Parashah
Lech-Lecha
Bereshit
(Gen) 12:1 - 17:27
1:
12:1-13 (13 p'sukim)
2: 12:14-13:4
(11 p'sukim)
3: 13:5-18 (14 p'sukim)
4: 14:1-20 (20 p'sukim)
5: 14:21-15:6
(10 p'sukim)
6: 15:7-17:6
(37 p'sukim)
7: 17:7-27 (21 p'sukim)
Haftarah: YesheYahu (Isa) 40:27 - 41:16
READING
1
Bereshit
(Gen) 12:1-20
1
ETERNAL had said to Exalted Father, "Leave your country,
your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show
you.
2
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I
will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will
curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
4
So Exalted Father left, as ETERNAL had told him; and Covering
went with him. Exalted Father was seventy-five years old when he set out
from Mountaineer.
5
He took his woman Princess, his nephew Covering, all the
possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in and
they set out for the lowland and they arrived there.
6
Exalted Father traveled through the land as far as the site of
the great tree of ‘Teacher Oak’ at Shoulder Ridge. At that time the
Vanquished were in the land.
7
ETERNAL appeared to Exalted Father and said, "To your
offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to
ETERNAL, who had appeared to him.
8
From there he went on toward the hills east of House of the
Mighty and pitched his tent, with the House of the Mighty on the west
and to the heap of ruins on the east. There he built an altar to ETERNAL
and called on the name of ETERNAL.
9
Then Exalted Father set out and continued toward the South.
10
Now there was a famine in the land, and Exalted Father went down
to Double Straits to live there for a while because the famine was
severe.
11
As he was about to enter Double Straits, he said to his woman
Princess, "I know what a beautiful woman you are.
12
When the men of Double Straits see you, they will say, 'This is
his woman.' Then they will kill me but will let you live.
13
Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your
sake and my life will be spared because of you."
READING
2
14
When Exalted Father came to Double Straits, the men saw that she
was a very beautiful.
15
And when the officials of the ‘Great House’ or Paroh saw her,
they praised her to Great House and she was taken into his palace.
16
He treated Exalted Father well for her sake, and Exalted Father
acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maid
servants, and camels.
17
But ETERNAL inflicted serious diseases on Great House and his
household because of Exalted Father's woman Princess.
18
So Great House summoned Exalted Father. "What have you done
to me?" he asked. "Why didn't you tell me she was your woman?
19
Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my
woman? Now then, here is your woman. Take her and go!"
20
Then Great House gave orders about Exalted Father to his men, and
they sent him on his way, with his woman and everything he had.
CHAPTER
13
1
So Exalted Father went on from Double Straits toward the South,
with his woman and everything he had and Covering went with him.
2
Exalted Father had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver
and gold.
3
From the South he went from place to place until he came to House
of the Mighty, to the place between House of the Mighty and Heap of
Ruins where his tent had been earlier
4
and where he had first built an altar. There Exalted Father
called on the name of ETERNAL.
READING
3
5
Now Covering, who was traveling about with Exalted Father, also
had flocks and herds and tents.
6
But the land could not support them while they dwelled
collectively, for their possessions were so great that they were not
able to remain united.
7
And quarreling arose between Exalted Father's herdsmen and the
herdsmen of Covering. Vanquished and the Villagers were also living in
the land at that time.
8
So Exalted Father said to Covering, "Let's not have any
quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we
are brothers.
9
Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go
to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to
the left."
10
Covering looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Descender
was well watered, like the
garden
of
ETERNAL
, or like the
land
of
Double Straits
even to Insignificance.
This was before ETERNAL destroyed Burning and Submersion.
11
So Covering chose for himself the whole plain of the Descender
and set out toward the east. The two men parted company:
12
Exalted Father lived in the ‘
Lowlands
’ while Covering lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his
tents near Burning.
13
Now the men of Burning were wicked and were sinning greatly
against ETERNAL.
14
ETERNAL said to Exalted Father after Covering had parted from
him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and
south, east and west.
15
All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring
forever.
16
I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if
anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.
17
Go now and walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I
am giving it to you."
