Even in the darkest valley

I fear no harm, for You are with me

Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me

You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies

You anoint my head with oil

my drink is abundant

Only goodness and steadfast love

shall pursue me all the days of my life

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for many long years

Rav Yitzḥak said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me”? This is a person who sleeps in the shadow of a single palm tree, and in the shadow of the moon. Despite his dangerous position, he trusts God and is not afraid.

May our supplication ascend from evening,and may our cry comefrom morning,and may our song appear till evening.

May our voice ascend from evening, and may our righteousness come from morning, and may our redemption appear till evening.

May our affliction ascend from evening, and may our pardon come from morning,and may our groaning appear till evening.

May our refuge ascend from evening, and may it come for His sake from morning,and may our atonement appear till evening.

May our deliverance ascend from evening,and may our purification come from morning,and may our supplication appear till evening.

May our remembrance ascend from evening,and may our gathering come from morning,and may our splendor appear till evening.

May our knocking ascend from evening, and may our exultation come from morning, and may our petition appear till evening.

May our sighing ascend from the evening, and may it come before You from morning,and may its effect appear to us till evening.

(6) Let me be a seal upon your heart, Like the seal upon your hand. For love is fierce as death, Passion is mighty as Sheol; Its darts are darts of fire, A blazing flame.

(7) Vast floods cannot quench love, Nor rivers drown it. If a man offered all his wealth for love, He would be laughed to scorn.

The beginning of wisdom is fear of Adonoy, good understanding to all who perform [His commandments], His praise endures forever. Blessed [is His] Name, Whose glorious kingdom is forever and ever.

A time for weeping and a time for laughing

A time for wailing and a time for dancing

With regard to the halakhot of prayer, Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov: A person should not stand in a high place and pray; rather, he should stand in a low place and pray, as it is stated: “I called to You, Lord, from the depths” (Psalms 130:1).

(1) A song of ascents. Out of the depths I call You, O LORD.

(2) O Lord, listen to my cry; let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.

[These] counsels are the depths of the heart. When faith is so blemished and fallen that even the cries, the wordless screams, are of no avail, one has to cry out from the heart alone, as in “Let their heart cry out to God” (Lamentations 2:18). This is the heart alone crying out, without the voice, as in “Out of the depths I call out to You, O God!” (Psalms 130:1)—from the heart’s depths. And the depths of the heart are counsels, as in “The counsels in man’s heart are deep waters” (Proverbs 20:5).

O Holy Place of the King, city of sovereignty

Arise, escape from the midst of the chaos

Long have you sat in the valley of tears

And He will grant mercy, mercy upon you

Arise, cry out in the night

At the beginning of the watches

Pour out your heart like water

In the presence of the Lord!

Lift up your hands to Him

For the life of your infants,

Who faint for hunger

At every street corner.

(10) My beloved spoke thus to me, “Arise, my darling; My fair one, come away! (11) For now the winter is past, The rains are over and gone. (12) The blossoms have appeared in the land, The time of pruning has come; The song of the turtledove Is heard in our land.