Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=53008
open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft licenseDate: 2023-10-11
Last Updated: 2023-10-11
Categories: Tehilim Book 5 (Psalms 107–150)
Tags: apotropaic prayers of protection, devotional interpretation, interpretive translation, Psalms 121, שיר Shir
Excerpt: 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. . . .
Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
---|---|
שִׁיר לַמַּעֲלוֹת
|
An up song
|
אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי אֶל־הֶהָרִים
מֵאַיִן יָבֹא עֶזְרִי׃ עֶזְרִי מֵעִם יְהֹוָה עֹשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ׃ |
I scan the hill tops,
looking for those who would help me. But my real help comes from YaH, Who constantly creates Heavens and Earth. |
אַל־יִתֵּן לַמּוֹט רַגְלֶךָ
אַל־יָנוּם שֹׁמְרֶךָ׃ |
Because He never tires,
He will not let me falter. |
הִנֵּה לֹא־יָנוּם וְלֹא יִישָׁן
שׁוֹמֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ |
The Protector of Israel is ever alert;
He does not fall asleep. |
יְהֹוָה שֹׁמְרֶךָ
יְהֹוָה צִלְּךָ עַל־יַד יְמִינֶךָ׃ |
YaH watches over you,
like one who shades you from heat; He is right there, at your right hand. |
יוֹמָם הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לֹא־יַכֶּכָּה וְיָרֵחַ בַּלָּיְלָה׃ |
For you—
not sun madness by day, not lunacy by night. |
יְהֹוָה יִשְׁמׇרְךָ מִכׇּל־רָע
יִשְׁמֹר אֶת־נַפְשֶׁךָ׃ |
YaH will shield you from all harm;
She will care for your spirit. |
יְהֹוָה יִשְׁמׇר־צֵאתְךָ וּבוֹאֶךָ
מֵעַתָּה וְעַד־עוֹלָם׃ |
YaH will protect you, going or coming,
From now on and always. |
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.
Reb Zalman was, in 2009, an early advocate of the Open Siddur Project and generously shared his liturgical and prayer work with the project following his vision of a common “Database Davvenen.” I have set his translation opposite the Masoretic Hebrew text of the psalm according to the phrasing he provided. –Aharon Varady
Contributor: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Co-authors:
Featured Image:
Title: View_over_the_hill_tops_-_panoramio
Caption: "View over the hill tops" (credit: Remy Swaab; license: CC BY)