DANIEL CHAPTER 12 - 14

DANIEL 12

1 “And at that time shall Michael stand,
The great prince who stands for the band
Of your people, and there shall be
A time of trouble such to see
As never was since nation came
Even to that same time of fame,
And at that time your folk shall be
Delivered, everyone to be
Found written in the book to see.
2 “And many of those in the dust
Of the earth that sleep will be first
To wake up, some to life eternal,
And some to shame, contempt infernal.
3 “And those who are wise then shall shine
As brightness of the firmament,
And those who tern many to clime
Of righteousness like the stars sent
For ever and for ever meant.
4 “But you, O Daniel, close the word
And seal the book to the time stirred
Of the end, till men run about
And knowledge multiply to shout.”
5 Then I Daniel looked and behold
There stood two others, the one rolled
On this side of the river bank,
The other on the side that sank
Of the river. 6 And one spoke to
The man clothed in the linen hue
Who was upon the river dew,
“How long to the end of this crew?”

The prophecies of time have ended now.
I look about the shifting and the slough
And see a world grown old in wickedness.
I do not have to squint my eyes or guess.
I see the time of trouble flinging past
And spreading like a cancer at the mast.
I see the flight of refugee and post
Of army and civilians from the coast
Across the continent to set a flag
To fallen Babylon, the withered hag.
Beloved, I see and hear and know Your train
Comes with the shining stars to fill the plain
With justice as the Guided one appears
Allaying pain of righteous ones and tears.

7 I heard the linen-clothed man say,
Who was on river water’s sway,
When he held up his right hand and
His left hand to the sky on strand
And swore by Him that ever lives
That it shall be a year in sieves
And two years and a half, and when
He shall have finished upon men
The scattering of the holy crowd,
All these things shall be finished loud.
8 And I heard, but I did not know
What it meant, then I said once low,
“O sir, what’s the end of this show?”
9 And he said “Go your way, Daniel,
For the words are closed up a spell
And sealed till the end time as well.
10 Many shall be made clean and white,
And tried, but the wicked in sight
Shall do evil, and none of them
For evil shall know aught of gem,
But the wise ones left in the land,
Only they’ll come to understand.
11 And from the time the daily’s taken
And abomination that’s shaken
The desolate out in its power,
Shall be a thousand in that hour
Two hundred and ninety days all.
12 Blessed is the one that waits the call
And comes to the thousand and three
Hundred thirty-five days in fee.
13 But you your way till the end be,
For you shall rest and stand your lot
At the end of the days in plot.

Counting from Umar 634 C.E.
In 1894 the end appears
To twelve hundred and sixty plotted years.
The reputation of the Ottoman
Died with the rumours of Armenian ban.
Add thirty years and 1924
Sees the sultanate shunted from the door.
Add forty-five years and Jerusalem
Is opened to the hordes that will condemn
The world to the last false faith of them all
That tries to rise against Your earthen ball.
All faiths of all usurpers meet at last
While I stand aside from the motley cast
And pray my lot may be with Daniel now
That judgement looms upon the pallid brow.

Counting from Abdul Malik 691 C.E.
Jerusalem became the caliph’s seat
Under Abdul Malik, who for a treat
Built the dome of the rock in ninety-one
Of seventh century: the time is done
Of time and times and half a time when won
In nineteen fifty-one when Arab hordes
Entered Jerusalem from Jordan’s cords.
Jerusalem Law made the city wear
The title of the capital and fair
After nineteen eighty the prophet followed,
Saw how the city wavered and it wallowed
Until the last date comes when it shall be
In year two thousand twenty-six freely
Capital city for eternity.

Counting from the rise of Islam 612 C.E.
Fact is, I’m not the first to train my eye
On this grand scheme of prophecy on sly.
Adam Clarke, that great scholar name and guy,
Read this to end in nineteen forty-seven.
What happened then on earth if not in heaven?
United Nations approved the partition
Of Palestine to give the Jews’ sedition
The possibility of legal fate.
That opened the way for the Jewish state,
The capital to be born in the great
City Jerusalem and raise the hope
Of many that the rulership of pope
And Caesar would turn to Your kingdom’s rate.
Clarke got it right and tied it up with rope.

