What is "Yisrael"?

(1) God said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (2) I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you and curse them that curses you; And all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.” (4) Abram went forth as God had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. (5) Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan,

(14) And God said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west, (15) for I give all the land that you see to you and your offspring forever. (16) I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring too can be counted. (17) Up, walk about the land, through its length and its breadth, for I give it to you.”

(25) Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. (26) When he saw that he had not prevailed against Jacob, he wrenched Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him. (27) Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But Jacob answered, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” (28) Said the other, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.” (29) Said he, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.”

(1) These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each coming with his household: (2) Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; (3) Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; (4) Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. (5) The total number of persons that were of Jacob’s issue came to seventy, Joseph being already in Egypt. (6) Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation. (7) But the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them.

(4) All the elders of Israel assembled and came to Samuel at Ramah, (5) and they said to him, “You have grown old, and your sons have not followed your ways. Therefore appoint a king for us, to govern us like all other nations.” (6) Samuel was displeased that they said “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to God, (7) and God replied to Samuel, “Heed the demand of the people in everything they say to you. For it is not you that they have rejected; it is Me they have rejected as their king. (8) Like everything else they have done ever since I brought them out of Egypt to this day—forsaking Me and worshiping other gods—so they are doing to you. (9) Heed their demand; but warn them solemnly, and tell them about the practices of any king who will rule over them.” (10) Samuel reported all the words of God to the people, who were asking him for a king. (11) He said, “This will be the practice of the king who will rule over you: He will take your sons and appoint them as his charioteers and horsemen, and they will serve as outrunners for his chariots. (12) He will appoint them as his chiefs of thousands and of fifties; or they will have to plow his fields, reap his harvest, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. (13) He will take your daughters as perfumers, cooks, and bakers. (14) He will seize your choice fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his courtiers. (15) He will take a tenth part of your grain and vintage and give it to his eunuchs and courtiers. (16) He will take your male and female slaves, your choice young men, and your asses, and put them to work for him. (17) He will take a tenth part of your flocks, and you shall become his slaves. (18) The day will come when you cry out because of the king whom you yourselves have chosen; and God will not answer you on that day.” (19) But the people would not listen to Samuel’s warning. “No,” they said. “We must have a king over us, (20) that we may be like all the other nations: Let our king rule over us and go out at our head and fight our battles.”

(1) All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. (2) Long before now, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel in war; and God said to you: You shall shepherd My people Israel; you shall be ruler of Israel.” (3) All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a pact with them in Hebron before God. And they anointed David king over Israel. (4) David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. (5) In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. (6) The king and his men set out for Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the region. David was told, “You will never get in here! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back.” (They meant: David will never enter here.) (7) But David captured the stronghold of Zion; it is now the City of David. (8) On that occasion David said, “Those who attack the Jebusites shall reach the water channel and [strike down] the lame and the blind, who are hateful to David.” That is why they say: “No one who is blind or lame may enter the House.” (9) David occupied the stronghold and renamed it the City of David; David also fortified the surrounding area, from the Millo inward. (10) David kept growing stronger, for God, the God of Hosts, was with him. (11) King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons; and they built a palace for David. (12) Thus David knew that God had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingship for the sake of His people Israel.

(6) I, God, in My grace, have summoned you, And I have grasped you by the hand. I created you, and appointed you A covenant people, a light of nations— (7) Opening eyes deprived of light, Rescuing prisoners from confinement, From the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

(2) In the days to come, The Mount of God’s House shall stand firm above the mountains and tower above the hills; And all the nations shall gaze on it with joy. (3) And the many peoples shall go and say: “Come, Let us go up to the Mount of God, To the House of the God of Jacob; That God may instruct us in God's ways, And that we may walk in God's paths.” For instruction shall come forth from Zion, The word of God from Jerusalem. (4) Thus God will judge among the nations And arbitrate for the many peoples, And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not take up sword against nation; They shall never again know war.

(1) A psalm of David. God, who may sojourn in Your tent, who may dwell on Your holy mountain? (2) The one who lives without blame, who does what is right, and in his heart acknowledges the truth; (3) whose tongue is not given to evil; who has never done harm to his fellow, or borne reproach for [acts toward] their neighbor; (4) for whom a contemptible person is abhorrent, but who honors those who fear God; who stands by an oath even to their own hurt; (5) who has never lent money at interest, or accepted a bribe against the innocent. The one who acts thus shall never be shaken.

(6) Therefore keep the commandments of The Eternal your God: walk in God's ways and revere God. (7) For The Eternal your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; (8) a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey; (9) a land where you may eat food without stint, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper. (10) When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the Eternal your God for the good land which God has given you. (11) Take care lest you forget the Eternal your God and fail to keep God's commandments, God's rules, and God's laws, which I enjoin upon you today. (12) When you have eaten your fill, and have built fine houses to live in, (13) and your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold have increased, and everything you own has prospered, (14) beware lest your heart grow haughty and you forget The Eternal your God—who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage; (15) who led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its seraph serpents and scorpions, a parched land with no water in it, who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock; (16) who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your ancestors had never known, in order to test you by hardships only to benefit you in the end— (17) and you say to yourselves, “My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.” (18) Remember that it is The Eternal your God who gives you the power to get wealth, in fulfillment of the covenant that God made on oath with your ancestors, as is still the case.