Judaism
Psalms 26
Text
[A Psalm] of David. Judge me, O LORD, for I have walked in mine integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Examine me, O LORD, and try me; test my reins and my heart.
For Thy mercy is before mine eyes; and I have walked in Thy truth.
I have not sat with men of falsehood; neither will I go in with dissemblers.
I hate the gathering of evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked.
I will wash my hands in innocency; so will I compass Thine altar, O LORD,
That I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard, and tell of all Thy wondrous works.
LORD, I love the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth.
Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with men of blood;
In whose hands is craftiness, and their right hand is full of bribes.
But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity; Redeem me, and be gracious unto me.
My foot standeth in an even place; in the congregations will I bless the LORD.
Text: The Holy Scriptures, Jewish Publication Society (1917), public domain, via Sefaria.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Dhammapada 129 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“All tremble at the rod, all fear death. Treating others like oneself, neither kill nor incite to kill.”
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.”
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!”