Beloved, I simply don’t believe You gave
A date when earth would become bold and brave.
Though human freedom is illusion’s store,
You Yourself don’t determine history’s score.
The pleading of the prophet is not doom,
But liberation giving humans room.
We can rise to the prophecy and take
Your Decalogue as rule of thumb and make
Your world a world of justice and a realm
Where peace-prosperity is at the helm.
We can do it in twenty-twenty-six,
But it would be no sleight of hand or tricks
To do the thing today and do it now.
At least I take Your law’s word as I bow.

Thousands have played with numbers on the count
Of Daniel’s and the Revelation’s mount
And erred to find the date of this or that.
I’m one of those if I sit where I’ve sat.
I do not fool myself to think the world
Will last to twenty-twenty-six unfurled.
I wait You and Your judgement day each week
As Sabbath starts where the first stars come peek.
And even that’s presumption that I seek
To live a moment here beyond this breath
That may be the last one before my death.
Beloved, I joy in judgement day today,
And find the future has no time nor ray,
And all the numbers file and fade away
Before the boast of Your grand roundelay.

DANIEL 13 SUSANNA

1 There was a man of Babylon
Whose name was Joakim, 2 and one
Wife he took named Susanna, she
Was daughter of Hilkiah, she
Was a most beautiful lady,
And one who feared YHWH gratefully.
3 Her parents were righteous, and had
Taught their daughter the good and bad
According to the law of Moses.
4 Joakim was quite rich in roses,
As well as in silver and gold,
And had a spacious paradise
Adjoining his house, to be bold
The Jews would come to him because
He was most honoured in their laws.
5 That year two elders not too nice
From the people were set as judges.
YHWH had said concerning such smudges,
“From Babylon iniquity
Came forth, from elders who were free
Judges, who ought to rule the folk.”
Thus Ælohim anciently spoke.
6 These two bad men were frequently
At Joakim’s house, and all who
Had suits at law came to them there.
7 When the people left at noon to
Eat lunch, Susanna would go to
Her husband’s garden for fresh air.
8 The two elders would see her there
Each day, going in, walking there,
And they began to desire her.
9 And they perverted their minds and
Turned away their eyes upon her
From looking up to heaven and
Remembering righteous command.

Ah, my Beloved, make me not great to be
A judge in Israel, for that company
Is famous with all priests and kings to bear
Abuse of their divine authority.
Let me instead be one in poverty
To peer above the garden walls to see
No lustful sights among the roses there
But only Your delights and Your mercy.
Lead me, Beloved, along the lonely ways
That grace the outer edges of Your praise,
Where few come for the rugged, stony road
To find Your easy yoke and lighter load.
Give me no wealth or power, but keep me free
Of those temptations to impurity.

10 Both were overcome with passion
For her, but did not tell the one
The other what their passion won,
11 For they were ashamed to reveal
The lustful desires that both feel
To lie with her. 12 And they watched well,
Day after day, caught in her spell.
13 They told each other, “Let us go
Home, for it’s mealtime.” 14 And for show
When they went out, they went each way,
But turning back, they met astray
Again, and when each pressed the other
For the reason, each to his brother
Confessed his lust. Then they together
Arranged for a time when and whether
They could find her alone. 15 Once, while
They were watching both in their guile
For an opportune day, she went
In as before with two maids sent,
And wished to bathe in paradise,
For it was hotter then than ice.
16 And no one was there but the two
Elders, who’d hid what they would do
And watched her from their hiding place.
17 She told her maids, “Bring for my face
Oil and ointments, and shut the doors
Of paradise, no visitors
Shall see me bathe.” 18 They did as she
Said, shut the garden doors tightly,
And went out by the side doors to
Bring her what they had been told to,
They did not see the elders, who
Were hidden. 19 When the maids had gone,
The elders rushed and fell upon
Her, and said, 20 “Look, the garden doors
Are shut against all visitors,
No one sees us, and our lust burns
Toward you, so give your due consent
And lie with us, 21 the one who spurns
Our hot advance will live to hear
Our testimony in the ear
Of Israel against you that
A young man was here where you sat
And that’s why you dismissed your maids.”
22 Susanna sighed deeply, and said,
“I’m hemmed in by your naughty raids.
For if I do this thing, it’s death
For me, and if I do not, breath
Cannot help me escape your hands.
23 “I choose not to fall in sin’s bands,
But rather to fall in your hands,
Rather than to sin in the sight
Of YHWH and do what is not right.”

