God And Man
O Lord! I will declare
Thy holy name, Thy glories past compare:
My tongue shall not conceal, O Lord!
Thy righteousness made known to me:
I heard and I believed Thy word,
I will not ask presumptuously.
For should the vase of clay
“What doest thou?” unto its maker say?
Him have I sought and known,
A rock of strength, a tower of might,
Resplendent as the glorious light,
Without or veil or covering, radiant shown:
Exalted, magnified,
Extolled and glorified.
The heavens from hour to hour
Declare Thy wondrous works, proclaim Thy power
Sunrise and sunset, still the same,
Prostrate in awe eternally.
The angels pass through flood and flame
As unto Thee they testify;
Thy praise they celebrate,
O Thou, the fruit of lips who dost create.
For Thou uphold'st alone,
Unwearied and invisible,
The depths, the heights, where move and dwell
The living creatures and the heavenly throne:
Exalted, magnified,
Extolled and glorified.
Who has the glory praised
Fitly of Him, Whose word the heavens upraised?
The Eternal One, Who dwells concealed
In His exalted heights, but yet
In Zion's temple, full revealed,
Did erst His glorious presence set,
And He showed visions then
To cause His image to be seen of men;
Yet past all measuring
His wisdom is, past depth and height
He flashes on His prophet's sight
In visions only as the heavenly king:
Exalted, magnified,
Extolled and glorified.
His power, exceeding great,
Is without end: who can His praise narrate?
Happy the man, who testifies
Unto His greatness manifold,
Whose faith in God unshaken lies,
In God, whose arms the world uphold,
Who, fearing God, can trust
In Him, acknowledging His deeds are just,
That for himself has He
Made all His works, His creatures all,
And that His awful day will call
All men, the judgment of their deeds to see:
Exalted, magnified,
Extolled and glorified.
Do thou then heed and learn,
Prepare thyself thy nature to discern.
See whence thou comest, what thou art,
And who created thee and taught
Thee knowledge, and in every part
Of thee the power of motion wrought.
Mark then God's might untold,
And rouse thyself His wonders to behold.
But to Himself concealed
Dare not to stretch thy hand, for then
Thou seekest, with presumptuous ken,
The first and last, the hidden and revealed:
Exalted, magnified,
Extolled and glorified.
Jehuda Halevi.