by Geza Vermes
I thank Thee, O Lord,
for Thou hast upheld me by Thy strength.
Thou hast shed Thy Holy Spirit upon me
that I may not stumble.
Thou hast strengthened me
before the battles of wickedness,
and during all their disasters
Thou hast not permitted that fear
should cause me to desert Thy Covenant.
Thou hast made me like a strong tower, a high wall,
and hast established my edifice upon rock;
eternal foundations
serve for my ground,
and all my ramparts are a tried wall
which shall not sway.
Thou hast placed me, O my God,
among the branches of the Council of Holiness;
Thou hast [established my mouth] in Thy Covenant,
and my tongue is like that of Thy disciples;
whereas the spirit of disaster is without a mouth
and all the sons of iniquity without a reply;
for the lying lips shall be dumb.
For Thou wilt condemn in Judgement
all those who assail me,
distinguishing through me
between the just and the wicked.
For Thou knowest the whole intent of a creature,
Thou discernest every reply,
and Thou hast established my heart
[on] Thy teaching and truth,
directing my steps into the paths of righteousness
that I may walk before Thee
in the land [of the living],
into paths of glory and [infinite] peace
which shall [never] end.
For Thou knowest the inclination of Thy servant,
that I have not relied [upon the works of my hands]
to raise up [my heart],
nor have I sought refuge
in my own strength.
I have no fleshly refuge,
[and Thy servant has] no righteous deeds
to deliver him from the [Pit of no] forgiveness.
But I lean on the [abundance of Thy mercies]
and hope [for the greatness] of Thy grace,
that Thou wilt bring [salvation] to flower
and the branch to growth,
providing refuge in (Thy) strength
[and raising up my heart].
[For in] Thy righteousness
Thou hast appointed me for Thy Covenant,
and I have clung to Thy truth
and [gone forward in Thy ways].
Thou hast made me a father to the sons of grace,
and as a foster-father to men of marvel;
they have opened their mouths like little babes ...
like a child playing in the lap of its nurse.
Thou hast lifted my horn above those who insult me,
and those who attack me
[sway like the boughs] (of a tree);
my enemies are like chaff before the wind,
and my dominion is over the sons [of iniquity,
For] Thou hast succoured my soul, O my God,
and hast lifted my horn on high.
And I shall shine in a seven-fold light
in [the Council appointed by] Thee for Thy glory;
for Thou art an everlasting heavenly light to me
and wilt establish my feet
[upon level ground for ever].
Hymn 16 (formerly 12)
I [thank Thee, O Lord],
for Thou hast enlightened me through Thy truth.
In Thy marvellous mysteries,
and in Thy loving-kindness to a man [of vanity,
and] in the greatness of Thy mercy to a perverse heart
Thou hast granted me knowledge.
Who is like Thee among the gods, O Lord,
and who is according to Thy truth?
Who, when he is judged,
shall be righteous before Thee?
For no spirit can reply to Thy rebuke
nor can any withstand Thy wrath.
Yet Thou bringest all the sons of Thy truth
in forgiveness before Thee,
[to cleanse] them of their faults
through Thy great goodness,
and to establish them before Thee
through the multitude of Thy mercies
for ever and ever.
For Thou art an eternal God;
all Thy ways are determined for ever [and ever]
and there is none other beside Thee.
And what is a man of Naught and Vanity
that he should understand Thy marvellous mighty deeds?
Hymn 17 (formerly 13)
[I thank] Thee, O God,
for Thou hast not cast my lot
in the congregation of Vanity,
nor hast Thou placed {my decree} (4Q428 7)
in the council of the cunning.
[Thou hast] called me to Thy grace
and to [Thy] forgiveness Thou hast brought me,
and, by the multitude of Thy mercies,
to all judgements of [righteousness.
As for me, I am an] uncl[ean ma]n,
and from the womb of her who conceived me
I am an unclean man,
and from the womb of her who has conceived me
I am in sinful guilt,
[and from the breast of my mother] in injustice,
and in the bosom [of my nurse] in great impurity.
And from my youth (I am) in blo[od,
and until [my old age in the iniquity of the flesh.
But Thou,] O my God,
Thou hast established my feet in the way of Thy heart,
and hast opened] my ears to [Thy wonderful] tidings,
and my heart to understand Thy truth
XVI (formerly VIII)
for I have closed my ears to Thy teaching
until...
