Deuteronomy 32:19-32:28;<br> El Maleh Rachamim (Memorial prayer)

The Lord saw and was vexed And spurned His sons and His daughters. He said: I will hide My countenance from them, And see how they fare in the end. For they are a treacherous breed, Children with no loyalty in them. They incensed Me with no-gods, Vexed Me with their futilities; I'll incense them with a no-folk, Vex them with a nation of fools. For a fire has flared in My wrath And burned to the bottom of Sheol, Has consumed the earth and its increase, Eaten down to the base of the hills. I will sweep misfortunes on them, Use up My arrows on them: Wasting famine, ravaging plague, Deadly pestilence, and fanged beasts Will I let loose against them, With venomous creepers in dust. The sword shall deal death without, As shall the terror within, To youth and maiden alike, The suckling as well as the aged. I might have reduced them to naught, Made their memory cease among men, But for fear of the taunts of the foe, Their enemies who might misjudge And say, "Our own hand has prevailed; None of this was wrought by the Lord!" For they are a folk void of sense, Lacking in all discernment. ***** El Maleh Rachamim: O G-d, full of compassion, Thou who dwellest on high, grant perfect rest beneath the shelter of thy divine presence among the holy and pure who shine as the brightness of the firmament to the souls of those who have gone to their eternal home. I undertake the obligation of giving tzedakah in their memory. Mayest Thou, O G-d of Mercy, shelter them forever under the wings of Thy presence, May their souls be bound up in the bond of life eternal, and grant that the memories of my life inspire me always to noble and consecrated living. Amen.