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TORAH
FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES
NEVI'IM
PROPHETS
KETUVIM
WRITINGS

Chapter 131

Translation and Transliteration of 

Listen to this chapter in Hebrew:

1A song of ascents. Of David. Hashem, my heart is not proud nor my look haughty; I do not aspire to great things or to what is beyond me;

SHEER ha-ma-a-LOT l'-da-VID a-do-NAI lo ga-VAH li-BEE v'-LO ra-MU ay-NAI v'-LO hi-LAKH-tee big-do-LOT uv-nif-la-OT mi-ME-nee

אשִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת לְדָוִד יְהֹוָה לֹא־גָבַהּ לִבִּי וְלֹא־רָמוּ עֵינַי וְלֹא־הִלַּכְתִּי בִּגְדֹלוֹת וּבְנִפְלָאוֹת מִמֶּנִּי׃

131:1   My heart is not proud

In the Bible, confession refers not only to admitting the evil deeds one has committed, but also to acknowledging the positive commandments one has internalized. David “confesses” that he has not been haughty, and has never thought of himself as too great. This might be referring to the incident recorded in Shmuel II 6:14, when “David whirled with all his might before Hashem” as the ark of God was brought to Jerusalem. His wife Michal castigates him for what she saw as behavior inappropriate for a king, but David responds by asking rhetorically: Shall he not dance and prostrate himself before God, Who chose him as leader of all of Israel? Throughout his life, David subjugated himself before God out of respect and awe. He was not too proud to express himself to the Lord in the way he thought most appropriate.

2but I have taught myself to be contented like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child am I in my mind.

באִם־לֹא שִׁוִּיתִי וְדוֹמַמְתִּי נַפְשִׁי כְּגָמֻל עֲלֵי אִמּוֹ כַּגָּמֻל עָלַי נַפְשִׁי׃

3O Yisrael, wait for Hashem now and forever.

גיַחֵל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְהֹוָה מֵעַתָּה וְעַד־עוֹלָם׃