Parashah
Shemot
(The
Names)
1-16/17,
2009
1: 1:1-17 (17 verses) Haftarah
for Ashkenazim: Isaiah 27:6 - 28:13; 29:22 - 29:23
1st
Reader: 1:1-17 (17 verses) CHAPTER 1 1 These are the names of the sons of Persevere as Mighty (or Yisrael) who went to Double Straits with Supplanter, each with his family: 2 Behold a Son (Re’uwben), Heard with understanding (Shimon), Joined To (Levi) and Praised (Yehuwdah); 3 Recompense (Yissaskar), Exalted (Zebulun) and Son of the Right Hand (Benjamin); 4
Judge (Dan) and Wrestling (Naphtali); Troop (Gad) and Happy
(Asher). 6 Now Eternal has Added (Joseph or Yowceph) and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the (ones who) Persevere as Mighty (Israel) were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. 8 Then a new king, who did not know about Eternal has Added ( Joseph or Yowceph), came to power in Double Straits. 9 "Look," he said to his people, "the people of Persevere as Mighty (or Israel) have become much too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal wisely with them or they will increase and, if war then befall us, they may join our enemies, fight against us and leave the land." 11
So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced
labor, and they built City of 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the People of Double Straits came to dread the people of Persevere as Mighty (or Israel) 13 and caused them to serve the people of Double Straits severely. 14 They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the People of Double Straits used them severely. 15 The king of Double Straits said to these People from Beyond (or Hebrew) midwives, whose names were Fair (Shiphrah) and Splendid (Puw’ah), 16 "When you help the People From Beyond (Hebrew) women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, abort him; but if it is a girl, let her live." 17 The midwives, however, feared Mighty and did not do what the king of Double Straits had told them to do; they let the boys live. 2nd
18 Then the king of Double Straits summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?" 19 The midwives answered Big House, " The women From Beyond are not like the women of Double Straits; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive." 20 So Mighty was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared Mighty, He gave them families of their own. 22 Then Big House gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the River, but let all girls live." CHAPTER 2 1 Now a man of the house of ‘Joined To’ (Levi) took for his woman a daughter of ‘Joined To’. 2 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed her child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the River. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then the daughter of Big House went down to the River to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. When she saw the basket among the reeds she sent her slave girl to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is a baby of one of the People From Beyond," she said. 7 Then the baby’s sister spoke to the daughter of Big House, saying "Shall I go and get one of the People From Beyond women to nurse the baby for you?" 8 "Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the mother of the baby. 9 The daughter Big House's said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Big House's daughter and he became her son. She named him Drawn Out (or Moshe)\ saying, "I drew him out of the water." 3rd
11 One day, after Drawn Out had become an adult he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw a citizen of Double Straits beating one of his own people, a Person From Beyond. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the person of Double Straights and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two People From Beyond fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your brother?" 14 The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the one of Double Straits?" Then Drawn Out was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known." 15 When Big House heard of this, he tried to kill Drawn Out, but Drawn Out fled from Big House and went to live in Strife (Midyan), where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Strife had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Drawn Out got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock. 18 When the girls returned to Friend of Mighty (Reuel) their father, he asked them, "Why have you returned so early today?" 19 They answered, "A man of Double Straits rescued us from some shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock." 20 "And where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat." 21 Drawn Out agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter, Bird (Tsiporaah or Zipporah), to Drawn Out. 22 Bird gave birth to a son, and Drawn Out named him Foreigner (Gereshom), saying, "Now I have become a stranger in this foreign land." 23 During that long period the king of Double Straits died. The people of Persevere as Mighty groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to Mighty. 24 Mighty heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Father of Nations, with Laughter (Yitschaq) and with Supplanter (Ya’aqob). 25 So Mighty looked on the people of Persevere as Mighty and took account of them. CHAPTER 3 4th
