hast helped me, and comforted me.
87 (Of the Bnei Korach. A mizmor. A shir) On the Harei Kodesh (Holy Mountain) stands His foundation.
2 Hashem loveth the sha’arei Tziyon more than all the mishkenot Ya’akov.
3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O Ir HaElohim. Selah.
4 To them that know me, I will make mention of Rachav and Babylon; hinei, Philistia, and Tzor, with Ethiopia: this man was born there.
5 But of Tziyon it shall be said, This one and that one were born in her; and Elyon Himself shall establish it.
6 Hashem shall register, when He writeth up the people, that this one was born there. Selah.
7 The sharim (ones singing) as well as the cholelim (players on instruments) shall be there; all my fountains are in thee.
88 (Shir. Mizmor of the Bnei Korach. For the one directing. According to Machalat le‘annot. Maskil of Herman the Ezrachi.) Hashem Elohei Yeshuati (G-d of my salvation), I have cried out yom valailah before Thee.
2 (3) Let my tefillah come before Thee; incline Thine ear unto my cry;
3 (4) For my nefesh is full of troubles; and my life draweth near unto Sheol.
4 (5) I am counted with them that go down into the bor (pit); I am like a gever (man) that hath no strength;
5 (6) Forsaken among the mesim, like the slain that lie in the kever, whom Thou rememberest no more; and nigzaru (they are cut off, excluded; see Isa 53:8) from Thy Yad (hand, power, care).
6 (7) Thou hast laid me in the lowest bor (pit), in darkness, in the deeps.
7 (8) Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast overwhelmed me with kol mishbarecha (all Thy waves, breakers). Selah.
8 (9) Thou hast estranged mine acquaintances far from me; Thou hast made me to’evot unto them; I am shut up, and I cannot escape.
9 (10) Mine eye groweth dim by reason of oni (affliction); Hashem, I have called daily upon Thee, I have stretched up my hands unto Thee.
10 (11) Wilt Thou show wonders to the mesim? Shall the lifeless arise and praise Thee? Selah.
11 (12) Shall Thy chesed be declared in the kever? Or Thy emunah in Avaddon?
12 (13) Shall Thy wonders be known in the choshech? And Thy tzedakah in the Eretz Neshiyyah (land of forgetfulness, oblivion)?
13 (14) But unto Thee have I cried, Hashem; and in the boker shall my tefillah come before Thee.
14 (15) Hashem, why castest Thou off my nefesh? Why hidest Thou Thy face from me?
15 (16) I am afflicted and govei’a (one being close to death) from my youth up; while I suffer Thy terrors I am distraught.
16 (17) Thy charon (fierce wrath) goeth over me; Thy terrors have flayed me.
17 (18) They came round about me daily like mayim; they close in, engulfing me.
18 (19) Ohev (lover) and re’a (companion) hast Thou estranged from me, and mine acquaintances are in darkness. [T.N. Ps 89 is a messianic Ps.]
89 (A maskil of Eitan the Ezrachi). I will sing of the mercies of Hashem olam; with my mouth will I make known Thy emunah (faithfulness) to dor vador.
2 (3) For I have said, Chesed shall be built up olam; Thy emunah (faithfulness) shalt Thou establish in Shomayim itself.
3 (4) I have made a Brit with My Bechir (Chosen one), I have sworn unto Dovid Avdi,
4 (5) Thy Zera will I establish ad olam, and build up thy kisse to dor vador. Selah.
5 (6) And Shomayim shall praise Thy wonders, O Hashem; Thy emunah (faithfulness) also in the Kahal Kedoshim.
6 (7) For who in the heavens can be compared unto Hashem? Who among the bnei elim can be likened unto Hashem?
7 (8) G-d is greatly to be feared in the sod Kedoshim (council of the holy ones), and is awesome over all them that are around Him.
8 (9) Hashem Elohei Tzva’os, who is like Thee, O Mighty One, Hashem? Thy emunah also surrounds Thee!
9 (10) Thou rulest the raging of the yam; when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them [see Mk 4:41].
10 (11) Thou hast broken Rachav in pieces, as one that is slain; Thou hast scattered Thine oyevim with Thy strong Zero’a.
11 (12) Shomayim are Thine, Eretz also is Thine; as for the tevel (world) and the fulness thereof, Thou hast founded them.