The two elders threatened to testify,
And since that day, since sin does always lie
Within the heart of leader of the flock,
It is no longer righteous to take stock
Of accusation of adultery
On basis of witnesses two or three.
Adultery requires four witnesses
Of the act itself before justice is
Meted to sinner. That’s the effect on
The law providing for priest’s sin and brawn.
Who take a pregnancy as sign enough
Of faithlessness would be distinctly rough
On holy Mary with her saintly child.
Beloved, Islamic law is running wild.

24 Then Susanna cried out aloud,
And the two elders shouted too
Against her. 25 And one of them ran
And opened the doors to the crowd.
26 And then the household servants who
Heard the shouting, came quick as can
In at the side door to see what
Had happened in the garden shut.
27 And when the elders told their tale,
The servants were ashamed and pale,
For nothing like was ever said
About Susanna and her bed.
28 The next day, when the people came
To the house of Joakim by name,
The elders came, full of the plot
To kill Susanna on the spot.
29 They said before the people, “Send
For Susanna, Hilkiah’s bend,
Who is the wife of Joakim.”
30 So they sent for her, and she came,
With her parents, her children, and
All her kindred. 31 Lady of grand
Refinement was Susanna and
Beautiful in appearance then.
32 As she was veiled, the wicked men
Ordered her to be unveiled, that
They might feast eye where beauty sat.

The evil men who claimed to be the law
Held neither justice nor virtue in awe,
But only cared about their own lust and
Their game of power and ruthless command.
The innocent is always brought to trial,
The judge is always filled with sin and guile.
O my Beloved, look on this world a while.
I seek refuge in You, who love the meek
And keep the seventh day holy each week.
Strike down the hand that seeks to take the veil
From off the head where righteous women wail.
There are enough to spare this day and time,
But few there are to press their case in rhyme,
And few to seek redress and justice’ grail.

33 But family and friends and all
Who saw her wept. 34 Then at the call
The two elders stood up before
The people, and laid hands what’s more
Upon her head. 35 And she, weeping,
Looked up toward heaven to pray a thing,
Because her heart trusted in YHWH.
36 The elders said, “As just we two
Were walking in the garden, this
Woman came in with two maids, shut
The garden doors maids to dismiss.
37 Then a young man hidden for bliss
Came to her and lay with her, what.
38 We in a corner of the spot
Saw this evil and ran like sot,
39 We saw them in embrace, but we
Could not hold the man, who got free,
For he was too strong for us, he
Opened the doors and dashed away.
40 So we seized this woman to say
Who the young man was, but she would
Not tell us anything she could.
These things we testify for good.”
41 The assembly believed them then,
Because they were elders and men
And judges of the people, they
Condemned the lamb to death that day.

The common people will believe the crown,
And follow wealth, not virtue, in the town.
The status for the crowd gives way to truth,
And Edward’s word stands up against poor Ruth.
The well-respected man speaks in his turn,
His rhetoric and grammar make us spurn
The virtuous whose speech is what it is.
Rich up, poor down, not hers, but always his.
Politically correct is always right,
Glass is a diamond, and day is night.
In ancient time at least family and
Friends wept for injustice and out of hand.
Now, my Beloved, the good must stand alone,
Forsaken by his own flesh, blood and bone.

