The Psalms of Thanksgiving To YAHWEH

14
THY Torah O YAHWEH Is An Evergreen

I give thanks unto Thee, 0 YAHWEH,
for You hast placed me where rills burst forth in dry land, 
where waters gush in thirsty soil, 
where an oasis blooms in the desert;
where, hidden 'mid all trees else
-all trees that live on mere water
stand planted, for Thy glory alone,
the trees that never die,
the fir, the pine and the cypress, 
fed from a secret source,
putting forth branches unfading, 
striking firm root ere they flower,
spreading their roots to the stream.

Thy Torah, O YAHWEH, is an evergreen
whose stem stands exposed to living waters
and whose  to a perpetual fount.
Yet all the beasts of the woodland
are feeding upon its branches;
all that pass by the way
are trampling upon its stump;
every winged bird is perching on its boughs. 
All the trees that live on mere water
are vaunting themselves against it, 
for they spread far and wide in their plantations
though they send not their roots to the stream;
while the tree which was planted in truth
and was destined to bring to flower branches of holiness 
keeps its secret hidden and sealed,
unesteemed and unnoticed.
Moreover, 0 YAHWEH, You hast hedged in its fruit
by the secret power of stalwart angels,6
by kodesh spirits,
and by a flaming sword turning this way and that, 
so that not  the fountain of life,
nor drink the waters of holiness
as do the eternal trees,
nor put forth its fruit through the rains of heaven, 
because it saw but did not perceive,
thought but did not believe in the Wellspring of Life,
even though it was yielding everlasting. 

As for me, I had become as the of rivers in flood,
for they poured forth their mire upon me. 

But You, 0 my YAHWEH, hast set in my mouth, as it were, 
rain at all seasons,
and a fountain of waters unfailing, 
opening the heavens without surcease, 
so that they are become as a stream in flood 
bursting over its banks, 
and as seas unfathomable
which, long hidden in secret,
suddenly burst forth 
and quicken every tree,
green and dry alike, 
and serve as a pool for wild beasts.

The trees of the wicked shall be felled 
and sink like lead in mighty waters; 
and a fire shall go forth, and they shall wither. 
But the orchard which I have planted
shall bloom fair for ever,
a glorious richness, a flower of beauty.
At my hands hast You opened a wellspring for it,
yielding runnels of water,
that its roots may be firmly set
and its trees planted in line of the sun,
in light unfailing;
that its boughs may yield glorious foliage.

When I apply my hand
to dig the furrows thereof, 
its roots strike even on granite,
its stocks are firm-grounded in the earth, 
and in the time of heat it secures protection.

But if I relax my hand,
it becomes like a heath in the desert,
and its stocks like nettles in a salt-marsh,
and out of its furrows grow thorns and thistles; 
it turns to briars and brambles,
and its  are turned to stinking weeds; 
its leaves fade before the heat;
it is not exposed to water.
It suffers mishap and disease
and becomes a target for all manner of blight.

I was as a man forsaken in,
no refuge had I.
For that which I had planted
was turned into wormwood.
Grievous was my pain, and could not be stayed.
My soul was overwhelmed,
like them that go down to Sheol,
and my spirit was sunken low amid the dead. 
My life had reached the Pit, 
and my soul waxed faint day and night without rest. 
There burst forth, as it were, a blazing fire,
held in my bones,
the flame whereof devoured unto the nethermost seas 
exhausting my strength every moment,
consuming my flesh every minute.
Disasters hovered about me,
and my soul was utterly bowed down. 
For all my strength had ceased from my body,
and my heart was poured out like water,
and my flesh melted like wax,
and the strength of my loins was turned to confusion, 
and my arm was wrenched from the shoulder. 
I could not move my hand,
and my foot was caught in a shackle,
and my knees were dissolved like water.
I could take neither pace nor step;
heaviness replaced my fleetness of foot;
my steps were trammeled.
My tongue was tied and protruded; 
I could not lift my voice
in any articulate speech,
to revive the spirit of the stumbling,
or encourage the faint with a word. 
My lips were dumb altogether.
(Missing text)

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