... [without] knowledge
hast Thou cut out of me,
and glor[y] ...
[no] more for me a stumbling-block of iniquity.
For Thou dost rev[eal Thy salvation],
and Thy righteousness is made firm for ever.
For m[an] is not the master of his way,
f[or] Thou hast done [all this for Thy glory.]
Hymn 18 (formerly 14)
I [thank Thee, O Lord,
for] Thou hast placed me beside a fountain of streams
in an arid land,
and close to a spring of waters
in a dry land,
and beside a watered garden
[in a wilderness].
[For Thou didst set] a plantation
of cypress, pine, and cedar for Thy glory,
trees of life beside a mysterious fountain
hidden among the trees by the water,
and they put out a shoot
of the everlasting Plant.
But before they did so, they took root
and sent out their roots to the watercourse
that its stem might be open to the living waters
and be one with the everlasting spring.
And all [the beasts] of the forest
fed on its leafy boughs;
its stem was trodden by all who passed on the way
and its branches by all the birds.
And all the [trees] by the water rose above it
for they grew in their plantation;
but they sent out no root to the watercourse.
And the bud of the shoot of holiness
of the Plant of truth
was hidden and was not esteemed;
and being unperceived,
its mystery was sealed.
Thou didst hedge in its fruit, [O God],
with the mystery of mighty Heroes
and of spirits of holiness
and of the whirling flame of fire.
No [man shall approach] the well-spring of life
or drink the waters of holiness
with the everlasting
trees,
or bear fruit with [the Plant] of heaven,
who seeing has not discerned,
and considering has not believed
in the fountain of life,
who has turned [his hand against] the everlasting [bud].
And I was despised by tumultuous rivers
for they cast up their slime upon me.
But Thou, O my God, hast put into my mouth
as it were rain for all [those who thirst]
and a fount of living waters which shall not fail.
When they are opened they shall not run dry;
they shall be a torrent [overflowing its banks]
and like the [bottom]less seas.
They shall suddenly gush forth
which were hidden in secret,
[and shall be like the waters of the Flood
to every tree], both the green and the barren;
to every beast and bird [they shall be an abyss.
The trees shall sink like] lead in the mighty waters,
fire [shall burn among them]
and they shall be dried up;
but the fruitful Plant
[by the] everlasting [spring
shall be] an Eden of glory
[bearing] fruits [of life].
By my hand Thou hast opened for them
a well-spring and ditches,
[that all their channels] may be laid out
according to a certain measuring-cord,
and the planting of their trees
according to the plumb-line of the sun,
that [their boughs may become
a beautiful] Branch of glory.
When I lift my hand to dig its ditches
its roots shall run deep into hardest rock
and its stem ... in the earth;
in the season of heat it shall keep its strength.
But if I take away my hand
it shall be like a thistle [in the wilderness];
its stem shall be like nettles in a salty land,
and thistles and thorns shall grow from its ditches,
and brambles and briars.
Its border [trees] shall be like the wild grapevine
whose foliage withers before the heat,
and its stem shall not be open to [the spring].
[Behold, I am] carried away with the sick;
[I am acquainted] with scourges.
I am forsaken in [my sorrow] ...
and without any strength.
For my sore breaks out in bitter pains
and in incurable sickness impossible to stay;
[my heart laments] within me
as in those who go down to Hell.
My spirit is imprisoned with the dead
for [my life] has reached the Pit;
my soul languishes [within me]
day and night without rest.
My wound breaks out like burning fire
shut up in [my bones],
whose flames devour me for days on end,
diminishing my strength for times on end
and destroying my flesh for seasons on end.
The pains fly out [towards me]
and my soul within me languishes even to death.
My strength has gone from my body
and my heart runs out like water;
my flesh is dissolved like wax
and the strength of my loins is turned to fear.
My arm is torn from its socket
[and I can] lift my hand [no more];
My [foot] is held by fetters
and my knees slide like water;
I can no longer walk.
I cannot step forward lightly,
[for my legs and arms] are bound by shackles
which cause me to stumble.
The tongue has gone back which Thou didst make
marvellously mighty within my mouth;
it can no longer give voice.
[I have no word] for my disciples
to revive the spirit of those who stumble
and to speak words of support to the weary.
