18 Mee El kamocha (Who is a G-d like unto Thee), removing avon,

and passing over peysha of the She’erit of His Nachalah? Hashem retaineth not His anger forever,

because He delighteth in chesed.

1 (For the one directing. Mizmor Dovid. 2 When Natan HaNavi confronted him after he went into Bat-Sheva)*

6 [Zayin] Remember, Hashem, Thy rachamim and Thy lovingkindnesses;

for they have ever been of old.

7 [Chet] Remember not the chattot of my youth,

nor my peysha’im;

according to Thy chesed remember Thou me

for the sake of Thy goodness, Hashem.

1 (Shir HaMa’alot)

Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, Hashem.

2 Adonoi, hear my voice;

let Thine ears be attentive

to the voice of my techinnot (supplications).

11 I have not hid thy tzedek within my lev;

I have declared Thy emunah (faithfulness) and Thy teshuah (salvation);

I have not concealed Thy chesed

and Thy emes from the kahal rav.

6 Surely tov and chesed shall follow me

kol y’mei chaiyyai (all the days of my life):

and I will dwell in the Bais Hashem

l’orech yamim (for length of days, whole life long, forever).

13 As an av has compassion on banim

so Hashem has compassion on them that fear Him.

15 But the averah (transgression) was not like the effect of unmerited chesed (grace). For if by the averah of the one, the rabbim (many) died, how much more the unmerited Chen v’Chesed Hashem (grace of G-d) and the matnat hachesed (free gift of grace) of the Adam HaEchad (one Man) Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua have overflowed LARABBIM* (to the many).

15 What then? Should we commit averah, because we are not under Gezetz* (Law) but under Chesed (Grace)? Chas v’shalom!

4 But Hashem, being rich in rachamim (mercy), because of His ahavah harabba (great love) with which He loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in our peysha’im, He made us alive together with Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach — by the unmerited Chen v’Chesed Hashem you have been delivered in your personal Geulah and the Yeshu’as Elokeinu* —

9 And HaAdon said to me, "My Chesed is ad kahn (sufficient for the purpose, enough) for you, for My ko’ach (power) is perfected in weakness." With lev samei’ach therefore will I boast in my weaknesses that the gevurah of Moshiach might be a shelter over me.*

13 He that covereth his peysha’im (sins) shall not prosper,

but he who confesseth and forsaketh them

shall find mercy.

7 Let the rasha forsake his derech,

and the ish aven his machshevot;

and let him return unto Hashem,

and He will have rachamim upon him;

and to Eloheinu, for He will abundantly pardon.

18 And therefore will Hashem wait,

that He may be gracious unto you,

and therefore will He be exalted,

that He may have rachamim upon you;

for Hashem is Elohei Mishpat;

Ashrei are all they that wait for Him.

13 Go and learn what this means: CHESED CHAFATZTI VLO ZEVACH* (I desire loving kindness and not sacrifice), for I have not come to call the tzaddikim but the chote’im (sinners).*

21 Then, having approached, Kefa said to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach: Adoni, how often will my brother sin against me and I will grant to him selicha (forgiveness)? As many as shevah (seven) times? 22 Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to Kefa, I do not say to you as many as shevah, but as many as shivim (seventy) times shevah.

14 For if you give men mechila (pardon, forgiveness) for their chattaim (sins), so also your Av sh’ba’Shomayim will give selicha (forgiveness) to you.

31 Nevertheless for Thy great merciesʼ sake Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for Thou art El Channun v’Rachum.

5 A tov ish is generous, and lendeth;

he will guide his affairs with mishpat.

17 And let the no’am (favor, delightfulness) of Adonoi Eloheinu be upon us;

and establish Thou the ma’aseh yadeinu upon us;

yes, the ma’aseh yadeinu establish Thou it.

16 Therefore, let us approach with bitachon the Kisse of Chesed, that we may receive rachamim and may find chesed for timely ezrah (aid).

1 I appeal to you, therefore, Achim b’Moshiach, through the rachamei Hashem (mercies of G-d), to present your geviyah,* all of your being, as a korban chai (living sacrifice), kadosh (holy) and acceptable to Hashem,* which is your spiritual avodas kodesh service.

