READINGS FOR OMER COUNT – DAY 25

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 twenty-fifth day, making three weeks and four 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 69

Save me, O Elohim! For waters have come up to my neck.

I have sunk in deep mud, And there is no place to stand; I have come into deep waters, And the floods overflow me.

I am worn out from my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes grow dim As I wait for my Elohim.

Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, My lying enemies; What I did not steal, I restored.

O Elohim, You Yourself know my foolishness; And my guilt has not been hidden from You.

Let not those who wait for You, O Master YHWH of hosts, Be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You Be humbled because of me, O Elohim of Yisra’ěl.

Because I have borne reproach for Your sake; Shame has covered my face.

I have become a stranger to my brothers, And a foreigner to my mother’s children; Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

And I wept in my being with fasting, And it became my reproach.

And when I put on sackcloth, I became a proverb to them.

They who sit in the gate talk about me, And I am the song of the drunkards.

But as for me, my prayer is to You, O YHWH, At an acceptable time, O Elohim. In the greatness of Your mercy, Answer me in the truth of Your deliverance.

Rescue me out of the mire, And let me not sink. Let me be rescued from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters.

Let not a flood of waters overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up, Nor let the pit shut its mouth on me.

Answer me, O YHWH, for Your mercy is excellent. According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me.

And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in distress; Answer me speedily.

Draw near to my being, redeem it; Ransom me because of my enemies.

You Yourself know my reproach, And my shame and my confusion; My adversaries are all before You.

Reproach has broken my heart and I am sick; I looked for sympathy, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.

And they gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Let their table before them become a snare, And a trap to those at ease.

Let their eyes be darkened, so as not to see; And make their loins shake continually.

Pour out Your wrath upon them, And let Your burning displeasure overtake them.

Let their encampments be deserted; Let no one dwell in their tents.

For they persecute him whom You have stricken, And talk about the pain of those You have wounded.

Add crookedness to their crookedness, And let them not enter into Your righteousness.

Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous.

But I am poor and in pain; Let Your deliverance, O Elohim, set me up on high.

I praise the Name of Elohim with a song, And I make Him great with thanksgiving.

And this pleases YHWH more than an ox, A bull with horns and hooves.

The humble shall see, they rejoice, You who seek Elohim, and your hearts live.

For YHWH hears the poor, And He shall not despise His captives.

Let the heavens and earth praise Him, The seas and all that moves in them.

For Elohim shall save Tsiyon And build the cities of Yehuḏah. And they shall dwell there and possess it, And the seed of His servants inherit it, And those who love His Name dwell in it.

READINGS: TEHILLAH 70

O Elohim, deliver me! Hasten to my help, O YHWH!

Let those who seek my life Be ashamed and abashed, Let those who are desiring my evil Be turned back and humiliated.

Let those who say, “Aha, aha!” Be turned back because of their shame.

Let all those who seek You Rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your deliverance always say, “Let Elohim be made great!”

But I am poor and needy; Hasten to me, O Elohim! You are my help and my deliverer; O YHWH, do not delay.

READINGS: TEHILLAH 71

In You, O YHWH, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed.

In Your righteousness deliver and rescue me; Incline Your ear to me, and save me.

Be to me a rock to dwell in, To go into continually. You have given the command to save me, For You are my rock and my stronghold.

Rescue me, O my Elohim, Out of the hand of the wrong, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel.

For You are my expectation, Master YHWH, my Trust from my youth.

Upon You I have leaned from my birth; You took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of You.

I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge.

My mouth is filled with Your praise, Your splendor, all the day.

Do not cast me off in the time of old age, When my strength fails, do not forsake me.

For my enemies have spoken against me. And those who watch for my life Have taken counsel together, Saying, “Elohim has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is no one to deliver.”

O Elohim, do not be far from me; My Elohim, hasten to my help!

Let those who are adversaries of my life Be ashamed, consumed, Let those who seek my evil, Be covered with reproach and confusion.

But I continually wait, And shall praise You more and more.

My mouth recounts Your righteousness Your deliverance all the day, Though I do not know their numbers.

I come in the might of the Master YHWH; I make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

Elohim, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wonders.

And also when I am old and grey, O Elohim, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to a generation, Your might to all those who are to come.

For Your righteousness, O Elohim, is very high, You who have done great deeds. O Elohim, who is like You?

You who have shown me great and evil distresses, Revive me again and bring me up again From the depths of the earth.

You increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side.

Also with the lyre I praise You For Your trustworthiness, O my Elohim! I sing to You with the lyre, O Set-apart One of Yisra’ěl.

My lips shout for joy when I sing to You, Even my being, which You have redeemed.

My tongue, too, utters Your righteousness all day long; For those who have been seeking my evil Have been put to shame, Have become abashed.

READINGS: MISHLE 17:1-14

Better is a dry piece of bread and rest with it, Than a house filled with slaughters of strife.

A wise servant rules over a son who causes shame, And shares an inheritance among the brothers.

A refining pot is for silver and a furnace for gold, But YHWH tries the hearts.

An evil-doer gives heed to wicked lips; A liar gives ear to a tongue of desire.

He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; He who rejoices at calamity does not go unpunished.

Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the adornment of children is their fathers.

Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool, Much less lying lips for a noble.

A bribe is a stone of favor in the eyes of its owner; Wherever he turns, he prospers.

He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.

Reproof enters deeper into a wise man Than a hundred strikes on a fool.

An evil one seeks only rebellion, So a cruel messenger is sent against him.

Let a bereaved bear meet a man, Rather than a fool in his folly.

Whoever rewards evil for excellence, Evil does not leave his house.

The beginning of strife is like releasing water; Therefore stop fighting before it breaks out.

READINGS: AVOTH 3:21-22

Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said, where there is no Torah, there are no manners; where there are no manners, there is no Torah; where there is no fear of YHWH, there is no wisdom; where there is no knowledge, there is no understanding; where there is no meal, there is no Torah; where there is no Torah, there is no meal.

He used to say, he whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are many, but whose roots are few, and the wind comes and plucks it up and overturns it upon its face; as it is said, and he shall be like a lonely juniper tree in the desert, and shall not see when excellence cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. But he whose deeds exceed his wisdom, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are few, but whose roots are many, so that even if all the winds in the world come and blow upon it, it cannot be stirred from its place; as it is said, and he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out its roots by the river and shall not perceive when heat cometh; but his leaf shall be green, and shall not be troubled in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.