My circumcised lips are dumb.
XVII (formerly IX)
[For] the throes of death [encompass me]
and Hell is upon my bed;
my couch utters a lamentation
[and my pallet] the sound of a complaint.
My eyes are like fire in the furnace
and my tears like rivers of water;
my eyes grow dim with waiting,
[for my salvation] is far from me
and my life is apart from me.
But behold,
from desolation to ruin,
and from the pain to the sore,
and from the travail to the throes,
my soul meditates on Thy marvellous works.
In Thy mercies Thou hast not cast me aside;
season by season, my soul shall delight
in the abundance of mercy.
I will reply to him who slanders me
and I will rebuke my oppressor;
I will declare his sentence unjust
and declare Thy judgement righteous.
For I know by Thy truth,
and I choose Thy judgement upon me:
I delight in my scourges
for I hope for Thy loving-kindness.
Thou hast put a supplication
in the mouth of Thy servant
and Thou hast not threatened my life
nor rejected my peace.
Thou hast not failed my expectation,
but hast upheld my spirit in face of the scourge.
For it is Thou who hast founded my spirit
and Thou knowest my intent;
in my distress Thou hast comforted me.
I delight in forgiveness,
and am consoled for the former transgression;
for I know there is hope in Thy grace
and expectation in Thy great power.
For no man can be just in Thy judgement
or [righteous in] Thy trial.
Though one man be more just than another,
one person [more] wise [than another],
one mortal more glorious
than another creature [of clay],
yet is there no power to compare with Thy might.
There is no [bound] to Thy glory,
and to Thy wisdom, no measure;
[to Thy truth] there is no ...
and all who forsake it ...
and my oppressor shall [not] prevail against me.
I will be a stumbling-block to [those who swallow me up,
and a snare to] all those who battle against me;
[I will be for my enemies a] cause of shame,
and a cause of disgrace
to those who murmur against me.
For Thou, O my God ...
Thou wilt plead my cause;
for it is according to the mystery of Thy wisdom
that Thou hast rebuked me.
Thou wilt conceal the truth until [its] time,
[and righteousness] until its appointed moment.
Thy rebuke shall become my joy and gladness,
and my scourges shall turn to [eternal] healing
and everlasting [peace].
The scorn of my enemies shall become a crown of glory,
and my stumbling (shall change) to everlasting might.
For in Thy ...
and my light shall shine forth in Thy glory.
For as a light from out of the darkness,
so wilt Thou enlighten me.
[Thou wilt bring healing to] my wound,
and marvellous might in place of my stumbling,
and everlasting space to my straitened soul.
For Thou art my refuge, my high mountain,
my stout rock and my fortress;
in Thee will I shelter
from all the [designs of ungodliness,
for Thou wilt succour me] with eternal deliverance.
F
or Thou hast known me from (the time of) my father,
[and hast chosen me] from the womb.
[From the belly of] my mother
Thou hast dealt kindly with me,
and from the breast of her who conceived me
have Thy mercies been with me.
[Thy grace was with me] in the lap of her who reared me,
and from my youth Thou hast illumined me
with the wisdom of Thy judgement.
Thou hast upheld me with certain truth;
Thou hast delighted me with Thy Holy Spirit
and [hast opened my heart] till this day.
Thy just rebuke accompanies my [faults]
and Thy safeguarding peace delivers my soul.
The abundance of (Thy) forgiveness is with my steps
and infinite mercy accompanies Thy judgement of me.
Until I am old Thou wilt care for me;
for my father knew me not
and my mother abandoned me to Thee.
For Thou art a father
to all [the sons] of Thy truth,
and as a woman who tenderly loves her babe,
so dost Thou rejoice in them;
and as a foster-father bearing a child in his lap
so carest Thou for all Thy creatures.
Hymn 19 (formerly 15)
[I thank Thee, O Lord]
XVIII (formerly X)
... and nothing exists except by Thy will;
none can consider [Thy deep secrets]
or contemplate Thy [mysteries].
What then is man that is earth,
that is shaped [from clay] and returns to the dust,
that Thou shouldst give him to understand such marvels
and make known to him the counsel of [Thy truth]?
Clay and dust that I am,
what can I devise unless Thou wish it,
and what contrive unless Thou desire it?
What strength shall I have