September 02, 2023 | 18 Shiyshiy Chodesh (Elul)

Parshat: Devariym (Deuteronomy) 26:1-29:9

And it shall be, when you are come in unto the land which Yahuah Elohayka gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein; 2 That you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall bring of your land that Yahuah Elohayka gives you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go unto the place which Yahuah Elohayka shall choose to place his name there. 3 And you shall go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto Yahuah Elohayka, that I am come unto the country which Yahuah swore seven oaths unto our fathers for to give us. 4 And the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of Yahuah Elohayka. 5 And you shall speak and say before Yahuah Elohayka: An Arammiy ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Mitsrayim, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: 6 And the Mitsriym evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:

7 And when we cried unto El-Yahuah Elohai of our fathers, Yahuah heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression: 8 And Yahuah brought us forth out of Mits­rayim with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: 9 And he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, even a land that flows with milk and honey. 10 And now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land, which you, O Yahuah, have given me. And you shall set it before Yahuah Elohayka, and worship before Yahuah Elohayka: 11 And you shall rejoice in every good thing which Yahuah Elohayka has given unto you, and unto your house, you, and the Leviyiy, and the stranger that is among you.

12 When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it unto the Leviyiy, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled; 13 Then you shall say before Yahuah Elohayka, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them unto the Leviyiy, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandments which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them: 14 I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of Yahuah Elohai, and have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Yashar’el, and the land which you have given us, as you swore seven oaths unto our fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey.

16 This day Yahuah Elohayka has commanded you to do these commandments and these judg­ments: you shall therefore guard and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul. 17 You have avouched Yahuah this day to be your Elohiym, and to walk in his ways, and to guard his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: 18 And Yahuah has av­ouched you this day to be his peculiar people, as he has promised you, and that you should guard all his commandments; 19 And to make you high above all nations which he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people unto Yahuah Elohayka, as he has spoken.

CHAPTER 27

And Mosheh with the elders of Yashar’el com­manded the people, saying: Guard all the command­ments which I command you this day. 2 And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over the Yardan unto the land which Yahuah Elohayka gives you, that you shall set up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: 3 And you shall write upon them all the words of this Torah, when you are passed over, that you may go in unto the land which Yahuah Elohayka gives you, a land that flows with milk and honey; as Yahuah Elohai of your fathers has promised you. 4 There­fore it shall be when ye be gone over the Yardan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Eyval, and you shall plaster them with plaster. 5 And there shall you build an altar unto Yahuah Elohayka, an altar of stones: you shall not lift up any iron tool upon them. 6 You shall build the altar of Yahuah Elohayka of whole stones: and you shall offer ascending smoke offerings thereon unto Yahuah Elohayka: 7 And you shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before Yahuah Elohayka. 8 And you shall write upon the stones all the words of this Torah very plainly.

9 And Mosheh and the priests the Leviyiym spoke unto all Yashar’el, saying: Take heed, and hearken, O Yashar’el; this day you are become the people of Yahuah Elohayka. 10 You shall therefore obey the voice of Yahuah Elohayka, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day.

11 And Mosheh charged the people the same day, saying: 12 These shall stand upon Mount Geriziym to bless the people, when ye are come over the Yardan; Shim`on, and Leviy, and Yahudah, and Yis­shakar, and Yoceph, and Binyamiyn: 13 And these shall stand upon Mount Eyval to curse; Re’uven, Gad, and Asher, and Zevulun, Dan, and Naphtaliy.

14 And the Leviyiym shall speak and say unto all the men of Yashar’el with a loud voice, 15 Cursed be the man that makes any graven or molten image, an abomination unto Yahuah, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and puts it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say: Amein. 16 Cursed be he that sets light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say: Amein. 17 Cursed be he that removes his neighbor's landmark. And all the people shall say: Amein. 18 Cursed be he that makes the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say: Amein. 19 Cursed be he that perverts the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say: Amein. 20 Cursed be he that lies with his father's woman, because he uncovers his father's skirt. And all the people shall say: Amein. 21 Cursed be he that lies with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say: Amein. 22 Cursed be he that lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say: Amein. 23 Cursed be he that lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say: Amein. 24 Cursed be he that smites his neighbor secretly. And all the people shall say: Amein. 25 Cursed be he that takes reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say: Amein. 26 Cursed be he that confirms not all the words of this Torah to do them. And all the people shall say: Amein.

