Psalms 117 in Hebrew with English translation.

This adapted translation of Psalms 118 by Lisa Tarlau can be found in Rabbi Max Grunwald’s anthology of Jewish women’s prayer, Beruria: Gebet- und Andachtsbuch für jüdische Frauen und Mädchen (1909), pages 167-169.

Psalms 118 in Hebrew with English translation.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 120 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 214.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 121 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 215.

The fourth reading for the Sigd festival, the Psalm of Gathering in Jerusalem — Psalms 122 Masoretic (121 Tewahedo).

Psalms 126 in Masoretic Hebrew, with a German translation by Franz Rosenzweig.

Psalms 135, translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer.

Psalms 133, translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer.

Psalms 136, translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer.

Psalm 137 is traditionally recited before the Birkat Hamazon (the Blessing [after eating] the Meal) on a weekday. Psalms 137 (with Psalms 138:1) is read on the day of the Fast of Tisha b’Av.

Psalms 139 in Hebrew with an interpretive translation in English by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l.

A well-known midrash explaining the universality of the Kalends festival beginning after the Winter Solstice attributes this psalm to Adam haRishon, the primordial Adam, as they describe being knitted together within the Earth in Psalms 139:13-16. In the Roman calendar, the calends or kalends (Latin: kalendae) is the first day of every month. Named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, and derived from ianua, “door,” January began with the first crescent moon after the winter solstice, marking the natural beginning of the year. Marcus Terentius Varro, in his Res Rusticae (37 BCE) divided the agricultural year into eight parts. In the final part beginning on the winter solstice, no hard work was to be done outdoors.

Psalms 141 by David, in Hebrew with English translation.

This is Psalms 140 attributed to David ben Yishai, with an English translation by Rabbi Hillel Ḥayyim Lavery-Yisraeli from Prayers for Israel, for Protection from Terror Attacks, and In Memory of the Victims (15 October 2023).

Psalms 142 by David in Hebrew with English translation.

Psalms 142, traditionally attributed to King David, with translations in English and Arabic.

Psalms 143 by David in Hebrew with English translation.

Psalms 144 in Hebrew with English translation.

Psalms 145 in Hebrew with English translation.

Ashrei, complete with introductory verses and a lost verse to complete the acrostic from the Chronicle of Gad the Seer.

Why is Ashrei such a beloved part of the service? Partially it is because of its alphabetical structure, making it perfect for communal reading. This translation attempts to preserve this in an English equivalence.

A modern translation of the Ashrei in alphabetic parallel to the Hebrew.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Ashrei in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009).

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Psalms 146 in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009).

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Psalms 147 in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009).

Psalms 148 in Hebrew with an interpretive translation in English by Arthur Waskow.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Psalms 148 in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009).

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Psalms 149 in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009).

Psalms 149 in Hebrew with English translation.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of Psalms 150 in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009).

Psalms 150 in Hebrew with English translation.

Psalm 151a is unlike any other psalm, because it is openly and clearly a description of David’s own life. He describes his childhood as the youngest of the family, and his anointing. It may have not been included as part of the Masoretic canon because this dissimilarity leads to just a whiff of pseudepigraphical overcompensation. [The psalm is designated Psalms 151a to destinguish it from the text of Psalms 151 found in the Septuagint. –ANV]

This is Psalms 151 as found in the Septuagint (LXX) in Greek translation (here offered with its translation into Hebrew by Avraham Kahana). The psalm as it is found in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls is designated as Psalms 151a.

The masterful Yiddish translation of the Tanakh by “Yehoyesh” (Yehoash) Shloyme Blumgarten (1870-1927) as published in Torah, Neviʼim, u-Khetuvim (New York: Yehoʼash Farlag Gezelshaft, 1941) as transcribed by Leonard Prager’s Yehoyesh Project.

Psalm 155 is an incomplete acrostic (the Dead Sea Scrolls text records it going from ב to נ, and the Syriac can be reconstructed to include up to פ) with similarities to petitionary psalms like Psalm 3, 22, and 143. It is unclear why it was not included in the Masoretic canon, but one can hazard a guess that it was just not familiar to the compilers.

Megillat Esther in Masoretic Hebrew with an English translation, including verses for public recitation highlighted to spotlight the heroic acts of Esther and Mordekhai.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of “Vayivarekh David” (1 Chronicles 29:10-13) in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009).

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s interpretive translation of Proverbs 31:10-31, popularly read before the first festive meal for shabbat on Friday night.

A reading of Shir haShirim (the Songs of Songs, a/k/a Canticles) with English translation, transtropilated.

A Megillah reading of Esther with English translation, transtropilated.

A Megillah reading of Yonah with English translation, transtropilated.

This is the Masoretic text of Megillat Yonah set side-by-side with its translation, made by J.R.R. Tolkien for the Jerusalem Bible (1966).

This is a 14th-century translation of the entire book of Jonah into Judeo-Greek or Yevanic, the traditional language of the Romaniote community of Byzantium. To quote the Judeo-Greek expert Julia G. Krivoruchko, it “exhibits a fusion of contemporary vernacular language with archaic elements” and “favors an extremely literal translation style.” This translation was first published in Greek transcription by the Dutch hellenist Dirk Christiaan Hesseling, who misdated it to the 12th-century based on a mixup between the Seleucid and common eras. Included as part of a Romaniote maḥzor (Bodleian Library MS. Oppenheim Add. 8° 19), this translation was almost certainly in use as a targum for the reading of Jonah as the Yom Kippur minḥa haftarah. In the original manuscript the majority of verses are preceded with a few words of the Hebrew, a common practice for written targumim.

A Megillah reading of Rūt (Ruth) with English translation, transtropilated.

A new original translation of the Book of Ruth, using gender-neutral terminology for God and with relevant names calqued in footnotes.

For the reading of Megillat Ruth on Shavuot, I have presented here the Masoretic text of Ruth according to the R’ Seth (Avi) Kaddish’s experimental Miqra ‘al pi haMesorah side-by-side with Yehoyesh (Yehoash) Blumgarten’s masterful translation in Yiddish.

The second reading for the Sigd festival, the Rededication Ceremony (Nehemiah 9).

This translation of Laments, the book of mourning poems read on Tishah b’Av, uses principles of the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible. It strives to be “concordant”, translating related Hebrew words with related English words and following the order and syntax of the Hebrew where possible. It also focuses on the more physical, earthy meaning of words, in order to draw the reader from modern towards more ancient ways of seeing and feeling. Sometimes alternate translations are given, indicated by a slash. (When reading aloud, simply pick one of the translations. For YHVH, you can read Adonai or Hashem or “the Eternal”.) James Moffat’s 1922 translation was consulted. As a somewhat literal translation, Laments uses “He” and “His” as pronouns for God, even though Torah and common sense command us not to make an exclusively male or female image of God. If you are using Laments liturgically, please feel encouraged to change the pronouns. For brief essays on the theology of Eikhah and more, see the bottom of this page.

This work is dedicated to all refugees fleeing war and upheaval, and to our remembering their needs.

An original gender-neutral translation of the book of Lamentations, preserving the alphabetical acrostic through closest parallels to the Hebrew letter.