12 (13) The tzafon (north) and the yamin (south) Thou hast created them; Tavor and Chermon shall sing for joy in Thy Shem.
13 (14) Thou hast a mighty Zero’a; strong is Thy Yad, and exalted is Thy Yamin.
14 (15) Tzedek and mishpat are the foundation of Thy kisse; chesed and emes shall go before Thy face.
15 (16) Ashrei is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, Hashem, in the ohr (light) of Thy countenance.
16 (17) In Thy Shem shall they rejoice kol hayom; and in Thy tzedakah shall they be exalted.
17 (18) For Thou art the tiferet (splendor, glory) of their strength; and in Thy favor our keren shall be exalted.
18 (19) For Hashem is our mogen; and the Kadosh Yisroel is Malkeinu (our king).
19 (20) Then Thou spoke in chazon (vision) to Thy chasidim, and saidst, I have laid ezer (help) upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
20 (21) I have found Dovid Avdi; with My shemen kadosh (holy oil) meshachtiv (I anointed him);
21 (22) With whom My yad shall be established; Mine zero’a also shall strengthen him.
22 (23) The oyev (enemy) shall not ensnare him; nor the ben avlah (son of wickedness) afflict him.
23 (24) And I will beat down his tzar before his face, and strike down them that hate him.
24 (25) But My emunah (faithfulness) and My chesed shall be with him; and in My Shem shall his keren be exalted.
25 (26) I will set his yad also upon the yam, and his yamin upon the neharot (rivers).
26 (27) He shall cry out unto Me, Thou art Avi, Eli, and the Tzur of my Yeshuah (salvation) [Mt 16:16].
27 (28) Also I will make him My Bechor, elyon (most exalted) of the Malkhei Aretz.
28 (29) My chesed will I be shomer over for him forevermore, and My Brit shall stand unfailing with him.
29 (30) His zera also will I make to endure forever, and his kisse as the days of Shomayim.
30 (31) If his banim forsake My torah, walk not in My mishpatim,
31 (32) If they violate My chukkot, and are not shomer over My mitzvot;
32 (33) Then will I visit their peysha with shevet (rod), and their avon (iniquity) with stripes.
33 (34) Nevertheless My chesed will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer My emunah (faithfulness) to fail.
34 (35) My Brit will I not violate, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.
35 (36) Once have I sworn by My Kodesh; I will not lie unto Dovid.
36 (37) His zera shall endure l’olam, and his kisse as the shemesh before Me.
37 (38) It shall be established olam as the yarei’ach, and as an ed ne’eman (a faithful witness) in the heavens. Selah.
38 (39) But Thou hast cast off [mem-alef-samech, see same word Psalm 118:22] and abhorred, Thou hast been in wrath with Thine Moshiach.
39 (40) Thou hast made void the Brit of Thy eved; Thou hast profaned his nezer (diadem) to the ground.
40 (41) Thou hast broken down all his gederot (hedges); Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.
41 (42) All that pass by the derech plunder him; he is a cherpah (reproach) to his shchenim [Mt 27:39].
42 (43) Thou hast exalted the yamin of his adversaries; Thou hast made all his oyevim to rejoice.
43 (44) Thou hast also turned back the edge of his cherev, and hast not made him to stand in the milchamah.
44 (45) Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his kisse down to the ground.
45 (46) The days of his youth hast thou shortened; Thou hast covered him with bushah (shame). Selah.
46 (47) How long, Hashem? Wilt Thou hide Thyself lanetzach (forever)? Shall Thy wrath burn like eish?
47 (48) Remember how short my time is. For what vanity hast Thou created kol bnei adam?
48 (49) What gever is he that liveth, and shall not see mavet? Shall he deliver his nefesh from the yad Sheol (power of Sheol)? Selah.
49 (50) Adonoi, where are Thy former lovingkindnesses, which Thou didst swear unto Dovid in Thy emunah?
50 (51) Remember, Adonoi, the reproach of Thy avadim; how I do bear in my kheyk (bosom) the reproach of all rabbim amim (many peoples);
51 (52) Wherewith Thine oyevim have reproached, Hashem; wherewith they have reproached the ikkevot (footsteps) of Thine Moshiach.
52 (53) Baruch Hashem l’olam. Omein and Omein.
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