CHAPTER 28

And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of Yahuah Elohayka, to guard and to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that Yahuah Elohayka will set you on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall hearken unto the voice of Yahuah Elohayka. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your kine, and the flocks of your sheep. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your store. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 Yahuah shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to be smitten before your face: they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 Yahuah shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and in all that you set your hand unto; and he shall bless you in the land which Yahuah Elohayka gives you. 9 Yahuah shall establish you a holy people unto himself, as he has sworn seven oaths unto you, if you shall guard the com­mandments of Yahuah Elohayka, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Yahuah; and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And Yahuah shall make you plenteous in goods, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahuah swore seven oaths unto your fathers to give you. 12 Yahuah shall open unto you his good treasure, the heavens to give the rain unto your land in his season, and to bless את all the work of your hand: and you shall lend unto many nations, and you shall not borrow. 13 And Yahuah shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if that you hearken unto the commandments of Yahuah Elohayka, which I command you this day, to guard and to do them: 14 And you shall not go aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other elohiym to serve them.

15 But it shall come to pass, if you will not hearken unto the voice of Yahuah Elohayka, to guard to do all his command­ments and his statutes which I command you this day; that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you: 16 Cursed shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be your basket and your store. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land, the increase of your kine, and the flocks of your sheep. 19 Cursed shall you be when you come in and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 Yahuah shall send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that you set your hand unto for to do, until you be destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the wickedness of your doings, whereby you have forsaken me. 21 Yahuah shall make the pestilence cleave unto you, until he has consumed you from off the land, whither you go to possess it. 22 Yahuah shall smite you with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heaven that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron. 24 Yahuah shall make the rain of your land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon you, until you be destroyed. 25 Yahuah shall cause you to be smitten before your enemies: you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them: and shall be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And your carcass shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. 27 Yahuah will smite you with the botch of Mitsrayim, and with the tumors, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof you cannot be healed. 28 Yahuah shall smite you with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29 And you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save you. 30 You shall betroth a woman, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard and shall not gather the grapes thereof. 31 Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat thereof: your ass shall be violently taken away from before your face and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given unto your enemies, and you shall have none to rescue them. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given unto another people, and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in your hand. 33 The fruit of your land, and all your labors, shall a nation which you know not eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always: 34 So that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 35 Yahuah shall smite you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot unto the top of your head. 36 Yahuah shall bring you, and your king which you shall set over you, unto a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known; and there shall you serve other elohiym, wood and stone. 37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither Yahuah shall lead you. 38 You shall carry much seed out into the field and shall gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards, and dress them, but shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your coasts, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive shall cast his fruit. 41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but you shall not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. 42 All your trees and fruit of your land shall the locust consume. 43 The stranger that is within you shall get up above you very high; and you shall come down very low. 44 He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, till you be destroyed; because you hearkened not unto the voice of Yahuah Elohayka, to guard his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you: 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and for a wonder, and upon your seed forever. 47 Because you served not Yahuah Elohayka with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things.

48 Therefore shall you serve your enemies which Yahuah shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until he has destroyed you. 49 Yahuah shall bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue you shall not understand; 50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young: 51 And he shall eat the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your land, until you be destroyed: which also shall not leave you either grain, wine, or oil, or the increase of your kine, or flocks of your sheep, until he have destroyed you. 52 And he shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fenced walls come down, wherein you trusted, throughout all your land: and he shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahuah Elohayka has given you. 53 And you shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, which Yahuah Elohayka has given you, in the siege, and in the straightness, wherewith your enemies shall distress you: 54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the woman of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: 55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he has nothing left him in the siege, and in the straightness, wherewith your enemies shall distress you in all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the man of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57 And toward her young one that comes out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straightness, wherewith your enemy shall distress you in your gates.

