February 3, 2024 | 24 Asar Ashtay (Shevat)

Parshat: Shemoth (Exodus) 18:1 - 20:23

When Yithro, the priest of Midyan, El-Mosheh's father-in-law, heard of את all that Elohiym had done for Mosheh, and for Yashar'el his people, and that Yahuah had brought Yashar'el out of Mitsrayim; 2 Then Yithro, Mosheh's father-in-law, took Tsipporah, Mosheh's woman, after he had sent her back, 3 And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershem; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land: 4 And the name of the other was Eliy`ezer; for the Elohai of my father, said he, was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Phar`oh: 5 And Yithro, Mosheh's father-in-law, came with his sons and his woman unto Mosheh into the wilderness, where he encamped at the Mount of Elohiym: 6 And he said unto Mosheh, I your father-in-law Yithro am come unto you, and your woman, and her two sons with her.

7 And Mosheh went out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. 8 And Mosheh told his father-in-law את all that Yahuah had done unto Phar`oh and to the Mitsriym for Yashar'el's sake, and את all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how Yahuah delivered them. 9 And Yithro rejoiced for all the goodness which Yahuah had done to Yashar'el, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Mitsriym. 10 And Yithro said: Blessed be Yahuah, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Mitsriym, and out of the hand of Phar`oh, who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Mitsriym. 11 Now I know that Yahuah is greater than all elohiym: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. 12 And Yithro, Mosheh's father-in-law, took an ascending smoke offering and sacrifices for Elohiym: and Aharon came, and all the elders of Yashar'el, to eat bread with Mosheh's father-in-law before Elohiym.

13 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Mosheh sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Mosheh from the morning unto the evening. 14 And when Mosheh's father-in-law saw את all that he did to the people, he said: What is this thing that you do to the people? Why sit you yourself alone, and all the people stand by you from morning unto evening? 15 And Mosheh said unto his father-in-law: Because the people come unto me to inquire of Elohiym: 16 When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of Elohiym, and his Torah. 17 And Mosheh's father-in-law said unto him: The thing that you do is not good. 18 You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you: for this thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it yourself alone. 19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give you counsel, and Elohiym shall be with you: Be for the people toward Elohiym, that you may bring the causes unto Elohiym: 20 And you shall teach them ordinances and Torah and shall show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. 21 Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear Elohiym, men of Truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: 22 And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto you, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for yourself, and they shall bear the burden with you. 23 If you shall do this thing, and Elohiym command you so, then you shall be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. 24 So Mosheh hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And Mosheh chose able men out of all Yashar'el, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Mosheh, but every small matter they judged themselves.

27 And Mosheh let his father-in-law depart; and he went his way into his own land.

CHAPTER 19

In the third month, when the children of Yashar'el were gone forth out of the land of Mitsrayim, the same day came they into the wilderness of Ciynai. 2 For they were departed from Rephiydiym, and were come to the desert of Ciynai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Yashar'el camped before the Mount. 3 And Mosheh went up unto Elohiym, and Yahuah called unto him out of the mountain, saying: Thus shall you say to the house of Ya`aqov, and tell the children of Yashar'el; 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Mitsriym, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and guard my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Yashar'el.

7 And Mosheh came and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces את all these words which Yahuah commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together and said: All that Yahuah has spoken we will do. And Mosheh returned the words of the people unto El-Yahuah. 9 And Yahuah said unto Mosheh: Lo, I come unto you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever. And Mosheh told the words of the people unto El-Yahuah.

10 And Yahuah said unto Mosheh: Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day Yahuah will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Ciynai. 12 And you shall set bounds unto the people round about, saying: Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the Mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever touches the Mount shall be surely put to death: 13 There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the shofar sounds long, they shall come up to the Mount.

14 And Mosheh went down from the Mount unto the people and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. 15 And he said unto the people: Be ready against the third day: come not at your women.

