Judaism
Psalms 90
Text
A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.
Thou turnest man to contrition; And sayest: 'Return, ye children of men.'
For a thousand years in Thy sight Are but as yesterday when it is past, And as a watch in the night.
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep; In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
For we are consumed in Thine anger, And by Thy wrath are we hurried away.
Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, Our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath; We bring our years to an end as a tale that is told.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten, Or even by reason of strength fourscore years; Yet is their pride but travail and vanity; For it is speedily gone, and we fly away.
Who knoweth the power of Thine anger, And Thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto Thee?
So teach us to number our days, That we may get us a heart of wisdom.
Return, O LORD; how long? And let it repent Thee concerning Thy servants.
O satisfy us in the morning with Thy mercy; That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, According to the years wherein we have seen evil.
Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, And Thy glory upon their children.
And let the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; Establish Thou also upon us the work of our hands; Yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.
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.”
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!”