Judaism
Psalms 118
Text
'O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good, For His mercy endureth for ever.
So let Israel now say, For His mercy endureth for ever,
So let the house of Aaron now say, For His mercy endureth for ever.
So let them now that fear the LORD say, For His mercy endureth for ever.
Out of my straits I called upon the LORD; He answered me with great enlargement.
The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do unto me?
The LORD is for me as my helper; And I shall gaze upon them that hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in princes.
All nations compass me about; Verily, in the name of the LORD I will cut them off.
They compass me about, yea, they compass me about; Verily, in the name of the LORD I will cut them off.
They compass me about like bees; They are quenched as the fire of thorns; Verily, in the name of the LORD I will cut them off.
Thou didst thrust sore at me that I might fall; But the LORD helped me.
The LORD is my strength and song; And He is become my salvation.
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD.
The LORD hath chastened me sore; But He hath not given me over unto death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will enter into them, I will give thanks unto the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD; The righteous shall enter into it.
I will give thanks unto Thee, for Thou hast answered me, And art become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected Is become the chief corner-stone.
This is the LORD’S doing; It is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day which the LORD hath made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.
We beseech Thee, O LORD, save now! We beseech Thee, O LORD, make us now to prosper!
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD; We bless you out of the house of the LORD.
The LORD is God, and hath given us light; Order the festival procession with boughs, even unto the horns of the altar.
Thou art my God, and I will give thanks unto Thee; Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee.
O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good, For His mercy endureth for ever.
Text: The Holy Scriptures, Jewish Publication Society (1917), public domain, via Sefaria.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Divine Compassion & Mercy
Quran 1:1
“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.”
Luke 6:36
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
Snp 1.8 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Even as a mother would protect with her life her child, her only child, so too for all creatures unfold a boundless heart.”
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 1
“ik oankaar sat naam: one Creator, whose Name is Truth, beyond fear and enmity.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277 (trans. F. Max Müller)
“‘All created things perish,’ he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity.”
Tao Te Ching 76 (trans. James Legge)
“Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“Nay, but as when one layeth His worn-out robes away, And taking new ones, sayeth, "These will I wear to-day!" So putteth by the spirit Lightly its garb of flesh, And passeth to inherit A residence afresh.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
Dhammapada 2 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with pure intent you speak or act, happiness follows you like a shadow that never leaves.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“The Doors of Hell Are threefold, whereby men to ruin pass, The door of Lust, the door of Wrath, the door Of Avarice. Let a man shun those three!”