42 Then Susanna cried out aloud
And prayed before assembled crowd,
“O eternal Ælohim, who
Discern the secret and the true,
Who are aware of all things e’er
They come to be, 43 You know right fair
These men bear false witness of me.
And now I am to die! Yet I
Have not done what they wickedly
Invent against my heart and me!”
44 The Lord Almighty heard her cry.
45 And as she was led to be slain,
Ælohim roused and raised amain
The holy spirit of young lad
Named Daniel, 46 who with voice he had
Cried out aloud, “I’m innocent
Of the blood of this woman rent.”
47 All the folk turned to him, and said,
“What is this thing that you have said?”
48 Taking his stand among them, he
Said “Are you such fools, Israel’s folk?
Have you condemned a daughter spoke
Of well in Israel without test
To learn the facts and what is best?

Beloved, You hear each day such prayers that be
The anguished heart of those who are not free,
But pour their sorrows on the gallows floor,
And beat their breasts up to Your heaven’s own door.
Each day go down to silence those who call
In vain for justice as they touch the pall.
Do You respond in grace only and when
There is a Daniel to stand up to men?
Have You no tongue nor arms to cure their fate
Who follow justice down until too late?
Beloved, rise now, though only for a crow
Who’s pelted at the table, eating slow.
Domestic justices are just as true.
I hold myself in judgement up to You.

49 “Return to the place of judgement.
For these men have been falsely sent
Against her.” 50 Then all the folk went
In haste. And the elders said boldly,
“Come, sit among us and speak coldly,
For Ælohim gives you that right.”
51 And Daniel told them in their sight,
“Separate them far from each other,
And I’ll examine son and brother.”
52 When they were separated from
Each other, he summoned one “Come”
He said to him, “You wicked sot,
Your sins return upon your plot,
Which you’ve committed in the past,
53 “Pronouncing unjust judgments fast,
Condemning the innocent and
Letting guilty go in the land,
Though YHWH said, ‘Do not put to death
An innocent and righteous breath.’

Return, return to the place of judgement!
That’s hard to do these days, as cases sent
Must have the money in the hand to pay.
Justice is for the rich alone today.
Divide and conquer Daniel will learn
Is the best rule in Babylon to earn.
The patronizing elders speak the word,
While Daniel, just a youth, calls them a turd.
Such language is too often found in youth,
But on occasion is used as the truth.
Who slay the innocent deserve to be
Called by the very name that I here see.
Beloved, call me by name and let that name
Not be such as by my acts cause me shame.

54 Now then, if you really saw her,
Tell me this, where did it occur,
Under what kind of tree did you
See them engaged in dalley-hoo?”
He said, “Under a mastic tree.”
55 And Daniel said, “Well and so be!
You have lied against your own head,
For the angel of Ælohim
Has got sentence from Ælohim
And will right quickly see you dead.”
56 Then he put him aside, and said
To bring the other. And he said
To him, “You offspring of Canaan
And not of Judah, beauty can
Deceive you and lust turn your heart.
57 “This is how you both played your part
Against the daughters of Israel,
Who lay with you when fears prevail,
But one daughter of Judah would
Not endure your evil, nor could.
58 “Now then, tell me, under what tree
Did you catch them intimately?”
He said, “Under evergreen oak.”
59 And Daniel said to him, “Well spoke!
You’ve lied also against your head,
For the angel of Ælohim
Is waiting with his sword and gleam
To cut you in two, that he may
Destroy you both now and today.”
60 Then all the folk shouted loudly
And blessed Ælohim, who saves those
Who hope in Him. 61 And they arose
Against the two elders greatly,
For out of their own mouths convicted,
Daniel found their witness conflicted.
62 And they did to them as they had
Wickedly planned to do as bad
To their neighbour, according to
The law of Moses and of YHWH,
They put them both to death that day,
So innocence was saved that way.
63 And Hilkiah and his wife praised
Ælohim for their daughter dazed
Susanna, and so Joakim
Her husband and all those who seem
To be her kindred, since nothing
Shameful was found in her to sting.
64 And from that day onward Daniel
Had great repute in Israel.