16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the Mount, and the voice of the shofar exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17 And Mosheh brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with Elohiym; and they stood at the nether part of the Mount. 18 And Mount Ciynai was altogether on a smoke, because Yahuah descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19 And when the voice of the shofar sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Mosheh spoke, and Elohiym answered him by a voice. 20 And Yahuah came down upon Mount Ciynai, on the top of the Mount: and Yahuah called Mosheh up to the top of the Mount; and Mosheh went up. 21 And Yahuah said unto Mosheh: Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto El-Yahuah to gaze, and many of them perish. 22 And let the priests also, which come near to El-Yahuah, sanctify themselves, lest Yahuah break forth upon them. 23 And Mosheh said unto El-Yahuah: The people cannot come up to Mount Ciynai: for you charged us, saying: Set bounds about the Mount, and sanctify it. 24 And Yahuah said unto him: Away, get you down, and you shall come up, you, and Aharon with you: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto El-Yahuah, lest he break forth upon them. 25 So Mosheh went down unto the people and spoke unto them.

CHAPTER 20

And Elohiym spoke את all these words, saying: 2 I am Yahuah Elohayka, which have brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of bondage.

3 You shall have no other elohiym before me.

4 You shall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I, Yahuah Elohayka am a jealous El, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and guard my commandments.

7 You shall not bring the name of Yahuah Elohayka to naught; for Yahuah will not hold him guiltless את that brings his name to naught.

8 Remember the day of the Shabbath, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: 10 But the seventh day is the Shabbath of Yahuah Elohayka: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates: 11 For in six days Yahuah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Yahuah blessed the day of Shabbath, and hallowed it.

12 Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which Yahuah Elohayka gives you.

13 You shall not kill.

14 You shall not break wedlock.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 You shall not lust after your neighbor's house, you shall not lust after your neighbor's woman, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the shofar, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Mosheh: Speak with us, and we will hear: but let not Elohiym speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Mosheh said unto the people, Fear not: for Elohiym is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21 And the people stood afar off, and Mosheh drew near unto the thick darkness where Elohiym was.

22 And Yahuah said unto Mosheh: Thus you shall say unto the children of Yashar'el: Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 Ye shall not make with me elohai of silver, neither shall ye make unto you elohai of gold.

Haftorah: Yesha`yahu (Isaiah) 6:1 - 7:6; 9:5-6

In the year that King Uzziyahu died I saw also Adonai sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the Temple. 2 Above it stood the Seraphiym: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is Yahuah Tseva’oth: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then said I: Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahuah Tseva’oth. 6 Then flew one of the Seraphiym unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said: Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of Adonai, saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I: Here am I; send me.

9 And he said: Go, and tell this people: Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return, and be healed. 11 Then said I, Adonai, how long? And he answered: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And Yahuah have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

CHAPTER 7

And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Yotham, the son of Uzziyahu, king of Yahudah, that Retsiyn the king of Aram, and Peqach the son of Remalyahu, king of Yashar’el, went up toward Yerushalayim to war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told the house of David, saying: Aram is confederate with Ephrayim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. 3 Then said Yahuah unto El-Yesha`yahu: Go forth now to meet Achaz, you, and She’ar Yashuv your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; 4 And say unto him: Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Retsiyn with Aram, and of the son of Remalyahu. 5 Because Aram, Ephrayim, and the son of Remalyahu, have taken evil counsel against you, saying: 6 Let us go up against Yahudah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, את even the son of Tave’el:

5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. 6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, El Gibbor, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Besorah: Mattithyahu (Matthew) 6:1 - 8:1

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when you do your alms, do not sound a shofar before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Amein I say unto you: They have את their reward. 3 But when you do alms, let not your left hand know את what your right hand does: 4 That your alms may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.

5 And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Amein I say unto you: They have את their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father who established yeshu`ah in the heavens, exalted is your name. 10 Your Kingdom come. Your will be done in earth, as in the heavens. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our transgressions, as we forgive those who transgress against us. 13 And lead us away from the evil inclination but deliver us from the outer darkness: For yours is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amein.

14 For if ye forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their transgressions, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amein I say unto you: They have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; 18 That you appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust do corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two adoniym: for either he will hate the one, and את love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve Elohiym and mammon.

25 Therefore I say unto you: Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you: That even Shalomah in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if Elohiym so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying: What shall we eat? Or: What shall we drink? Or: Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the other nations seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the Kingdom of Elohiym, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

CHAPTER 7

Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why behold you the mote that is in your brother's eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother: Let me pull out the mote out of your eye; and behold, a beam is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother's eye. 6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the Torah and the prophets. 13 Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because narrow is the gate, and troublesome is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it.

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21 Not everyone that says unto me, Adonai, Adonai, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Adonai, Adonai, have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name have cast out devils? And in your name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And everyone that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 28 And it came to pass, when Yahusha had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

CHAPTER 8

When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.