I will flee to my Helper - Yose ben Yose

                    א

¹ Let me flee to my Helper

I will find (Him) right in front of me

God is close to me

whenever I call out with (my) voice.

 

² In the congregation of God

so near me He stands

and here, in the small sanctuary

I chirp to Him with (my) voice.

                    ב

³ Among my flock, seek me!

A lost sheep am I;

I am sheared and I am muted

unable to raise (my) voice

 

⁴ When my shearers say:

“She is outcast!”

Shall her Guardian and her Protector

not raise (His) voice?

                    ג

⁵ I rejoiced to meditate on His statutes

and my palate was sweet;

He inclined His ear and said:

“Let Me hear your voice!”

 

⁶ He turned and fled from me

like a stag upon hills of Bether

when He sought (the sound of) law and sign

in my dwellings, but heard not a voice.

                    ד

⁷ He hastened from piece to piece

and he brought Him back to me

Perhaps he will favor you

because he hearkened to Your voice.

 

⁸ Seek goodness for him

and behold the lamb of Moriah,

He who was mute of mouth: let there be merit although she did 

not hearken to (Your) voice.

                    ה

⁹ Remove from the smooth one

the hands of the hairy one;

(my) supplications (I) murmur

because You have the voice.

 

¹⁰ Save (me), for un-

forgotten is the testimony;

from the mouths of his descendants /

unending is (their) voice.

                    ו

¹¹ My seers and my scolders:

they are my mother’s sons

and then they rebuked me

so that I would listen to (His) voice.

¹² And during their watches

they stood and cried aloud,

that He might reveal to them the secret;

and He answered them in (His own) voice.

                    ז

¹³ This One turned away from me

I turned about and I sought Him;

in every place He is

there I raised (my) voice.

 

¹⁴ My Beloved is praised below:

“He is splendid on high!” (Psa. 93:4)

“His glory fills all the earth” (Isa. 6:3)

is how, up above, they proclaim with a voice.

                    ח

¹⁵ Through mighty waters:

He led their steps,

they said; “His image we have not seen

but only (perceived His) voice.”

 

¹⁶ I sought (Him) in the wilderness:

Was anything there? But He said, There is nothing—

until His giving of Strength

overwhelmed me with its voice.

                    ט

¹⁷ The Pure One leapt

over mountains and passed by

and from the Abode on the mountain of myrrh

He then gave forth (His) voice.

 

¹⁸ I sullied the loveliness

of His dwelling and He departed

but on the day of the full moon He will come:

in my ears will be (His) voice 

                    י

¹⁹ I am precious in His eyes

and He stayed with me in my captivity:

“I am with him,”

thus He reassured me with (His) voice.

 

²⁰ He descended upon Shinar

and established His throne over Elam

and sounded forth like a lion

and like a serpent will be (their) voice.

                    כ

²¹ The bear took over for me

When I was too weak for labor

a law written in a letter

and it was proclaimed by a voice.

 

²² He conquered for me

the four-headed leopard

and truly, through everlasting thanksgivings

I let Him hear (my) voice.

                    ל

²³ The beast of the reeds

when it possessed the earth,

“Whom have I in heaven?”

it then raised (its) voice.

 

²⁴ To God, my Rescuer,

from between teeth of iron I cried out

and from beneath (its) feet of heavy pledges

I roared with (my) voice.

                    מ

²⁵ The duration of my exile

He did not make known to me

“How long until I am again in my land?”

The turtledove will make heard (its) voice.

 

²⁶ Even from those with deep knowledge of Scripture

He sealed up (knowledge of) my end-time

lest the knowledge of my seers

the time when He will raise (His) voice.

                    נ

²⁷ Please, gaze down and see

my affliction and my anguish

I have no acquaintance

to whom I can raise (my) voice.

 

²⁸ Forever shall I hope

for no word (of Yours) falls unfulfilled

from (the lips of) those of mine who hear

(Your) whispering voice.

                    ס

²⁹ Surely it shall rejoice

my heart within me

when I hear my Beloved knocking

on my door – (His) voice!

