Covenant of Generations

(1) You recollect

(2) the fabric of creation

(3) and take note

(4) of all that has been fashioned since ancient times.

(5) In Your Presence are revealed

(6) all hidden things

(7) and the multitude of secrets

(8) from the beginning of creation;

(9) for there is no forgetfulness

(10) before the throne of Your Glory,

(11) and there is nothing hidden from Your eyes.

(12) You remember all that has been done,

(13) and even all that which is formed

(14) is not concealed from You.

(15) All is revealed and known before You

(16) Hashem our God

(17) Who observes and looks

(18) until the end of all generations.

(19) For You set

(20) an appointed time of remembrance,

(21) to consider every soul and being;

(22) to cause numerous deeds to be remembered

(23) and the multitude of creatures without end.

(24) From the beginning of creation,

(25) You have made this known,

(26) and from before time

(27) You have revealed it.

(28) This day [Rosh Hashana]

(29) is the beginning of Your work

(30) a memorial of the first day.

(31) For it is a statute for Yisrael

(32) a [day of] judgment of the God of Yaakov.

(33) And over countries

(34) it is pronounced,

(35) which of them is destined for the sword [war]

(36) and which for peace,

(37) which for famine and which for abundance.

(38) And on it, creatures are accounted for,

(39) to be remembered for life or for death.

(40) Who is not considered on this day?

(41) For the remembrance of all that is formed

(42) comes before You:

(43) the dealings of each person,

(44) and the decree of their fate;

(45) a person’s misdeeds,

(46) their thoughts and contemplations,

(47) and the consequences of what they have done.

(48) Fortunate is the man

(49) who does not forget You,

(50) the human being

(51) who strengthens themself in You.

(52) For those who seek You

(53) will never stumble,

(54) and never will they be disgraced—

(55) all who trust in You.

(56) For the remembrance of all their deeds

(57) come before You,

(58) and You examine the deeds of all of them.

(59) And No’ach too, You remembered with love,

(60) and [therefore] decreed for him

(61) a promise of deliverance and compassion,

(62) when You brought the flood-waters

(63) to destroy all flesh

(64) because of the wickedness of their deeds.

(65) Therefore,

(66) his remembrance came before You,

(67) Adonoy, our God,

(68) to multiply his seed

(69) like the dust of the earth,

(70) and his descendants as the sand of the sea;

(71) as it is written in Your Torah;

(72) “And God remembered No’ach

(73) and all the beasts

(74) and all the cattle

(75) that were with him in the Ark,

(76) and God caused a wind to pass

(77) over the earth,

(78) and the waters were calmed.” (Gen 8:1)

(79) And it is said:

(80) “And God heard their groaning cry,

(81) and God remembered His covenant

(82) with Avraham, with Yitzchak,

(83) and with Yaakov.” (Ex 2:24)

(84) And it is said:

(85) “I will remember My covenant with Yaakov,

(86) and also My covenant with Yitzchak,

(87) and also My covenant with Avraham,

(88) will I remember;

(89) and the land [of Yisrael] I will remember.” (Lev 26:42)

(90) And in Your holy words it is written:

(91) “He made a memorial for His wonders,

(92) gracious and merciful is Adonoy.” (Ps 111:4)

(93) And it is said:

(94) “He gave food to those who fear Him;

(95) He is ever mindful of His covenant.” (Ps 111:5)

(96) And it is said:

(97) “And He remembered His covenant for them,

(98) and He relented

(99) in accordance with His abundant kindness.” (Ps 106:45)

(100) And by the hand of Your servants,

(101) the Prophets

(102) it is written:

(103) “Go and proclaim it

(104) in the ears of Yerushalayim, saying:

(105) thus said Adonoy,

(106) I remembered for you

(107) the kindness of your youth,

(108) the love of your bridal days,

(109) how you followed Me into the wilderness,

(110) in a land that was not cultivated.” (Jer 2:2)

(111) And it is said:

(112) “I will remember My covenant

(113) [which I made] with you

(114) in the days of your youth,

(115) and I will fulfill it for you

(116) as an everlasting covenant.” (Ez 16:60)

(117) And it is said:

(118) “Is Ephraim not My precious son,

(119) is he not a child of delight?

