Lord, Do Thou Guide Me — a prayer-poem for Shabbat parashat b’Shalaḥ by Alice Montefiore Lucas (1898)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Alice Montefiore Lucas

Shared on:

23 February 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Parashat b'Shalaḥ, Shirat ha-Yam, Travel, 7th Day of Pesaḥ

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Prayers as poems, פרשת בשלח parashat B'shalaḥ, traveler

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. (Isaiah 43:2)
	Lord, do Thou guide me
	Lord, do Thou guide me on my pilgrim way, Then shall I be at peace, whate’er betide me; The morn is dark, the clouds hang low and grey, Lord, do Thou guide me.
	Let not the mists of sin from Thee divide me, But pierce their gloom with mercy’s golden ray, Then shall I know that Thou in love hast tried me.
	O’er rugged paths be Thou my staff and stay, Beneath thy wings from storm and tempest hide me, Through life to death, through death to heavenly day — Lord, do Thou guide me!

“Lord, do Thou guide me” by Alice Montefiore Lucas was written for “Sabbath—ⅩⅥ,” (i.e., Shabbat parashat b’Shalaḥ) and first published in her collection of prayers, The Jewish Year (1898), p. 34.

Source(s)

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Alice Montefiore Lucas

Alice Julia Lucas (née Montefiore) (2 August 1851 – 25 March 1935) was a British Jewish poet, translator, and communal worker. Alice Julia Montefiore was born in 1851, the elder daughter of Nathaniel M. Montefiore and Emma Goldsmid. Alongside her brother Claude Montefiore, she studied Judaism under Solomon Schechter at the Hochschule in Berlin. On 24 April 1873 she married barrister Henry Lucas, who later served as treasurer and vice-president of the United Synagogue. In 1900 she helped establish the Jewish Study Society, modelled after the Council of Jewish Women, of which she served as the first president. Lucas also sat on the women's committee of the Westminster Jews' Free School and its preparatory nursery, the Jews' Infant School.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

Lord, Do Thou Guide Me — a prayer-poem for Shabbat parashat b’Shalaḥ by Alice Montefiore Lucas (1898)

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