O my Beloved, I look about the park
Of prayer and incense, in the light and dark,
To find You whom my soul loves and desires,
To quench in You the burning gates of fires.
I see the empty pool, the light of star
And moon glance on its quiet ripples far.
I see the marbled corridors gleam bright
Against the fragrant and almost white night.
The empty garden scented and perfumed
Awaits, it seems, Your coming to be roomed.
Alone I wait in silence, till I see
What and YHWH was there in my company
Unseen, unfelt, unheard, but suddenly
Appearing present under every tree.

DANIEL 14 BEL AND THE DRAGON

1 ‘Twas when King Astyages was laid
With his fathers, Cyrus the Persian
Received his kingdom for diversion.
2 And Daniel was companion made
To the king, and most honoured of
His friends for wisdom and for love.
3 Now Babylonians had an
Idol called Bel, and as they can
Every day they spent on it twelve
Bushels of fine flour and to delve
Forty sheep, fifty jars of wine.
4 The king revered it as divine
And went each day to worship it.
But Daniel worshipped as was fit
His own Ælohim. 5 And the king
Said to him, “Why do you this thing
Not worshipping Bel?” He answered,
“Because I do not, in a word,
Revere idols made by the hand
Of man, but the living command
Of Ælohim, who made the earth
And heaven, and ocean, sea and firth
And has dominion on all flesh.”
6 The king said to him, “Don’t be fresh,
Don’t you think Bel’s a living god?
Do you not see how much he eats
And drinks each day of wine and treats?”

The wise and powerful set for their proof
With quaintly academic words to spoof.
Does every thing that eats and drinks become
Divinity? I think that’s wisdom’s sum.
But proof for Daniel is the best of all:
He’s God who made the whole terrestrial ball.
That proof well meets the challenge of the score
Or more who wait with claims beside the door.
One need not seek out truth, try to find God,
As though a hidden corner sheltered rod.
One only needs to look from here to there
And know the one Creator’s everywhere
Reality looks out on graven stone
And ridicules creation left alone.

7 Then Daniel laughed, and said, “Do not
Be deceived, O king, by this plot
For this is but clay inside and
Brass outside made by human hand,
It never ate or drank a thing.”
8 Then anger boiled within the king
And he called his priests, said to them,
“If you don’t tell, I shall condemn,
Who is eating this stuff, say now
Or you shall all die anyhow.
9 “But if you prove that Bel eats them,
Daniel shall die for his blaspheme
Against Bel.” Daniel told the king,
“Let be done as you’ve said the thing.”
10 Now there were seventy priests of Bel,
Besides wives and children to tell.
And the king went with Daniel
Into the great temple of Bel.
11 And the priests of Bel said, “Indeed,
We’ll stay outside, you, king, shall feed
With food and mix and place the wine,
And shut the door and seal it fine
With your signet. 12 “When you return
The morrow, if you do not find
That Bel has eaten it and wined,
We will die, or else Daniel will,
Who’s telling lies about us still.”
13 They were unconcerned, for beneath
The table they’d made hidden wreath
An entrance, through which they would go
In night by night to eat the dough.
14 When they had gone out, the king set
Forth the dainties for Bel’s banquet.
Then Daniel ordered his servants
To bring ashes and take the chance
To sift them through the temple thrown
In presence of the king alone.
Then they went out, and shut the door
And sealed it behind and before
With the king’s signet, and departed.
15 In the night the priests came light-hearted
With wives and children, as was custom
And ate and drank the things to burst them.
16 Early in the morning the king
Rose and came, and Daniel walking.
17 And the king said, “Are seals unbroken,
Daniel?” He answered, “They’re unbroken,
O king.” 18 But when the doors were flung
The king looked at the table hung,
And shouted in a loud voice, “You
Are great, O Bel, truly with you
There’s no deceit, no, none at all.”
19 Then Daniel laughed, and stopped the fall
Of the king’s foot upon the hall,
And said, “Look at the floor, and see
Whose footsteps are abundantly.”
20 The king said, “I see the footprints
Of men’s, women’s and children’s stints.”
21 Then the king was enraged, and he
Seized priests, their wives and children free,
And they showed him the secret door
Under the table, through the floor,
Through which they would enter and eat
And drink the wine and every treat.
22 Therefore the king put them to death,
And gave Bel up like Ashtoreth
To Daniel, who destroyed the thing
And its temple before the king.