18
So Exalted Father moved his tents and went to live near the great
strong trees at Charmer, where he built an altar to ETERNAL.
READING
4
CHAPTER
14
1
At this time Dark Sayings king of Two Rivers; Lion-Like king of
Mighty is Chastener, Handful of Sheaves king of Eternity and Fearful
king of Nations
2
went to war against ‘Son of Evil’ king of Burning,
‘Iniquity’ king of Submersion, Change Maker king of Redlands, High
Flyer king of Splendor, as well as Insignificance the king of
Destruction.
3
All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of the plain
in a sea of salt.
4
For twelve years they had been subject to Handful of sheaves, but
in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5
In the fourteenth year, Handful of sheaves and the kings allied
with him went out and defeated the Giants in Star Horns, the roving
creatures in Hot-lands, the Terror in the plain of Two Cities
6
as well as the cavemen in the shaggy hill country, to as far as
sturdy tree shaker at the edge of the wilderness.
7
Then they turned back and went to the Fountain of Judgment or
‘Holiness’ and they conquered the whole territory of the Valley
Dwellers, as well as the smooth Orators who were living in the place of
Distribution of Dates.
8
Then the king of Burning, the king of Submersion, the king of
Redlands
, the king of Splendor and the king of Destruction marched out and drew
up their battle lines in the Valley of the Flats
9
against Handful of sheaves king of Eternity, Fearful king of
Nations, Dark Sayings king of Two Rivers and Like a Lion king of Might
Chastener-- four kings against five.
10
Now the Valley of the flats was full of tar pits, and when the
kings of Burning and Submersion fled, some of the men fell into them and
the rest fled to the hills.
11
The four kings seized all the goods of Burning and Submersion and
all their food; then they went away.
12
They also carried off Exalted Father's nephew Covering and his
possessions, since he was living in the city called Burning.
13
One who had escaped came and reported this to Exalted Father the
Hebrew. Now Exalted Father was living near the great trees of Strength
the land of smooth orators, a brother of Cluster and Boy, all of whom
were allied with Exalted Father.
14
When Exalted Father heard that his relative had been taken
captive, he called out the 318 well trained men born in his household
and went in pursuit as far as judgment.
15
During the night Exalted Father divided his men to attack them
and he routed them, pursuing them as far as the hiding place north of
Damascus
.
16
He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Covering
and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.
17
After Exalted Father returned from defeating Handful of sheaves
and the kings allied with him, the king of Burning came out to meet him
in the Valley of the King's.
18
Then the Righteous king of Peace brought out bread and wine. He
was priest of the Mighty, the Most High,
19
and he blessed Exalted Father, saying, "Blessed be Exalted
Father by the Mighty Most High, the Creator of heaven and earth.
20
And blessed be the Mighty Most High, who delivered your enemies
into your hand." Then Exalted Father gave him a tenth of
everything.
READING
5
21
The king of Burning said to Exalted Father, "Give me the
people and keep the goods for yourself."
22
But Exalted Father said to the king of Burning, "I have
raised my hand to ETERNAL, Mighty Most High, Creator of heaven and
earth, and have taken an oath
23
that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or
the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made
Exalted Father rich.'
24
I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share
that belongs to the men who went with me-- to Boy, Cluster and Strength.
Let them have their share."
CHAPTER
15
1
After this, the word of ETERNAL came to Exalted Father in a
vision: "Do not be fearful, Exalted Father. I am your shield, your
very great reward."
2
But Exalted Father said, "O Sovereign ETERNAL, what can you
give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate
is the one called ‘Might is Help’ of
Damascus
?"
3
And Exalted Father replied, "You have given me no children;
so a servant in my household will be my heir."
4
Then the word of ETERNAL came to him: "This man will not be
your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."
5
He took him outside and contested, "Look up at the heavens
and count the stars-- if indeed you could count them." Then he
assured to him, "So shall your offspring be."
6
Exalted Father believed ETERNAL and He credited it to him as
righteous vindication.
READING
6
7
He also affirmed, "I am ETERNAL, who brought you out of The
Flame of the Clod Busters to give you this land to take possession of
it."
8
But Exalted Father queried, "O Sovereign ETERNAL, how can I
know that I will gain possession of it?"