58 If you will not guard to do all the words of this Torah that are written in this cepher, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, את Yahuah Elohayka; 59 Then Yahuah will make your plagues wonderful, and את the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sick­nesses, and of long continuance. 60 Moreover he will bring upon you את all the diseases of Mitsrayim, which you were afraid of; and they shall cleave unto you. 61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the cepher of this Torah, them will Yahuah bring upon you, until you be destroyed. 62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because you would not obey the voice of Yahuah Elohayka. 63 And it shall come to pass, that as Yahuah rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so Yahuah will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to naught; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither you go to possess it. 64 And Yahuah shall scatter you among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there you shall serve other elohiym, which neither you nor your fathers have known, even wood and stone. 65 And among these nations shall you find no ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest: but Yahuah shall give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66 And your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear day and night, and shall have no assurance of your life:

67 In the morning you shall say: Would to Elohiym it was evening! and at evening you shall say: Would to Elohiym it were morning! for the fear of your heart wherewith you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 68 And Yahuah shall bring you into Mitsrayim again with ships, by the way whereof I spoke unto you, you shall see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

CHAPTER 29

These are the words of the covenant, which Yahuah com­manded Mosheh to cut with the children of Yashar’el in the land of Mo’av, beside the covenant which he cut with them in Chorev.

2 And Mosheh called unto all Ya­shar’el and said unto them: Ye have seen את all that Yahuah did before your eyes in the land of Mitsrayim unto Phar`oh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; 3 The great temp­ta­tions which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: 4 Yet Yahuah has not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. 5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and your shoe is not waxen old upon your foot. 6 Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am Yahuah Elohaykem. 7 And when ye came unto this place, Ciychon the king of Cheshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them: 8 And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Re’uveniym, and to the Gadiym, and to the half tribe of Menashsheh. 9 Guard therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper את in all that ye do.

Haftorah: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 60:1-22

Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of Yahuah is risen upon you. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but Yahuah shall arise upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you. 3 And the other nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all they gather them­selves together, they come to you: your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. 5 Then you shall see, and flow together, and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned back unto you, the forces of the other nations shall come unto you. 6 The multitude of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midyan and Eyphah; all they from Sheva shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of Yahuah. 7 All the flocks of Qedar shall be gathered together unto you, the rams of Nevayoth shall minister unto you: they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. 8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? 9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshiysh first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of Yahuah Elohayka, and to the Holy One of Yashar’el, because he has glorified you. 10 And the sons of strangers shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister unto you: for in my wrath I smote you, but in my favor have I had mercy on you. 11 Therefore your gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto you the forces of the other nations, and that their kings may be brought. 12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto you, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 14 The sons also of them that afflicted you shall come bending unto you; and all they that despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you, The city of Yahuah, The Tsiyon of the Holy One of Yashar’el. 15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 16 You shall also suck the milk of the other nations and shall suck the breast of kings: and you shall know that I Yahuah am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya`aqov. 17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make your officers peace, and your exactors righteous­ness. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Yeshu`ah, and your gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more your light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto you: but Yahuah shall be unto you an everlasting light, and your Elohiym your glory. 20 Your sun shall no longer go down; neither shall your moon withdraw itself: for Yahuah shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. 21 Your people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. 22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I Yahuah will hasten it in his time.

Besorah: Luqas (Luke) 23:26-56

And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Shim`on, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Yahusha.

27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Yahusha turning unto them said: Daughters of Yerushalayim, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts which never gave suck. 30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains: Fall on us; and to the hills: Cover us. 31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? 32 And there were also two other criminals led with him to be put to death. 33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

34 Then said Yahusha, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots. 35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Ha’Mashiach, the chosen of Elohiym. 36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, 37 And saying: If you be the King of the Yahudiym, save yourself. 38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Yavaniy, and Latin, and Ivriyt: This is the King of the Yahudiym.

39 And one of the criminals which were hanged railed on him, saying: If you be Ha’Mashiach, save yourself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying: Do not you fear Elohiym, seeing you are in the same condemnation? 41 And we, indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Yahusha, Adonai, remember me when you come into your Kingdom. 43 And Yahusha said unto him: Amein I say unto you today, you shall be with me in paradise.

44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the Temple was rent in the midst.

46 And when Yahusha had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my ruach: and having said thus, he gave up his ruach. 47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, את he glorified Elohiym, saying: Certainly this was a righteous man. 48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned. 49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galiyl, stood afar off, beholding these things.

50 And, behold, there was a man named Yoceph, a counselor; and he was a good man, and a just: 51 (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Ramah, a city of the Yahudiym: who also himself waited for the Kingdom of Elohiym. 52 This man went unto Pilate, and begged את the body of Yahusha. 53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. 54 And that day was the preparation, and the Shabbath drew on. 55 And the women also, which came with him from Galiyl, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Shabbath according to the commandment.