(120) For whenever I speak of him,

(121) I recall him even more;

(122) Therefore,

(123) My innermost being is aroused for him,

(124) I will surely have compassion on him,

(125) says Adonoy.” (Jer 31:20)

***

(126) Our God and God of our fathers

(127) remember us favorably before You

(128) and be mindful of us

(129) for deliverance and compassion

(130) from the eternal high heavens.

(131) Remember in our behalf, Adonoy, our God,

(132) the covenant, the kindness

(133) and the oath which You swore

(134) to our father Avraham on Mount Moriah,

(135) and let there appear before You

(136) the binding with which our father Avraham

(137) bound his son Yitzchak upon the altar,

(138) and how he suppressed his compassion

(139) to do Your will with a whole heart;

(140) so may Your compassion suppress

(141) Your anger against us,

(142) and in Your great goodness

(143) turn Your fierce anger away

(144) from Your people, and from Your city,

(145) from Your land,

(146) and from Your territorial heritage.

(147) And fulfill for us Adonoy, our God

(148) the promise You made in Your Torah,

(149) through Your servant, Moshe,

(150) from the mouth of Your glory,

(151) as it is said:

(152) “I will remember for them

(153) the covenant with their forefathers

(154) whom I took out

(155) of the land of Mitzrayim,

(156) before the eyes of the nations,

(157) to be their God;

(158) I am Adonoy.” (Lev 26:45)

(159) For you are that which remembers all forgotten things

(160) from eternity,

(161) and there is no forgetfulness

(162) before the Throne of Your Glory;

(163) and the binding of Yitzchak—

(164) on behalf of his descendants—

(165) may You remember it today with compassion.

(166) Blessed are You Adonoy,

(167) Who remembers the covenant.

(1) יהוה took note of Sarah as promised, and יהוה did for Sarah what had been announced. (2) Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken. (3) Abraham gave his newborn son, whom Sarah had borne him, the name of Isaac. (4) And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

(5) Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. (6) Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh for me.” (7) And she added,
“Who would have said to Abraham
That Sarah would suckle children?!
Yet I have borne a son in his old age.”

…

(11) The matter distressed Abraham greatly, for it concerned a son of his. (12) But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed over the boy or your slave; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be continued Lit. “called.” for you. (13) As for the son of the slave-woman, I will make a nation of him, too, for he is your seed.”…

…

(16) She went and sat herself down some bowshot’s distance away, saying to herself, “I cannot see the boy’s death.” So she sat at a distance and lifted up her voice and wept. (17) God heard the cry of the boy, and a messenger of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heeded the cry of the boy where he is. (18) Come, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” (19) Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and let the boy drink.

(20) God was with the boy and he grew up; he dwelt in the wilderness and became skilled with a bow. (21) He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

(30) He replied, “You are to accept these seven ewes from me as proof that I dug this well.” (31) Hence that place was called Beer-sheba,*Beer-sheba I.e., “well of seven” or “well of oath.” for there the two of them swore an oath. (32) When they had concluded the pact at Beer-sheba, Abimelech and Phicol, chief of his troops, departed and returned to the land of the Philistines. (33) [Abraham] planted a tamarisk at Beer-sheba, and invoked there the name of יהוה, the Everlasting God, Adonai El Olam.

(1) Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test, saying to him, “Abraham.” He answered, “Here I am.” (2) “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.”…

(7) Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he answered, “Yes, my son.” And he said, “Here are the firestone and the wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” (8) And Abraham said, “It is God who will see to the sheep for this burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together. (9) They arrived at the place of which God had told him. Abraham built an altar there; he laid out the wood; he bound his son Isaac; he laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. (10) And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son. (11) Then a messenger of יהוה called to him from heaven: “Abraham! Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.”

(12) “Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me.” (13) When Abraham looked up, his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.