1 Now Drawn Out was tending the flock of Abundance (Yitrow) his father-in-law, the priest of Strife, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Desolation, the mountain of the Mighty. 2 There the angel of ETERNAL appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Drawn Out saw that the bush was on fire, yet it was not consumed. 3 So Drawn Out thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight-- why the bush is not consumed." 4 When ETERNAL saw that he had gone over to look, Mighty called to him from within the bush, "Drawn Out! Drawn Out!" Then Drawn Out said, "Here I am." 5 "Do not come any closer," Mighty said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the Mighty of your father, the Mighty of Father of Nations, the Mighty of Laughter as well as the Mighty of Supplanter." At this, Drawn Out hid his face, because he was afraid to look at Mighty. 7 ETERNAL said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Double Straits. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the People of Double Straits and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-- the home of the Lowland Zealots, Terrorists, Braggarts, Rustics, the Villagers, and Millers. 9 And now the cry of those who Persevere as Mighty has reached Me, and I have seen the way the People of Double Straits are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Big House to bring My people those who Persevere as Mighty out of Double Straits." 11 But Drawn Out said to Mighty, "Who am I that I should go to Big House and bring the people of Persevere as Mighty out of Double Straits?" 12 And Mighty said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Double Straits, you will worship Mighty on this mountain." 13 Drawn Out said to Mighty, "Suppose I go to the people of Persevere as Mighty and say to them, 'The Mighty of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' Then what shall I tell them?" 14 Mighty said to Drawn Out, "I AM WHO AND WHAT I AM. This is what you are to say to the people of Persevere as Mighty: ‘The ETERNAL has sent me to you.'" 15 Mighty also said to Drawn Out, "Say to the Persevere as Mighty, 'ETERNAL, the Mighty of your fathers-- the Mighty of Father of Nations, the Mighty of Laughter and the Mighty of Supplanter has sent me to you.' This is My Name forever, the Name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. 5th
16 "Go, assemble the elders of Persevere as Mighty and say to them, 'ETERNAL, the Mighty of your fathers, the Mighty of Father of Nations, Laughter and Supplanter appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Double Straits. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Double Straits into the low lands of the Zealots, Terrorist, Braggarts, Villagers, Rustics and Millers, a land flowing with milk and honey.' 18 "The elders of those who Persevere as Mighty will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Double Straits and say to him, 'ETERNAL, the Mighty of the People from Beyond, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to ETERNAL our Mighty.' 19 But I know that the king of Double Straits will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the People of Double Straits with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. 21 "And I will make the People of Double Straits favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the People of Double Straits." CHAPTER 4 1 Drawn Out answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'ETERNAL did not appear to you'?" 2 Then ETERNAL said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. 3 ETERNAL said, "Throw it on the ground." Drawn Out threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then ETERNAL said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Drawn Out reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said ETERNAL, "is so that they may believe that ETERNAL, the Mighty of their fathers, the Mighty of Father of Nations, the Mighty of Laughter and the Mighty of Supplanter, has appeared to you." 6 Then ETERNAL said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Drawn Out (Moshe) put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. 7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Drawn Out put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. 8 Then ETERNAL said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the River and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground." 10 Drawn Out said to ETERNAL, "O Master, I have never been a man of words, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to your servant. I am halting in speech and of the language." 11 ETERNAL said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, ETERNAL? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." 13 But Drawn Out said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." 14 Then the anger of ETERNAL burned against Drawn Out and He said, "What about your brother, Light Bringer (Aharon or Aaron) of the Joined To (Levites)? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were Mighty to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can, at critical times, work signs with it." 6th
18 Then Drawn Out went back to Abundance (Yitrow) his father-in-law and said to him, "Let me go back to my own people in Double Straits to see if any of them are still alive." Abundance said, "Go, and I wish you well." 19 Now ETERNAL had said to Drawn Out in Strife, "Go back to Double Straits, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead." 20 So Drawn Out took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Double Straits. And he took the staff of Mighty in his hand. 21 ETERNAL said to Drawn Out, "When you return to Double Straits, see that you perform before Big House all the signs I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then say to Big House, 'This is what ETERNAL says: Persevere as Mighty (Yisrael) is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'" 24 At a lodging place on the way, ETERNAL met [Drawn Out] and was about to kill him. 25 But Bird took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched [Drawn Out'] feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said. 26 So ETERNAL let him alone. (At that time she said "bridegroom of blood," referring to circumcision.) 27
ETERNAL said to Light Bringer, "Go into the wilderness to
meet Drawn Out." So he met Drawn Out at the 28 Then Drawn Out told Light Bringer everything ETERNAL had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform. 29 Drawn Out and Light Bringer brought together all the elders of the Persevere as Mighty, 30 and Light Bringer told them everything ETERNAL had said to Drawn Out. He also worked the signs before the people, 31 and they believed. And when they heard that ETERNAL was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. 7th