Ah, wisdom of antiquity well met!
Such things today are very hard to get.
Reason’s dethroned by every strange addiction,
And when one shows the footprints of the fiction
And the trap door beneath the table’s groan,
Today’s kings point to seal of door and throne
And to the empty plates and goblets here.
A weak argument taught with oil and gold
Is satisfaction that the truth appear.
The real truth is bound up and tied and sold
To be burned at the dump with wrappings sere.
Beloved, I look beyond the washing words
That soar in empty spaces like the birds
And stand before reality, one bold.

23 There was also a great dragon,
Which Babylonians prayed on.
24 And the king said to Daniel,
“You can’t deny the dragon’s spell,
That he’s a living god and so
Worship him.” 25 Daniel said, “No,
I’ll worship YHWH my Ælohim,
For He’s the living Ælohim.
26 “But if you, king, will give me way,
I’ll slay the dragon, no delay,
Without sword or without a club.”
The king said, “I will never snub,
You have permission.” 27 Daniel took
Pitch, fat, and hair, to boil and cook
Them all together and made cakes,
Which he fed the dragon for aches.
The dragon ate them, burst open.
And Daniel said, “See what you’ve been
Worshipping!” 28 The Babylonians
Heard it, and were out of their skins
For anger and conspiring then
Against the king, some of the men
Said “The king has become a Jew,
Destroyed Bel, and the dragon, too,
And slaughtered the priests.” 29 So they said
To the king, “Give Daniel’s head
To us, or else we’ll kill you and
Your household.” 30 The king saw the stand
They made against him pressing hard,
Was forced to put Daniel in guard.

Who think they reign in power because they wield
The bank key and the oil well in the field
Know well the populace has power enough
To stoke the fires to burn them in their scruff.
And so they put the just in irons and den
To satisfy the real power among their men.
The argument that claimants to divine
Are true because they live as well as dine
Disarms with its ingenuous design.
To live does not equal the divine show.
Two arguments arise but they must go:
It is no proof that one is God because
He lives or has honey upon his paws.
Beloved, Your fame has never been so low.

31 They threw Daniel in lions’ den,
He was there for six days in pen.
32 There were seven lions in the den,
And every day they had been given
Two human bodies and two sheep,
But these were not now given nor driven
To them, so that in hunger deep
They might devour Daniel in keep.
33 Now the prophet Habakkuk was
In Judea, as prophet does.
He had boiled pottage, broken bread
In a bowl with which reapers fed.
34 But the angel of YHWH said to
Habakkuk, “Take the dinner to
Babylon to Daniel, who’s there
In lions’ den.” 35 Habakkuk said,
“Sir, I’ve never seen Babylon,
Nor have I been there anywhere
And I know nothing nor have read
About the den that you mention.”
36 Then the angel of YHWH took him
By the crown of his head, and grim
Lifted him by his hair and set
Him down in Babylon, well met
Right over the den, with the sound
Of rushing wind itself around.
37 Then Habakkuk shouted, “Daniel,
I say, Daniel! Take the lunch well
Which Ælohim has sent to you.”
38 And Daniel said, “Ælohim, You
Remembered me, and not forsaken
Those who love you and not mistaken.”
39 So Daniel arose and ate.
And the angel of Ælohim
Returned Habakkuk to his gate
Quickly in his own place and scheme.

Beloved, if you had lifted me by hair
When I was younger, I trust that the fare
For flight to Babylon was worth the price.
But now the trip that way would be no dice.
You see, when I was young my hair was thick,
But now lifting by hair’s a gentle trick.
There are spots not bald on this pate of mine,
But just the one You need has not a tine.
Habakkuk may have been the first to fly
Two thousand years and more before the cry
Of the Wright brothers, yet he claimed no gift,
But even gave You credit for the lift
Of soup and bread he brought in hand to give.
Beloved, it is not I but You who live.

