by Geza Vermes
may be caught in their own designs.
Thou wilt destroy in Judgement
all men of lies,
and there shall be no more seers of error;
for in Thy works is no folly,
no guile in the design of Thy heart.
But those who please Thee
shall stand before Thee for ever;
those who walk in the way of Thy heart
shall be established for evermore.
Clinging to Thee, I will stand.
I will rise against those who despise me
and my hand shall be turned
against those who deride me;
for they have no esteem for me
[that Thou mayest] manifest Thy might through me.
Thou hast revealed Thyself to me in Thy power
as perfect Light,
and Thou hast not covered my face with shame.
All those who are gathered in Thy Covenant
inquire of me,
and they hearken to me who walk in the way of Thy heart,
who array themselves for Thee
in the Council of the holy.
Thou wilt cause their law to endure for ever
and truth to go forward unhindered,
and Thou wilt not allow them to be led astray
by the hand of the damned
when they plot against them.
Thou wilt put the fear of them into Thy people
and (wilt make of them) a hammer
to all the peoples of the lands,
that at the Judgement they may cut off
all those who transgress Thy word.
Through me Thou hast illumined
the face of the Congregation
and hast shown Thine infinite power.
For Thou hast given me knowledge
through Thy marvellous mysteries,
and hast shown Thyself mighty within me
in the midst of Thy marvellous Council.
Thou hast done wonders before the Congregation
for the sake of Thy glory,
that they may make known Thy mighty deeds to all the living.
But what is flesh (to be worthy) of this?
What is a creature of clay
for such great marvels to be done,
whereas he is in iniquity from the womb
and in guilty unfaithfulness until his old age?
Righteousness, I know, is not of man,
nor is perfection of way of the son of man:
to the Most High God belong all righteous deeds.
The way of man is not established
except by the spirit which God created for him
to make perfect a way for the children of men,
that all His creatures may know
the might of His power,
and the abundance of His mercies
towards all the sons of His grace.
As for me, shaking and trembling seize me
and all my bones are broken;
my heart dissolves like wax before fire
and my knees are like water
pouring down a steep place.
For I remember my sins
and the unfaithfulness of my fathers.
When the wicked rose against Thy Covenant
and the damned against Thy word,
I said in my sinfulness,
‘I am forsaken by Thy Covenant.’
But calling to mind the might of Thy hand
and the greatness of Thy compassion,
I rose and stood,
and my spirit was established
in face of the scourge.
I lean on Thy grace
and on the multitude of Thy mercies,
for Thou wilt pardon iniquity,
and through Thy righteousness
[Thou wilt purify man] of his sin.
Not for his sake wilt Thou do it,
[but for the sake of Thy glory].
For Thou hast created the just and the wicked
XIII (formerly V)
Hymn 13 (formerly 8)
I thank Thee, O Lord,
for Thou hast not abandoned me
whilst I sojourned among a people [burdened with sin].
[Thou hast not] judged me
according to my guilt,
nor hast Thou abandoned me
because of the designs of my inclination;
but Thou hast saved my life from the Pit.
Thou hast brought [Thy servant deliverance]
in the midst of lions destined for the guilty,
and of lionesses which crush the bones of the mighty
and drink the blood of the brave.
Thou hast caused me to dwell with the many fishers
who spread a net upon the face of the waters,
and with the hunters of the children of iniquity;
Thou hast established me there for justice.
Thou hast confirmed the counsel of truth in my heart
and the waters of the Covenant for those who seek it.
Thou hast closed up the mouth of the young lions
whose teeth are like a sword,
and whose great teeth are like a pointed spear,
like the venom of dragons.
All their design is for robbery
and they have lain in wait;
but they have not opened their mouth against me.
For Thou, O God, hast sheltered me
from the children of men,
and hast hidden Thy Law [within me]
against the time when Thou shouldst reveal
Thy salvation to me.
For Thou hast not forsaken me
in my soul’s distress,
and Thou hast heard my cry
in the bitterness of my soul;
and when I groaned,
Thou didst consider my sorrowful complaint.
Thou hast preserved the soul of the poor one
in the den of lions
which sharpened their tongue like a sword.