16 For Hashem so had ahavah (agape) for the Olam Hazeh that Hashem gave the matanah (gift)* of Hashemʼs Ben Yechid,* so that whosoever has emunah in him may not be ne’evad (lost, perish, be ruined with destruction), but find Chayyei Olam.*

29 For to you it was given on behalf of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, not only to have emunah in him but also on behalf of him to be laden with the burden of Messianic yissurim* (sufferings),

1 And Chizkiyahu (Yechizkiyahu) sent to kol Yisroel and Yehudah, and wrote iggerot also to Ephrayim and Menasheh, that they should come to the Beis Hashem at Yerushalayim, to keep the Pesach Hashem Elohei Yisroel. 2 For HaMelech had conferred and agreed with his sarim, and kol HaKahal in Yerushalayim, to keep the Pesach in the second month. 3 For they could not keep it at its time, because the Kohanim had not set themselves apart as kodesh in sufficient numbers, neither had HaAm gathered themselves together to Yerushalayim. 4 And the thing pleased HaMelech and kol HaKahal. 5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout kol Yisroel, from Be’er-Sheva even to Dan, that they should come to keep Pesach unto Hashem Elohei Yisroel in Yerushalayim, for not many had kept Pesach as prescribed.

6 So the runners went with the iggerot from HaMelech and his sarim throughout kol Yisroel and Yehudah, and according to the commandment of HaMelech, saying, Ye Bnei Yisroel, shuvu (turn, return) unto Hashem Elohei Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yisroel, and He will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the yad of the Kings of Assyria. 7 And be not ye like Avoteichem, and like your achim, which were unfaithful against Hashem Elohei Avoteihem, Who therefore gave them up to a desolation, as ye see. 8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as Avoteichem were, but yield yourselves unto Hashem, and come to His Mikdash, which He hath set apart as kodesh l’olam; and serve Hashem Eloheichem, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. 9 For if ye turn again unto Hashem, your achim and your banim shall find rachamim before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come back into HaAretz HaZot, for Hashem Eloheichem is channun (gracious) and rachum (compassionate), and will not turn away His face from you, if ye return unto Him.

10 So the runners passed from town to town through Eretz Ephrayim and Menasheh even unto Zevulun, but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless anashim of Asher and Menasheh and of Zevulun humbled themselves, and went to Yerushalayim. 12 Also in Yehudah the Yad HaElohim was to give them lev echad to carry out the mitzvat HaMelech and of the sarim, by the word of Hashem.

13 And there assembled at Yerushalayim Am Rav (Much People) to keep Chag HaMatzot in the second month, a kahal larov me’od (a very great congregation). 14 And they arose and removed the mizbechot that were in Yerushalayim, and all the incense altars they took away, and threw them into the Wadi Kidron. 15 Then they slaughtered the Pesach on the fourteenth day of the second month; and the Kohanim and the Levi’im were ashamed, and they set themselves apart as kodesh, and brought olot to the Beis Hashem. 16 And they stood in their place after their prescribed manner, according to the Torat Moshe Ish HaElohim; the Kohanim sprinkled the dahm, which they received of the yad of the Levi’im. 17 For there were rabbim in HaKahal that were not set apart as kodesh; therefore the Levi’im had the charge of the shechitah (ritual slaughter) of the Pesachim for every one that was not tahor and therefore could not set them apart as kodesh unto Hashem. 18 For most of HaAm, even many of Ephrayim, and Menasheh, Yissakhar, and Zevulun, had not made themselves tahor, yet did they eat the Pesach contrary to what was written. But Chizkiyahu (Yechizkiyahu) davened for them, saying, May Hashem Hatov grant kapporah to 19 Everyone that prepareth his lev to seek HaElohim, Hashem Elohei Avotav, though he be not tahor according to the taharat HaKodesh. 20 And Hashem paid heed to Chizkiyahu (Yechizkiyahu), and healed HaAm.

21 And the Bnei Yisroel that were present at Yerushalayim kept the Chag HaMatzot shivat yamim with simchah gedolah; and the Levi’im and the Kohanim praised Hashem yom b’yom, singing with loud instruments unto Hashem. 22 And Chizkiyahu (Yechizkiyahu) spoke words of comfort unto all the Levi’im who taught the seichel tov of Hashem, and they did eat the mo’ed seven days, offering zivkhei shelamim, and making confession to Hashem Elohei Avoteihem.

23 And the kol HaKahal conferred and agreed to celebrate still another shivat yamim; and they kept another shivat yamim with simcha. 24 For Chizkiyahu (Yechizkiyahu) Melech Yehudah did give to the Kahal a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep; and the sarim gave to the Kahal a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of Kohanim set themselves apart as kodesh. 25 And kol Kehal Yehudah, with the Kohanim and the Levi’im, and kol HaKahal that came out of Yisroel, and the gerim that came out of Eretz Yisroel, and that dwelt in Yehudah, rejoiced. 26 So there was simchah gedolah in Yerushalayim; for since the days of Sh’lomo Ben Dovid Melech Yisroel there was not the like in Yerushalayim. 27 Then the Kohanim and the Levi’im arose and blessed HaAm, and their voice was heard, and their tefillah came up to His Ma’on Kodesh, even unto Shomayim.