 

³⁰ Forever let Him set me

as a seal upon (His) heart

just as when, beneath the apple tree

He aroused me with (His) voice.

³¹ As it is written in Your Torah: ³² “And it came to pass on the third day, when it [was morning, that there were voices [thunder] and lightning, and a cloud upon the mountain, and the voice of the shofar grew very strong, and all the people who were in the camp trembled].” (Exod. 19:16)

                    ע

³³ You exalted me,

over all (Your) other daughters

because it was for my sake

that on Horeb You gave forth (Your) voice.

 

³⁴ Over all other gods

You are greatly exalted;

forever You are exalted

by a resounding voice.

³⁵ As it is written in Your holy words: “God ascends in the midst of shouting, the Eternal upon the voice of the shofar” (Psa. 47:6) 

                    פ

³⁶ He groaned in the wilderness,

the bird from Egypt;

and a dove made heard

from Assyria her voice.

 

³⁷ Watch over the house-sparrow,

seek out the mute dove,

sound the shofar for their sake

and free them by (Your) voice.

³⁸ As it was written by the hand of Your prophet: ³⁹ “And it shall come to pass on that day that a great shofar shall be blown; and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were dispersed in the land of Egypt shall come, and they shall bow down to the Eternal upon the holy mountain at Jerusalem” (Isa. 27:13)

 

                    צ

40 Bind (Your) statutes tightly (to me), lest from me

they fly off, like an eagle;

and lest they take wing

those who instruct me with their voice

 

41 That which is refined I shall study

and my eyes are upon my teachers

as when the messenger would speak

and God would respond to him with (His) voice.

42 As it is written in Your Torah: “And the voice of the shofar grew increasingly stronger; Moses was speaking and God was answering him with (His) voice” (Exod. 19:19).

                    ק 

43 As the (year’s) end draws near

the time of judgment approaches

the one who offers forthright defense arises

to entreat (with his) voice.

 

44 The month has been sanctified

and the festival prepared

and I will sound upon the shofar

so that He may answer me with (His) voice.

45 As it is written in Your holy word: 46 “Sound the shofar at the new month, at the full moon for our festival, for it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob” (Psa. 81: 4-5)

 

                    ר

47 A disturbance from a grave,

shouting from a rock,

when He gave the dry bones

in the dust a voice.

 

48 See the banner on the mountains

and the voice of the shofar on the earth,

make joyfulness heard

from within the whispers of (His) voice.

49 As it is written by the hand of Your prophet: “All the inhabitants of the world and dwellers of the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when the shofar is sounded, you shall hear it” (Isa. 18:3) 

                    ש

50 The error of the wayward heart

shall no longer stray

no longer stoppering (their) ears

to keep from hearing (His) voice.

 

51 Restore to me as of old

law and inheritance

with which I was enveloped

by lightning-flashes and a voice.

52 As it is written in Your Torah: 53 “And all the people saw the voices, and the lightning-flashes, and the voice of the shofar, and the mountain a-smoke; and when the people saw it, they were fearful, and stood at a distance” (Exod. 20:13)

 

                    ת

54 One who obtained understanding

a man wise of word

inscribed sweet hymns

in sweetness of voice.

 

55 He would offer Him praise

then by all they were heard

by God who rules over all

let them create sweetness by means of voice.

 

56 As it is written in Your holy writing: 57 “Praise the Eternal! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty firmament! 58 Praise Him for his mighty deeds; praise Him according to His exceeding greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the shofar; praise Him with lute and harp! Praise Him with timbrel and dance; praise Him with strings and pipe! 59 Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Eternal! Praise the Eternal!!”  (Psa. 150:1-6)

60 Beneath the sons of Zion

did the sons of Greece bow down

You made their arrows into lightning

and You confounded them with (Your) voice.

 

61 May You thunder against those who scorn me;

Sound the shofar

in the whirlwinds of the south

and then will go forth a voice!

 

[Liturgical Cue:]

62 Thus may You protect all Your people Israel with Your peace.

---

Yose ben Yose (5th century) Palestine

Translated by Prof. Rabbi Laura Lieber

Source: The Torah