Thou hast closed up their teeth, O God,
lest they rend the soul of the poor and needy.
Thou hast made their tongue go back
like a sword to its scabbard
[lest] the soul of Thy servant [be blotted out].
Thou hast dealt wondrously with the poor one
to manifest Thy might within me
in the presence of the sons of men.
Thou hast placed him in the melting-pot,
[like gold] in the fire,
and like silver refined
in the melting-pot of the smelters,
to be purified seven times.
The wicked and fierce have stormed against me
with their afflictions;
they have pounded my soul all day.
But Thou, O my God,
hast changed the tempest to a breeze;
Thou hast delivered the soul of the poor one
like [a bird from the net
and like] prey from the mouth of lions.
Hymn 14 (formerly 9)
I thank Thee (corrected: Blessed art Thou) O Lord,
for Thou hast not abandoned the fatherless
or despised the poor.
For Thy might [is boundless]
and Thy glory beyond measure
and wonderful Heroes minister to Thee;
yet [hast Thou done marvels] among the humble
in the mire underfoot,
and among those eager for righteousness,
causing all the well-loved poor
to rise up together from the trampling.
But I have been [iniquity to] those who contend with me,
dispute and quarrelling to my friends,
wrath to the members of my Covenant
and murmuring and protest to all my companions.
[All who have ea]ten my bread
have lifted their heel against me,
and all those joined to my Council
have moc
ked me with wicked lips.
The members of my [Covenant] have rebelled
and have murmured round about me;
they have gone as talebearers
before the children of mischief
concerning the mystery which Thou hast hidden in me.
And to show Thy great[ness] through me,
and because of their guilt,
Thou hast hidden the fountain of understanding
and the counsel of truth.
They consider but the mischief of their heart;
[with] devilish [schemings] they unsheathe
a perfidious tongue
from which ever springs the poison of dragons.
And like (serpents) which creep in the dust,
so do they let fly [their poisonous darts],
viper’s [venom] against which there is no charm;
and this has brought incurable pain,
a malignant scourge
within the body of Thy servant,
causing [his spirit] to faint
and draining his strength
so that he maintains no firm stand.
They have overtaken me in a narrow pass without escape
and there is no [rest for me in my trial].
They sound my censure upon a harp
and their murmuring and storming upon a zither.
Anguish [seizes me]
like the pangs of a woman in travail,
and my heart is troubled within me.
I am clothed in blackness
and my tongue cleaves to the roof [of my mouth];
[for I fear the mischief of] their heart
and their inclination (towards evil)
appears as bitterness before me.
The light of my face is dimmed to darkness
and my radiance is turned to decay.
For Thou, O God, didst widen my heart,
but they straiten it with affliction
and hedge me about with darkness.
I eat the bread of wailing
and drink unceasing tears;
truly, my eyes are dimmed by grief,
and my soul by daily bitterness.
[Groaning] and sorrow encompass me
and ignominy covers my face.
My bread is turned into an adversary
and my drink into an accuser;
it has entered into my bones
causing my spirit to stagger
and my strength to fail.
According to the mysteries of sin,
they change the works of God by their transgression.
Truly, I am bound with untearable ropes
and with unbreakable chains.
A thick wall [fences me in],
iron bars and gates [of bronze];
my [prison] is counted with the Abyss
as being without [any escape]
[The torrents of Belial] have encompassed my soul
[leaving me without deliverance]
Hymn 14 (formerly 10)
XIV (formerly VI)
Thou hast unstopped my ears
[to the correction] of those who reprove with justice
[Thou hast saved me] from the congregation of [vanity]
and from the assembly of violence;
Thou hast brought me into the Council of...
[and hast purified me of] sin.
And I know there is hope
for those who turn from transgression
and for those who abandon sin
and to walk without wickedness
in the way of Thy heart.
I am consoled for the roaring of the peoples,
and for the tumult of k[ing]doms when they assemble;
[for] in a little while, I know,
Thou wilt raise up survivors among Thy people
and a remnant within Thine inheritance.
Thou wilt purify and cleanse them of their sin
for all their deeds are in Thy truth.
