READINGS FOR OMER COUNT – DAY 06

Behold, I am about to fulfill the affirmative precept of the counting of the Omer, as it is written in the Torah:

“And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Shabbath, from the day that ye brought the Omer of the wave-offering, seven complete weeks they shall be; until the morrow of the seventh Shabbath shall ye number fifty days.”

Blessed art Thou YHWH, our Elohym, King of the universe, who hast set us apart by Thy commandments and hast given us command concerning the counting of the Omer.

This is the sixth day, making zero weeks and six days of the Omer.

May the All Merciful restore the service of the Temple to its place. May it be Thy will, YHWH our Elohym and Elohym of our fathers, that the Temple be speedily rebuilt in our days, and grant our portion in Thy Torah. And there we will serve Thee with awe, as in the days of old and as in ancient years.

May Elohym be favorable unto us and bless us. That Thy way may be known upon the earth, Thy salvation among all nations. Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, Elohym; let all the peoples give thanks unto Thee. Let the nations rejoice and exult: for Thou wilt judge the peoples with equity and lead the nations upon the earth. Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, Elohym; let all the peoples give thanks unto Thee. The earth hath yielded her increase: Elohym, even our Elohym, shall bless us. Elohym shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

READINGS: TEHILLAH 15

YHWH, who does sojourn in Your Tent? Who does dwell in Your set-apart mountain? He who walks blamelessly, And does righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart. He has not slandered with his tongue, He has not done evil to his neighbor, Nor lifted up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate one is despised, But he esteems those who fear YHWH; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; He has not put out his silver at interest, And has not taken a bribe against the innocent. He who does these is never moved.

READINGS: TEHILLAH 16

Guard me, O Ěl, for I have taken refuge in You. I have said to YHWH, “You are YHWH, I have no excellent beside You.” As for the set-apart ones who are on the earth, They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another one are increased; I would not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor take up their names on my lips. YHWH is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You uphold my lot. Boundary lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, an excellent inheritance is mine.

I bless YHWH who has given me counsel; My kidneys also instruct me in the nights.

I have set YHWH always before me; Because He is at my right hand I am not shaken. Therefore my heart was glad, and my esteem rejoices; My flesh also dwells in safety. For You do not leave my being in She’ol, Neither let Your Merciful One see corruption. You show me the path of life; In Your presence is joy to satisfaction; At Your right hand are pleasures forever.

READINGS: TEHILLAH 17

Hear righteousness, YHWH, Listen to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, From lips without deceit. Let my judgment go out from Your presence; Let Your eyes see what is straight. You have examined my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me – You find I have not schemed; My mouth would not transgress. As for the deeds of men – By the word of Your lips, I have kept myself from the paths of the destroyer. My steps have held fast to Your paths, My feet have not slipped. I have called upon You, for You answer me, O Ěl; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech. Let Your mercy be distinguished, You who save by Your right hand those who take refuge From those who rise up. Guard me as the apple of Your eye. Hide me under the shadow of Your wings, From the face of the wrong who ravage me, From my deadly enemies who surround me. They are enclosed in their own fat, They speak proudly with their mouths, They have now surrounded us in our steps, They set their eyes to cast us to the ground, Like a lion who is eager to tear his prey, And as a young lion crouching in cover.

Arise, O YHWH, Confront him, cause him to bend; Deliver my being from the wrong by Your sword, From men by Your hand, O YHWH, From men of the world whose portion is in this life, And You fill their bellies with Your treasure, They are satisfied with children, And shall leave their riches to their babes.

As for me, let Me see Your face in righteousness; I am satisfied to see Your appearance when I awake.

READINGS: MISHLE 5:1-23

My son, listen to my wisdom; Incline your ear to my understanding, So as to watch over discretion, And your lips guard knowledge.

For the lips of a strange woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of She’ol. She does not consider the path of life; Her ways are unstable – you do not know it.

So now, listen to me, you children, And do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Keep your way far from her, And do not come near the door of her house, Lest you give your splendor to others, And your years to one who is cruel; Lest strangers be filled with your strength, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner.

Then you shall howl in your latter end, When your flesh and your body are consumed, And shall say, “How I have hated discipline, And my heart has despised reproof!

“And I have not heeded the voice of my teachers, And I have not inclined my ear to those who instructed me! In a little while I was in all evil, In the midst of an assembly and a congregation.”

Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.

Should your springs be scattered abroad, Rivers of water in the streets? Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.

Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth – A loving deer and a pleasant doe! Let her nipples satisfy you at all times. And be captivated by her love always. For why should you, my son, Be captivated by a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

For the ways of man Are before the eyes of YHWH, And He considers all his paths.

The wrong one is entrapped In his own crookednesses, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, And in the greatness of his folly He goes astray.

READINGS: AVOTH 1:12-15

Hillel and Shammai received the tradition from the preceding. Hillel said, be of the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving thy fellow-creatures, and drawing them near to the Torah.

He used to say, a name made great is a name destroyed; he who does not increase his knowledge decreases it; and he who does not study deserves to die; and he who makes a worldly use of the crown (of the Torah) shall pass away.

He used to say, if I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?

Shammai said, fix a period for thy study of the Torah; say little and do much; and receive all men with a cheerful countenance.