9
So ETERNAL said, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each
three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."
10
Exalted Father brought all these to him, cut them in two and
arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not
cut in half.
11
Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Exalted Father
drove them away.
12
As the sun was setting, Exalted Father fell into a deep sleep,
and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
13
Then ETERNAL said to him, "Know for a certainty that your
descendants will be strangers in a country they do not own, and they
will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
14
But I will punish that nation where they serve as slaves, and
afterward they will come out with great possessions.
15
You, however, will be counted with your fathers in peace and be
buried at a good old age.
16
In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here,
for the sin of the Smooth Orators has not yet reached its full
measure."
17
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot
with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
18
On that day ETERNAL made a covenant with Exalted Father and said,
"To your descendants I give this land, from the
river
of
Double Straits
to the great river, Fruitfulness--
19
the land of the Smiths, Hunters, the Ancients,
20
Terrorists, Villagers and the Giants,
21
the Smooth Orators, the Vanquished, the Dwellers on Clay and the
Thrashing Floor."
CHAPTER
16
1
Now Princess, Exalted Father's woman, had borne him no children.
But she had a maid servant of Double Straits named Flight;
2
so she said to Exalted Father, "ETERNAL has kept me from
having children. Go, sleep with my maid servant; perhaps I can build a
family through her." Exalted Father agreed to what Princess said.
3
So after Exalted Father had been living in
Canaan
ten years, Princess his woman took Flight her maid servant of Double
Straits and gave her to her husband to be his woman.
4
He slept with Flight, and she conceived. When she knew she was
pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
5
Then Princess said to Exalted Father, "You are responsible
for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now
that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May ETERNAL judge
between you and between me."
6
"Your servant is in your hands," Exalted Father said.
"Do with her whatever you think best." Then Princess
mistreated Flight; so she fled from her.
7
The angel of ETERNAL found Flight near a spring in the desert; it
was the spring that is beside the road to The Wall.
8
And he said, "Flight, servant of Princess, where have you
come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running away from my
mistress Princess," she answered.
9
Then the angel of ETERNAL told her, "Go back to your
mistress and submit to her."
10
The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that
they will be too numerous to count."
11
The messenger of ETERNAL also said to her: "You are now with
child and you will have a son. You shall name him The Mighty will Hear,
for ETERNAL has heard of your misery.
12
He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against
everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers."
13
She gave this name to ETERNAL who spoke to her: "You are the
Mighty who Sees," for she said, "I have now seen the One who
Sees."
14
That is why the well was called the well of the Mighty who Sees;
it is still there, between Holy in the midst of hail.
15
So Flight bore Exalted Father a son, and Exalted Father gave the
name The Mighty will Hear to the son she had borne.
16
Exalted Father was eighty-six years old when Flight bore him his
son The Mighty will Hear.
CHAPTER
17
1
When Exalted Father was ninety-nine years old, ETERNAL appeared
to him and said, "I am the MIGHTY-ALMIGHTY; walk before me and be
blameless.
2
I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly
increase your numbers."
3
Exalted Father fell facedown, and His Mighty One said to him,
4
"As for me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the
father of many nations.
5
No longer will you be called Exalted Father; your name will be
Father to Nations, for I have made you a father of many nations.
6
I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and
kings will come from you.
READING
7
7
I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between
me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come,
to be your Mighty and the Mighty of your descendants after you.
8
The whole
Lowlands
, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession
to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their Mighty
One."
9
Then the Mighty One said to Father to Nations, "As for you,
you must keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you for the
generations to come.
10
This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, the
covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
11
You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the
covenant between Me and you.
12
For the generations to come every male among you who is eight
days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or
bought with money from a foreigner-- those who are not your offspring.
13
Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they
must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting
covenant.
14
Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the
flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
15
The Mighty also said to Father to Nations, "As for Princess
your woman, you are no longer to call her Princess; her name will be
Noblewoman.
16
I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will
bless her so that she will be the mother of nations and kings of peoples
will come from her."
17
Father to Nations fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself,
"Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Noblewoman
bear a child at the age of ninety?"