Thou wilt judge them in Thy great loving-kindness
and in the multitude of Thy mercies
and in the abundance of Thy pardon,
teaching them according to Thy word;
and Thou wilt establish them in Thy Council
according to the uprightness of Thy truth.
Thou wilt do these things for Thy glory
and for Thine own sake,
to [magnify] the Law and [the truth
and to enlighten] the members of Thy Council
in the midst of the sons of men,
that they may recount Thy marvels
for everlasting generations
and [meditate] unceasingly upon Thy mighty deeds.
All the nations shall acknowledge Thy truth,
and all the people Thy glory.
For Thou wilt bring Thy glorious [salvation]
to all the men of Thy Council,
to those who share a common lot
with the Angels of the Face.
And among them shall be no mediator to [invoke Thee],
and no messenger [to make] reply;
for ...
They shall reply according to Thy glorious word
and shall be Thy princes in the company [of the Angels].
They shall send out a bud [for ever]
like a flower [of the fields],
and shall cause a shoot to grow
into the boughs of an everlasting Plant.
It shall cover the whole [earth] with its shadow
[and its crown] (shall reach) to the [clouds];
its roots (shall go down) to the Abyss
[and all the rivers of Eden shall water its branches].
A source of light
shall become an eternal ever-flowing fountain,
and in its bright flames
all the [sons of iniquity] shall be consumed;
[it shall be] a fire to devour all sinful men
in utter destruction.
They who bore the yoke of my testimony
have been led astray [by teachers of lies],
[and have rebelled] against the service of righteousness.
Whereas Thou, O my God, didst command them
to mend their ways
[by walking] in the way of [holiness],
where no man goes who is uncircumcised
or unclean or violent,
they have staggered aside from the way of Thy heart
and languish in [great] wretchedness.
A counsel of Belial is in their heart
[and in accordance with] their wicked design
they wallow in sin.
[I am] as a sailor in a ship
amid furious seas;
their waves and all their billows
roar against me.
[There is no] calm in the whirlwind
that I may restore my soul,
no path that I may straighten my way
on the face of the waters.
The deeps resound to my groaning
and [my soul has journeyed] to the gates of death.
But I shall be as one who enters a fortified city,
as one who seeks refuge behind a high wall
until deliverance (comes);
I will [lean on] Thy truth, O my God.
For Thou wilt set the foundation on rock
and the framework by the measuring-cord of justice;
and the tried stones [Thou wilt lay]
by the plumb-line [of truth],
to [build] a mighty [wall] which shall not sway;
and no man entering there shall stagger.
For no enemy shall ever invade [it
since its doors shall be] doors of protection
through which no man shall pass;
and its bars shall be firm
and no man shall break them.
No rabble shall enter in with their weapons of war
until all the [arrows] of the war of wickedness
have come to an end.
And then at the tim
e of Judgement
the Sword of God shall hasten,
and all the sons of His truth shall awake
to [overthrow] wickedness;
all the sons of iniquity shall be no more.
The Hero shall bend his bow;
the fortress shall open on to endless space
and the everlasting gates shall send out weapons of war.
They shall be mighty
from end to end [of the earth
and there shall be no escape]
for the guilty of heart [in their battle];
they shall be utterly trampled down
without any [remnant.
There shall be no] hope
in the greatness [of their might],
no refuge for the mighty warriors;
for [the battle shall be] to the Most High God
Hoist a banner,
O you who lie in the dust!
O bodies gnawed by worms,
raise up an ensign for [the destruction of wickedness]!
[The sinful shall] be destroyed
in the battles against the ungodly.
The scourging flood when it advances
shall not invade the stronghold
XV (formerly VII)
As for me, I am dumb ...
[my arm] is torn from its shoulder
and my foot has sunk into the mire.
My eyes are closed by the spectacle of evil,
and my ears by the crying of blood.
My heart is dismayed by the mischievous design,
for Belial is manifest in their (evil) inclination.
All the foundations of my edifice totter
and my bones are pulled out of joint;
my bowels heave like a ship in a violent tempest
and my heart is utterly distressed.
A whirlwind engulfs me
because of the mischief of their sin.
Hymn 15 (formerly 11)
