The Book of Hymns or Psalms of Thanksgiving To YAHWEH
1
The Spirit Of YAHWEH
Thou art the
source of all might
yet art Thou also rich in
wisdom
and great in
counsel.
Thy fury
is vented in the presence of ;
yet are Thy
mercies beyond number.
Thou are YAHWEH
that visits wrongdoing;
yet also
YAHWEH
longsuffering in judgment.
In whatsoever
Thou doest,
Thou hast ever
done justly.
In Thy wisdom
didst Thou call into being
spirits
immortal,
and ere Thou
didst create them,
didst determine
their works for all time.
Apart from
Thee
can naught be done,
and naught
apprehended save by Thy will.
Thou it is formed
every spirit,
and set due rule and role for all their works.
When Thou didst
stretch out the heavens for Thy glory,
and
command all their host to do Thy will,
Thou didst also
make potent spirits
to keep them in
bounds.
Or ever spirits
immortal
took on the form
of holy angels,
Thou didst assign
them to bear rule
over divers
domains:
over the sun and
moon,
to govern their
hidden powers;
over the stars,
to hold them to
their courses;
over
rain and snow,
to make them
fulfill their functions;
over meteors and
lightnings,
to make them
discharge their tasks;
over the treasures of the deeps,
to make them
serve their ends;
over fire and
water,
to control their
hidden force.
When, too, Thou
didst create in Thy
power earth and
seas and deeps,
in Thy wisdom
didst Thou set in their depths spirits immortal,
and thereby
dispose to Thy will all that therein
is.
So too hast Thou
done
touching
the spirit of man
which Thou hast
created in the world
for all the days
of time
and for ages
infinite,
to
bear rule
over all his works.
Thou hast
assigned the tasks of men's spirits duly,
moment by moment,
throughout their
generations;
and Thou hast
determined the mode
in which they
shall wield their sway,
season by season;
yea,
Thou hast prescribed their works,
age after age
alike when they
shall be visited with peace
and when they
shall suffer affliction.
Thou hast
man's spirit
and duly assigned
its role
for all his
offspring
throughout the
generations of time;
and
Thou hast
it
for all years of
eternity.
And in Thy
knowing wisdom
Thou hast
ordained its fate,
or ever it came
into being.
By
Thy will all
things exist,
and without Thee
is nothing wrought.
Shapen of clay
and kneaded with water,
a bedrock of
shame and a source of pollution,
a cauldron of iniquity and a fabric of
sin,
a spirit errant
and wayward,
distraught by
every just judgment
what can I say
that hath not been foreknown,
or what disclose that hath not been
foretold?
All things are inscribed before Thee
in a recording
script,
for every moment of time,
for the infinite
cycles of years,
in their several
appointed times.
No single thing
is hidden,
naught missing
from Thy presence.
How can man say
aught
to account for
his sins?
How argue in
excuse of his misdeeds?
How can he enter
reply
to any just
sentence upon him?
Thine, 0 YAHWEH
of all knowledge,
are all works of
righteousness
and the secret of
truth;
while man's is
but thralldom to wrongdoing, and works of deceit.
The spirit that
lies in man's speech,
Thou didst
create.
Thou hast known
all the words of man's tongue
and determined
the fruit of his lips,
ere those lips
themselves had being.
It is Thou that disposeth all words in due sequence
and giveth to the
spirit of the lips
ordered mode of
expression;
that bringeth
forth their secrets
in measured
utterances,
and granteth unto
spirits
means to express
their thoughts,
that Thy glory
may be made known,
and Thy wonders
told forth
in all Thine
unerring works,
and that Thy
righteousness may be proclaimed,
and Thy name be
praised in the mouth of all things,
and that all creatures may know Thee,
each to the meed
of his insight,
and bless Thee
alway.
But Thou in Thy
mercy
and Thy great lovingkindness
hast strengthened the spirit of man
to face
his
afflictions,
and hast cleansed
it of the taint
of multifarious
wrongdoing,
to the end that
Thy wonders may be shown forth
in the sight of
all Thy works.
So, for mine own
part,
I am braced
against all the afflictions
whereto I am
condemned;
and
will tell
unto men all Thy wonders
wherein, through
me,
Thou hast shown Thy power.
Hearken, O ye
wise,
ye, too, that are
witless and rash,
and be of sober
mind.
Ye
sharpen
your wits!
Ye righteous,
have done with wrongdoing!
And all ye that
are blameless of conduct,
hold fast to the
meek!
Be slow to anger
and spurn not
For men that are
foolish at heart
cannot understand
these things,
and men of
unbridled temper
can but gnash
their teeth.
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