Week 21 (Book 7): The Fly is Saying

The Fly, when Israel is not busying itself with Torah, is saying:

When Pharaoh's horses came with his chariots 

And his horsemen into the sea,

They have provoked My jealousy with a non-G-d, 

Provoked My anger with their vanities. 

All flesh is grass, and all its grace is as the flower of the field.

(But) among the divisions of Reuben,  (there were) great resolves of heart.

The voice said, 'Call out'. And he said, 'What shall I call out? 

Why do you sit between the borders?

I sleep, but my heart is awake. Hark! My beloved is knocking: 

My perfect one, for my head is full of dew, My locks with the drops of the night.

My wound oozes at night and does not abate; 

My soul refuses to be comforted.

Thus, I will provoke their jealousy with a non-people, 

Provoke their anger with a foolish nation.

The grass withers, the flower fades, 

But the word of our Lord shall endure forever. 

The Lord will reign to all eternity; 

[You are] my strength, to You I will sing, 

The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; 

According to the cleanness of my hands He recompensed me. 

I will create a new expression of the lips:  Peace, peace for him 

Who is far off and for him who is near, says G-d, and I will heal him.

It is he whom My hand shall be prepared [to assist]; 

My arm, too, shall strengthen him. 

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind; 

Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out; 

And the man, Elkanah and his entire household, went up 

To slaughter to the Lord, the sacrifice of the days and his vow.

Let my beloved come to his garden and eat his sweet fruit.

For G-d is my stronghold, the G-d of my kindness. 

I have come to my garden, my sister, [my] bride; 

For the Conductor, on the yedutun, by Asaph, a psalm. 

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice, 

I have eaten my sugar cane with my sugar, 

[I raise] my voice to G-d and cry out; 

[I raise] my voice to G-d and He will listen to me. 

I have drunk my wine with my milk. 

On the day of my distress, I sought the Lord; 

Eat, friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, beloved ones.                        

Open for me, my sister, my beloved, my dove. 

Week 22 (Book 7): The Giant Sea Creatures Are Saying

The Giant Sea Creatures are saying:

 

Praise G-d from the land, the giant sea creatures and all the depths.

For a fire blazed in My wrath, and burned to the lowest depths.

It consumed the land and its produce, setting aflame the foundations of mountains.

And the Lord brought the waters of the sea back upon them

 

For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my G-d. 

And the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea

But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband:

Until the child is weaned, then I shall bring him

 

I remember G-d and I stir; I speak and my spirit becomes faint, forever.

And he shall appear before the Lord, and abide there forever.

No enemy will exact from him, neither will an unjust person afflict him.  

My beloved stretched forth his hand from the hole, and my insides stirred because of him.

 

"I have taken off my tunic; how can I put it on?

To hear the bleatings of the flocks?

I have bathed my feet; how can I soil them?"

At the divisions of Reuben, (there are) great searchings of heart.

 

I arose to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh,

You held fast the awakenings of my eyes; I throb and I do not speak.

And my fingers with flowing myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

I think of days of yore, ancient years.

Week 23 (Book 7): The Leviathan is Saying

The Leviathan is Saying

I opened for my beloved,

But my beloved had hidden and was gone.

Is it for eternity that my Lord forsakes me?

Nevermore to be appeased?

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,

For His kindness is eternal.

Sing to the Lord, for exalted is He

Horse and rider He cast into the sea.

During the night I recall my music,

I meditate with my heart and my spirit searches.

My soul went out when he spoke,

I sought him, but found him not.

Has His kindness ceased forever?

Has He sealed the decree for all generations?

For all His ordinances were before me

And as for His statutes I did not depart from them.

The watchmen who patrol the city found me

They smote me and wounded me;

I will link evils upon them,

I will use up my arrows on them.

The watchmen of the walls took my jewelry off me.

And I will crush his adversaries before him

And will strike down those who hate him.

Only may the Lord fulfill His word.

Gilead abides beyond the Jordan

And Dan, why does he gather into ships?

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved, what will you tell him?

I called him, but he did not answer me.

And Elkanah, her husband said to her,

Do what seems good to you,

Stay until you have weaned him,

For I am lovesick.

Miriam, the prophetess, Aaron's sister,

Took a timbrel in her hand.

And the woman stayed and

Nursed her son until she weaned him.

Week 24 (Book 7): The Fish Are Saying

The Fish are saying

The voice of G-d is upon the waters
Asher dwelt at the shore of the seas,
Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea 
And they went out into the desert of Shur;

I said, "It is to terrify me that the right hand of the Most High changes.”
Has G-d forgotten mercy? Has He in anger restrained His compassion forever?
Indeed, My faithfulness and My kindness shall be with him.
And I was single-hearted toward Him and I kept myself from my iniquity.

They came to Marah, but they could not drink water from Marah 
Because it was bitter; Therefore, it was named Marah.
They will sprout hair from famine; 
Attacked by demons, excised by Meriri

They walked for three days in the desert but did not find water.
I will incite the teeth of livestock upon them
The G-d of glory thunders; G-d is upon many waters.
And through my name his glory shall be exalted. 

I remember the deeds of Yah, 
When I remember your wonders of long ago. 
With three bulls, and one ephah of meal, and an earthenware jug of wine
With the venom of creatures that slither in the dust.

My beloved is white and ruddy, surrounded by myriads.
His head is as the finest gold; His locks are curled, black as a raven.
And she brought him to the house of the Lord, to Shiloh, 
And the child was young.

What is your beloved more than another beloved, O fairest of women? 
What is your beloved more than another beloved, that you have so adjured us?
And she brought him with her when she had weaned him
And by his breaches he abides.

Week 25 (Book 7): The Frog Is Saying

The Frog is saying,

Zebulun is a people that jeopardized their lives to die,
As did Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.
Blessed is the Name of the honor of His Kingdom for all eternity.

The people complained against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
I will set his hand upon the sea, his right hand upon the rivers.
His eyes are like doves beside rivulets of water, bathing in milk, fitly set.

There He gave them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them.
So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord instructed him
Concerning a piece of wood, which he cast into the water, and the water became sweet.

I meditate on all Your works, and speak of Your deeds.
His jaws are like a bed of spice, growths of aromatic plants
His lips are [like] roses, dripping with flowing myrrh.

You are the G-d Who works wonders; You make Your might known among the nations.
His hands are [like] wheels of gold, set with chrysolite
His abdomen is [as] a block of ivory, overlaid with sapphires.

And the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness;
According to my cleanness before His eyes.
O G-d, Your way is in sanctity; what god is as great as G-d?

From outside, the sword will bereave, and terror from within;
And when the bullock was slain, the child was brought to Eli.
Young men and maidens, suckling babes with venerable elders.