1 They say:

If an ish put away [in divorce] his isha,

and she go from him,

and become another manʼs,

shall he return unto her again?

Shall not that eretz be defiled and greatly polluted?

But thou hast played the zonah with re’im rabbim (many lovers);

yet shuv (turn) to Me,

saith Hashem.

2 Lift up thine eyes unto the hilltops, and see!

Where hast thou not been lain with?

In the drakhim (ways, roads) hast thou sat [waiting] for them,

as the nomad in the midbar;

and thou hast defiled the eretz

with thy zenut (whoredom, prostitution) and with thy ra’ah (wickedness).

3 Therefore the revivim (showers) have been withheld,

and there hath been no malkosh (latter rain, spring rain);

and thou hadst a metzach isha zonah (whoreʼs forehead),

and thou refusedst to blush with shame.

4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto Me:

Avi, Thou art the Alluf (Guide, Friend) of my neurim (youth)?

5 Will He reserve His anger l’olam?

Will He keep it lanetzach?

Hinei, this is what you preach,

but you practice all hara’ot (the evils) you can.

6 Hashem said also unto me in the days of Yoshiyah HaMelech, Hast thou seen that which meshuvah Yisroel (backsliding Yisroel) hath done? She is gone up upon every high hill and under every green tree, and there hath played the zonah. 7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto Me. But she returned not. And her treacherous achot Yehudah saw it.* 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby meshuvah Yisroel (backsliding Yisroel) committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a sefer keritut (bill of divorce); yet her treacherous achot Yehudah feared not, but went and played the zonah also. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness with which she* took her zenut (whoredom), that she defiled HaAretz, and committed adultery with HaEven (the Stone)* and with HaEtz (the Wood).* 10 And yet for all this her treacherous achot Yehudah hath not returned unto Me with her kol lev, but in sheker (falsity, pretense, an insincere religious spirit), saith Hashem.

11 And Hashem said unto me, Meshuvah Yisroel hath come nearer to justifying herself than treacherous Yehudah.

12 Go and proclaim these devarim toward the north, and say:

Return, thou meshuvah Yisroel,

saith Hashem;

and I will not cast down Mine anger to fall upon you;

for I am chasid (displaying chesed, mercy),

saith Hashem,

and I will not keep anger l’olam.

13 Only acknowledge thine avon (iniquity, guilt of wrongdoing),

that thou hast rebelled against Hashem your G-d,

and hast scattered thy favors to the zarim

under every green tree,

and ye have not obeyed My voice,

saith Hashem.

14 Shuvu (Turn), O banim shovaviv (backsliding children),

saith Hashem;

for I am married unto you:

and I will take you one from a town,

and two from a mishpakhah,

and I will bring you to Tziyon:

15 And I will give you ro’im according to Mine lev, which shall feed you with da’as and seichel. 16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in HaAretz, in those days, saith Hashem, they shall say no more, The Aron Brit Hashem: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they ask for it; neither shall another be fashioned. 17 At that time they shall call Yerushalayim the Kisse Hashem; and all the Goyim shall be gathered unto it, to the Shem Hashem, to Yerushalayim; neither shall they walk any more after the sherirut libam harah (the stubbornness of their evil heart). 18 In those days Bais Yehudah shall walk with Bais Yisroel, and they shall come together out of the eretz tzafon to HaAretz that I have given for a nachalah unto Avoteichem.

19 But I said:

How can I set thee among the banim,

and give thee an eretz chemdah (a land of desire),

the most beautiful nachalah of the Goyim?

And I said: Thou shalt call Me, Avi;

and shalt not turn back from following Me.

20 Surely as an isha treacherously departeth from her husband,

so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O Bais Yisroel,

saith Hashem.

21 A voice was heard upon the high places,

weeping and tachanunei Bnei Yisroel (supplications of the Children of Israel);

for they have perverted their derech,

and they have forgotten Hashem Eloheihem.

22 Shuvu (return), ye banim shovavim (backsliding children),

and I will heal your meshuvot (backslidings).

Behold, we come unto Thee;

for Thou art Hashem Eloheinu.

23 Truly in sheker is Salvation hoped for from the hills,

and from the multitude of mountains;

truly in Hashem Eloheinu

is the Teshu’at Yisroel (Salvation of Israel).

24 For HaBoshet (the Shame),* hath devoured the labor of Avoteinu from ne’ureinu (our youth): their tzon and their bakar, their banim and their banot. 25 We lie down in our Boshet (Shame), and kelimateinu (our humiliation) covereth us; for we have sinned against Hashem Eloheinu, we and Avoteinu, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of Hashem Eloheinu.