40 On the seventh day the king came
To mourn for Daniel. When he came
To the den he looked in, and there
Sat Daniel, not turning a hair.
41 And the king shouted with loud voice,
“You are great and the only choice,
O Lord Ælohim of Daniel,
And there’s no other besides You.”
42 And he pulled Daniel out, as well,
And threw in the den the men who
Had attempted his own destruction,
Who were devoured without obstruction
Quickly before his eyes withdrew.

The Sabbath is the day of setting right
What in the week was craving divine sight.
The eve after the day of congregation
Sees judgment coming as its revelation.
I hear Your footsteps as the sun goes down
And Sabbath descends on unwitting town,
And know that with Your coming I shall go
Out from the lion’s pit to find Your show.
The mourning of both prisoner and king
Is changed to joy and gladness at the ring
Of Sabbath’s entrance at the golden gate.
On Sabbath all men escape their foul fate
To dance in ecstasy upon the floor
Of glass and crystal from an ancient lore.

MANASSEH

1 O Lord Almighty, Ælohim
Of our fathers, of Abraham
And Isaac and Jacob’s esteem
And of their righteous child and dam,
2 You who have made the heaven and earth
With all their order and their worth,
3 Who have shackled the sea by Your
Word of command, who have set door
Upon the deep and sealed it by
Your terrible and glorious name,
4 At whom all things shudder and fly,
And tremble before your great power,
5 For glorious splendour not an hour
To be borne, and the wrath of your
Threat to sinners no sinner bore,
6 Yet great, unsearchable is your
Promise of mercy, 7 for You are
YHWH Most High, and of greater far
Compassion, long-suffering, and then
Most merciful, to feeble men.
You, O Lord, by Your great goodness
Promised repentance, forgiveness
To those who have sinned against You,
And in Your mercies’ multitude
You have set repentance unrued
For sinners, that they may be saved.
8 Therefore You, O Ælohim YHWH
God of the righteous, have not craved
Repentance from the righteous, from
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, some
Who did not sin against you, but
You have appointed repentance
For me, who am in sinner’s stance.
9 For the sins I’ve committed are
More numerous than sand or star,
And my transgressions multiplied,
O YHWH, are multiplied beside!
I am unworthy to look up
And see the height of heaven’s cup
Because of my iniquities.
10 I am weighted down with all of these,
Many an iron fetter, so I’m
Rejected for my sins and crime,
And I have no relief, for I’ve
Provoked your wrath and while alive
Done what is evil in your sight,
Setting up idols, great offence.
11 And now I bend both knee and heart,
Beseeching you for kindness’ right.
12 I’ve sinned, O YHWH, sinned without sense,
And I know my transgressions’ part.
13 I earnestly beseech You now,
Forgive me, YHWH, forgive somehow!
Do not destroy me with my crimes!
Do not be angry now betimes
Nor lay for ever evil for
Me, do not condemn, I implore,
Me to the depths of earth. For You
Are Ælohim and Lord and YHWH
Of those who repent, who repent.
14 In me You will show goodness sent,
For, unworthy as I am, You
Will save me in your great mercy,
15 And I shall praise, praise You freely
All the days of my life. For all
The host of heaven sings Your praise,
And angels to each other call
Your glory from eternal days. Amen.

From splendour to repentance goes the prayer,
And I follow its glories everywhere.
The fallow slope grown up in saplings bare
Beneath a spring grey scintillates in air,
The pastureland forgotten by the claim
Of sports still sanctifies Your holy name
As lingering snows turn to the gushing frame
Of brooks in temporary melodrame.
Along with wakened housefly and a hare
Still white with winter darkness and its care,
I praise and praise again Your love and art
Who created me to live in Your heart.
Your mercies’ multitude indeed fulfils
The thousand benedictions of the hills.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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