Judaism
Psalms 144
Text
[A Psalm] of David. Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who traineth my hands for war, And my fingers for battle;
My lovingkindness, and my fortress, My high tower, and my deliverer; My shield, and He in whom I take refuge; Who subdueth my people under me.
LORD, what is man, that Thou takest knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that Thou makest account of him?
Man is like unto a breath; His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
O LORD, bow Thy heavens, and come down; Touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
Cast forth lightning, and scatter them; Send out Thine arrows, and discomfit them.
Stretch forth Thy hands from on high; Rescue me, and deliver me out of many waters, Out of the hand of strangers;
Whose mouth speaketh falsehood, And their right hand is a right hand of lying.
O God, I will sing a new song unto Thee, Upon a psaltery of ten strings will I sing praises unto Thee;
Who givest salvation unto kings, Who rescuest David Thy servant from the hurtful sword.
Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hand of strangers, Whose mouth speaketh falsehood, And their right hand is a right hand of lying.
We whose sons are as plants grown up in their youth; Whose daughters are as corner-pillars carved after the fashion of a palace;
Whose garners are full, affording all manner of store; Whose sheep increase by thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
Whose oxen are well laden; With no breach, and no going forth, And no outcry in our broad places;
Happy is the people that is in such a case. Yea, happy is the people whose God is the LORD.
Text: The Holy Scriptures, Jewish Publication Society (1917), public domain, via Sefaria.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Path to Wisdom
Dhammapada 20:282 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“From meditation springs wisdom, without meditation, wisdom ends.”
Analects 2:11 (trans. James Legge)
“If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others.”
Tao Te Ching 33 (trans. James Legge)
“He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent.”
Quran 39:9
“Are those who know equal with those who know not?”
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!”