…

(15) The messenger of יהוה called to Abraham a second time from heaven, (16) and said, “By Myself I swear, יהוה declares: Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your favored one, (17) I will bestow My blessing upon you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore; and your descendants shall seize the gates of their foes. (18) All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed My command.” (19) Abraham then returned to his servants, and they departed together for Beer-sheba; and Abraham stayed in Beer-sheba. …

(1) There was a man from Ramathaim of the Zuphites,-a in the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. (2) He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah; Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. …(5) to Hannah he would give one portion—though Hannah was his favorite—for the LORD had closed her womb. (6) Moreover, her rival, to make her miserable, would taunt her that the LORD had closed her womb. …

(9) After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose—The priest Eli was sitting on the seat near the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.— (10) In her wretchedness, she prayed to the LORD, weeping all the while. (11) And she made this vow: “O LORD of Hosts, if You will look upon the suffering of Your maidservant and will remember me and not forget Your maidservant, and if You will grant Your maidservant a male child, I will dedicate him to the LORD for all the days of his life; and no razor shall ever touch his head.”…

(13) Hannah was speaking to her own heart, with her lips moving but her voice inaudible…

(19) Then they arose in the morning, made their prostrations before the LORD, and returned home to their house at Ramah; and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. (20) At the turn of the year Hannah conceived, and she bore a son. She named him Samuel, Connected with sha’ul me’El “asked of God”; for he had been requested of the LORD.

(21) And when the man Elkanah and all his household were going up to offer to the LORD the annual sacrifice and his votive sacrifice, (22) Hannah did not go up. She said to her husband, “When the child is weaned, I will bring him. For when he has appeared before the LORD, he must remain there for good.” (23) Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do as you think best. Stay home until you have weaned him. May the LORD fulfil His word.” So the woman stayed home and nursed her son until she weaned him. (24) When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with.three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a jar of wine. And bMeaning of Heb. uncertain.though the boy was still very young,-b she brought him to the House of the LORD at Shiloh. (25) After slaughtering the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. (26) She said, “Please, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you and prayed to the LORD. (27) It was this boy I prayed for; and the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him. (28) I, in turn, hereby lend From the same root as that of the verb rendered “asked for” in v. 20. him to the LORD. For as long as he lives he is lent to the LORD.” And they bowed low there before the LORD.

(1) And Hannah prayed:
My heart exults in the LORD;
-Lit. “My horn is high.”I have triumphed-through the LORD.
bLit. “My mouth is wide.”I gloat-b over my enemies;
I rejoice in Your deliverance. (2) There is no holy one like the LORD,
Truly, there is none beside You;
There is no rock like our God.
(3) Talk no more with lofty pride,
Let no arrogance cross your lips!
For the LORD is an all-knowing God;
By Him actions are measured.
(4) The bows of the mighty are broken,
And the faltering are girded with strength. (5) Men once sated must hire out for bread;
Men once hungry hunger no more.
While the barren woman bears seven,
The mother of many is forlorn. (6) The LORD deals death and gives life,
Casts down into Sheol and raises up. (7) The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
He casts down, He also lifts high. (8) He raises the poor from the dust,
Lifts up the needy from the dunghill,
Setting them with nobles,
Granting them seats of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s;
He has set the world upon them. (9) He guards the steps of His faithful,
But the wicked perish in darkness—
For not by strength shall man prevail.
(10) The foes of the LORD shall be shattered;
He will thunder against them in the heavens.
The LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
He will give power to His king,
cLit. “And will raise the horn of His anointed one.
(11) Then Elkanah[and Hannah] went home to Ramah; and the boy entered the service of the LORD under the priest Eli.

