I said unto deceitful Uz[79]: ‘Shalt thou for ever walk upright in thy wantonness? Gehenna is prepared for thee as thy apportioned lot.—_What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee, thou deceitful tongue?_’ My presumptuous sins are marked before Thee; they are bound up in bundles, engraved, and sealed. Prepare a feast for them that are benign to the guileless people;—_sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of broom_! Majestic Lord, before Thee are my sorrows; among the multitude of thorns I am well-nigh destroyed. But a short while I lived in magnificent dwellings; _woe is me, that I sojourn with Meshech, that I dwell beside the tents of Kedar_. All my oppressors smite me with horror; in the presence of my enemies I feel deeply ashamed; all the backsliders hate me with an everlasting hate; _my soul hath full long had her dwelling with him that hateth peace_. O Most High, console Thy people that is disconsolate; to her that is unpitied turn Thou, and be merciful. My adversaries say: ‘No comfort shalt thou ever see.’—_I am all peace; but when I speak, they are for war._ Whenever it is time for praise, I cry to Thee, my God; as I set forth my prayers, show Thy kindness unto me. To praise Thee, O Praised One, I kept awake at night—accept Thou then my prayer with the Song of Ascents. 2. Hymn Based on Psalm 121 When I come, O Creator, to proclaim Thy unity, turn unto me! Forgive my sins, and heed not my wicked thoughts; with this my Song of Ascents I cry unto Thee, O my Crown. _I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come?_ Woe to the daughter who derides the ancients of the earth; but when I hear her mockery, I boldly answer thus: ‘My Redeemer lives for ever; He dwells in the lofty skies—_my help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth_.’ The persecutor smites the multitudes who extol Thee (behold, they have no other hope but in Thy words alone); presumptuously he mocks the words of Thy Psalms: _He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber._ When the wanton ones take counsel together, they plan to destroy the remnant of Ariel; but Israel says: Trust ye in God our Redeemer;—_behold, He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep_. May now the trust of Thy believers be made strong and firm, according to the psalmist’s words who sings Thy songs of joy: When terror seizes thee, the Lord shall be thy refuge; _the Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand_. My trust I put in Thee, O Dweller in the skies above; I stay myself upon the psalmist’s words who sings jubilantly: In thy Creator put thy trust, always rely on Him; _the sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night_.