18
And Father to Nations said to his Mighty, "If only (my son)
The Mighty will Hear might live under your blessing!"
19
Then the Mighty said, "So be it, but your woman, Noblewoman,
will bear you a son, and you will call him Laughter. I will establish my
covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after
him.
20
And as for The Mighty will Hear, I have heard you: I will surely
bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his
numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him
into a great nation.
21
But my covenant I will establish with Laughter, whom Noblewoman
will bear to you by this time next year."
22
When he had finished speaking with Father to Nations, The Mighty
went up from him.
23
On that very day Father to Nations took his son The Mighty will
Hear and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every
male in his household, and circumcised them, as The Mighty told him.
24
Father to Nations was ninety-nine years old when he was
circumcised,
25
and his son The Mighty will Hear was thirteen;
26
Father to Nations and his son The Mighty will Hear were both
circumcised on that same day.
27
And every male in Father to Nations's household, including those
born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with
him.
Haftarah:
YesheYahu (Isa) 40:27 - 41:16
27
Why do you say, O Supplanter, and protest, O Persevere as Mighty,
"My way is hidden from ETERNAL; my cause is disregarded by my
Mighty One"?
28
Do you not know? Have you not heard? ETERNAL is the everlasting
Mighty One, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired
or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the
weak.
30
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31
but those who hope in ETERNAL will renew their strength. They
will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they
will proceed and will not tire.
CHAPTER
41
1
"Be silent before me, you coastlands! Let the nations renew
their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at
the place of judgment.
2
"Who has stirred up from the sun rise, calling him in
righteousness to His service? He hands nations over to Him and subdues
kings before Him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown
chaff with his bow.
3
He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have
not traveled before.
4
Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the
generations from the beginning? I, ETERNAL-- with the first of them and
with the last-- I am He."
5
The coastlands have seen it and fear; the ends of the earth
tremble. They approach and come forward;
6
each helps the other and says to his brother, "Be
strong!"
7
The craftsman encouraged the goldsmith, and he who apportions
with the hammer spuring on him who strikes the anvil. He says of the
welder, "It is good." He nails down the idol so it will not
topple.
8
"But you, who Persevere as Mighty , my servant, Supplanter,
whom I have chosen, you descendants of Father to Nations My friend,
9
I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners
I called you. I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have
not rejected you.
10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am
your Mighty One. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you
with my righteous strong hand.
11
"All who rage against you will surely come to be ashamed and
disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and will perish.
12
Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those
who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.
13
For I, I am ETERNAL, your Mighty, who takes hold of your right
hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
14
Do not be afraid, O crimsoned Supplanter and you men who
Persevere as Mighty, for I Myself will help you," declares ETERNAL,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of those who Persevere as Mighty.
15
"See, I will make you into a threshing machine, new and
sharp, with many edges. You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
and reduce hills to chaff.
16
You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will
blow them away. But you will rejoice in ETERNAL and glory in the Holy
One of Yisrael.
17
"The poor and needy search for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst. But I ETERNAL will answer them;
I, the Mighty One of those who Persevere as Mighty will not forsake
them.
18
I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the
valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched
ground into springs.
19
I will put in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle
and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the
cypress together,
20
so that people may see and know and may consider and understand,
that the hand of ETERNAL has done this, that the Holy One of those who
Persevere as Mighty has created it.
21
"Present your case," says ETERNAL. "Set forth your
arguments," says Supplanter’s King.
22
"Bring in the prophets of these to tell us what is going to
happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider
them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come,
23
tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are
mighties. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed
and filled with fear.
24
But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly
worthless; the one who chooses you is of itself an abomination.
25
"I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes-- one
from the rising sun who calls on My Name. He treads on rulers as if they
were mortar, as if he were a potter treading the clay.
26
Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know, or
beforehand, so we could say, 'He was right'? No one told of this, no one
foretold it, no one heard any words from you.
27
I was the first to tell your Monument, 'Look, here they are!' I
gave to the Teaching of Peace a messenger of good tidings.
28
I look but there is no one-- no one among them to give counsel,
no one to give answer when I ask them.
29
See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; spirit
and desolation are their images.
Torah
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