(1) At that time—declares GOD—I will be God to all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.
(2) Thus said GOD:
The people escaped from the sword,
Found favor in the wilderness;
When Israel was marching homeward (3) GOD was revealed “to him” long ago.
Eternal love I conceived for you then וְאַהֲבַ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ אֲהַבְתִּ֔יךְ;
Therefore I continue My grace to you. (4) I will build you firmly again,
O Maiden Israel!
Again you shall take up your hand-drums
And go forth to the rhythm of the dancers. (5) Again, O Maiden, you shall plant vineyards
On the hills of Samaria;
They shall plant and live to enjoy the fruit. (6) For the day is coming when watchmen
Shall proclaim on the heights of Ephraim:
Come, let us go up to Zion,
To the ETERNAL our God! (7) For thus said GOD:
Cry out in joy for Jacob,
Shout at the crossroads - crossroads Lit. “head” - of the nations!
Sing aloud in praise, and say:
Save, O ETERNAL One, Your people,
The remnant of Israel. (8) I will bring them in from the northland,
Gather them from the ends of the earth—
The blind and the lame among them,
Those with child and those in labor—
In a vast throng they shall return here. (9) They shall come with weeping,
And with compassion will I guide them.
I will lead them to streams of water,
By a level road where they will not stumble.
For I am ever a Father to Israel,
Ephraim is My first-born. (10) Hear the word of GOD, O nations,
And tell it in the isles afar.
Say:
The One who scattered Israel will gather them,
And will guard them as a shepherd his flock. (11) For GOD will ransom Jacob,
Redeem him from one too strong for him. (12) They shall come and shout on the heights of Zion,
Radiant over GOD’s bounty—
Over new grain and wine and oil,
And over sheep and cattle.
They shall fare like a watered garden,
They shall never languish again. (13) Then shall maidens dance gaily,
Young men and old alike.
I will turn their mourning to joy,
I will comfort them and cheer them in their grief. (14) I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
And My people shall enjoy My full bounty
—declares GOD.

(15) Thus said GOD:
A cry is heard in Ramah - Or “on a height.”—
Wailing, bitter weeping—
Rachel weeping for her children.
She refuses to be comforted
For her children, who are gone. (16) Thus said GOD:
Restrain your voice from weeping,
Your eyes from shedding tears;
For there is a reward for your labor
—declares GOD:
They shall return from the enemy’s land. (17) And there is hope for your future
—declares GOD:
Your children shall return to their country. (18) I can hear Ephraim lamenting:
“You have chastised me, and I am chastised
Like a calf that has not been broken.
Receive me back, let me return,
For You, O ETERNAL One, are my God. (19) Now that I have turned back, I am filled with remorse;
Now that I am made aware, I strike my thigh. A gesture of self-reproach.
I am ashamed and humiliated,
For I bear the disgrace of my youth.”
(20) Truly, Ephraim is a dear son to Me,
A child that is dandled!
Whenever I have turned Lit. “spoken.” against him,
My thoughts would dwell on him still.
That is why My heart yearns for him;
I will receive him back in love
—declares GOD.

(1) Give ear, O heavens, let me speak;
Let the earth hear the words I utter! (2) May my discourse come down as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
Like showers on young growth,
Like droplets on the grass.*May my discourse … on the grass I.e., may my words be received eagerly; cf. Job 29.22–23.
(3) For the name of יהוה I proclaim;
Give glory to our God!
(4) The Rock!—whose deeds are perfect,
Yea, all God’s ways are just;
A faithful God, never false,
True and upright indeed.

(5) *Meaning of verse uncertain. Unworthy children—
That crooked, perverse generation—
Their baseness has played God false.
(6) Do you thus requite יהוה,
O dull and witless people?
Is not this the Father who created you—
Fashioned you and made you endure!

(7) Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of ages past;
Ask your parent, who will inform you,
Your elders, who will tell you:
(8) When the Most High gave nations their homes
And set the divisions of humanity,
[God] fixed the boundaries of peoples
In relation to Israel’s numbers.
(9) For יהוה’s portion is this people;
Jacob, God’s own allotment.

(10) [God] found them in a desert region,
In an empty howling waste.
[God] engirded them, watched over them,
Guarded them as the pupil of God’s eye.

(11) Like an eagle who rouses its nestlings,
Gliding down to its young,
So did [God] spread wings and take them,
Bear them along on pinions;

(12) יהוה alone did guide them,
No alien god alongside.