TORAH
FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES
NEVI'IM
PROPHETS
KETUVIM
WRITINGS

Chapter 65

Listen to this chapter in Hebrew:

1For the leader. A psalm of David. A song.

אלַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד שִׁיר׃

2Praise befits You in Tzion, O Hashem; vows are paid to You;

בלְךָ דֻמִיָּה תְהִלָּה אֱלֹהִים בְּצִיּוֹן וּלְךָ יְשֻׁלַּם־נֶדֶר׃

3all mankind comes to You, You who hear prayer.

גשֹׁמֵעַ תְּפִלָּה עָדֶיךָ כָּל־בָּשָׂר יָבֹאוּ׃

4When all manner of sins overwhelm me, it is You who forgive our iniquities.

דדִּבְרֵי עֲוׂנֹת גָּבְרוּ מֶנִּי פְּשָׁעֵינוּ אַתָּה תְכַפְּרֵם׃

5Happy is the man You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts; may we be sated with the blessings of Your house, Your holy temple.

האַשְׁרֵי תִּבְחַר וּתְקָרֵב יִשְׁכֹּן חֲצֵרֶיךָ נִשְׂבְּעָה בְּטוּב בֵּיתֶךָ קְדֹשׁ הֵיכָלֶךָ׃

6Answer us with victory through awesome deeds, O Hashem, our deliverer, in whom all the ends of the earth and the distant seas put their trust;

ונוֹרָאוֹת בְּצֶדֶק תַּעֲנֵנוּ אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעֵנוּ מִבְטָח כָּל־קַצְוֵי־אֶרֶץ וְיָם רְחֹקִים׃

7who by His power fixed the mountains firmly, who is girded with might,

זמֵכִין הָרִים בְּכֹחוֹ נֶאְזָר בִּגְבוּרָה׃

8who stills the raging seas, the raging waves, and tumultuous peoples.

חמַשְׁבִּיחַ שְׁאוֹן יַמִּים שְׁאוֹן גַּלֵּיהֶם וַהֲמוֹן לְאֻמִּים׃

9Those who live at the ends of the earth are awed by Your signs; You make the lands of sunrise and sunset shout for joy.

טוַיִּירְאוּ יֹשְׁבֵי קְצָוׂת מֵאוֹתֹתֶיךָ מוֹצָאֵי־בֹקֶר וָעֶרֶב תַּרְנִין׃

10You take care of the earth and irrigate it; You enrich it greatly, with the channel of Hashem full of water; You provide grain for men; for so do You prepare it.

יפָּקַדְתָּ הָאָרֶץ וַתְּשֹׁקְקֶהָ רַבַּת תַּעְשְׁרֶנָּה פֶּלֶג אֱלֹהִים מָלֵא מָיִם תָּכִין דְּגָנָם כִּי־כֵן תְּכִינֶהָ׃

11Saturating its furrows, leveling its ridges, You soften it with showers, You bless its growth.

t'-la-ME-ha ra-VAY na-KHAYT g'-du-DE-ha bir-vee-VEEM t'-mo-g'-GE-nah tzim-KHAH t'-va-RAYKH

יאתְּלָמֶיהָ רַוֵּה נַחֵת גְּדוּדֶיהָ בִּרְבִיבִים תְּמֹגְגֶנָּה צִמְחָהּ תְּבָרֵךְ׃

 65:11   You soften it with showers

Ariel view of Kibbutz Revivim

This psalm offers blessings of gratitude to Hashem for abundant rains. It was sung in the Beit Hamikdash after especially rainy seasons, which were always viewed as a direct sign of God’s beneficence. The word revivim (רביבים), ‘showers,’ refers to abundant rains, and was used by early Zionists as the name of a new settlement founded in the Negev desert in 1943. As the British were limiting immigration and new settlements on the land, the early Zionists built lookout points which would later become full-fledged settlements. These settlements were the beginning of habitation in the Negev, the desert region in southern Israel, and initiated the settling of the arid desert area of the Land of Israel. The name Revivim was chosen as a sign of their readiness to contend with the most formidable aspect of desert living: scarcity of water. They hearkened back to Tehillim, hoping for Hashem’s bountiful rains to strengthen their presence in the land.

12You crown the year with Your bounty; fatness is distilled in Your paths;

יבעִטַּרְתָּ שְׁנַת טוֹבָתֶךָ וּמַעְגָּלֶיךָ יִרְעֲפוּן דָּשֶׁן׃

13the pasturelands distill it; the hills are girded with joy.

יגיִרְעֲפוּ נְאוֹת מִדְבָּר וְגִיל גְּבָעוֹת תַּחְגֹּרְנָה׃

14The meadows are clothed with flocks, the valleys mantled with grain; they raise a shout, they break into song.

ידלָבְשׁוּ כָרִים הַצֹּאן וַעֲמָקִים יַעַטְפוּ־בָר יִתְרוֹעֲעוּ אַף־יָשִׁירוּ׃