CHAPTER 5 1 Afterward Drawn Out and Light Bringer went to Big House (Paro or Pharaoh) and said, "This is what ETERNAL, the Mighty of Persevere as Mighty, says: 'Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival to Me in the wilderness.'" 2 Big House said, "Who is ETERNAL, that I should obey him and let Persevere as Mighty go? I do not know ETERNAL and I will not let Persevere as Mighty go." 3 Then they said, "The Mighty of the People from Beyond has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to ETERNAL our Mighty, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword." 4 But the king of Double Straits said, "Drawn Out and Light Bringer, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!" 5 Then Big House said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working." 6 That same day Big House gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: 7 "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks, let them go and gather their own straw.” 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our Mighty.' 9 Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to misleading words." 10 Then the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, "This is what Big House says: 'I will not give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.'" 12 So the people scattered all over Double Straits to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, "Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw." 14 The foremen of the people of Persevere as Mighty who were appointed by slave drivers of Big House's were beaten then asked, "Why didn't you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?" 15 Then the foremen of the people of Persevere as Mighty went and appealed to Big House: "Why have you treated your servants this way? 16 Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, 'Make bricks!' Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people." 17 Big House said, "Lazy, that's what you are-- lazy! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to ETERNAL.' 18 Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks." 19 The foremen who were of those who Persevere as Mighty realized they were in trouble when they were told, "You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day." 20 When they left Big House, they found Drawn Out and Light Bringer waiting to meet them, 21 and they said, "May ETERNAL look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Big House and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us." 22 Drawn Out returned to ETERNAL and said, "ETERNAL, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Big House to speak in Your Name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued Your people at all." CHAPTER 6 1 Then ETERNAL said to Drawn Out, "Now you will see what I will do to Big House: Because of My Mighty hand he will let them go; because of My Mighty hand, he will drive them out of his country." Haftarah
for Ashkenazim: Isaiah 27:6 - 28:13; 29:22 - 29:23
Isa 27:6-28:13 6 In days to come Supplanter will take root, Persevere as Mighty will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit. 7 Has He struck her as He struck down those who struck her? Has she been killed as those were killed who killed her? 8 By warfare and exile You contend with her-- with his fierce blast He drives her out, as on a day the east wind blows. 9 By this, then, will Supplanter's guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin: When He makes all the altar stones to be like chalk stones crushed to pieces, no poles devoted to Phoenician goddesses or any incense altars will be left standing. 10 The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the desert; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare. 11 When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor. 12 In that day, ETERNAL will thresh from the flowing river to the torrent valley of Double Straits, and you, who Persevere as Mighty, will be gathered up one by one. 13 And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in the steps and those who were exiled in Double Straits will come and worship ETERNAL on the holy mountain in the Teachings of Peace. CHAPTER 28 1 Woe to that crown, the pride of drunken of Doubly Fruitful, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley-- to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine! 2 See, ETERNAL has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground. 3 That crown, the pride of Doubly Fruitful's drunken, will be trampled underfoot. 4 That fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley, will be like a fig ripe before harvest-- as soon as someone sees it and takes it in his hand, he swallows it. 5 In that day ETERNAL Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful crown for the remnant of His people. 6 He will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the tabernacle’s gate. 7 And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. 8 All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth. 9 "Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? 10 For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there." 11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, 12 to whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose"-- but they would not listen. 13 So then, the word of ETERNAL to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there-- so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured. Isa 29:22-23 22 Therefore this is what ETERNAL, who redeemed Father of Nations, says to the house of Supplanter: "No longer will Supplanter be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale. 23 When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep My name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Supplanter, and will stand in awe of the Mighty of those who Persevere as Mighty. |