For Tigray a prayer for deliverance in the new year, Psalm 35

The traditional New Year in Tigray is upon them.  Tigrayans faith is a way of life and a source of strength during crisis.

Hundred of Tigrayan worshipers killed by Eritrean soldiers invited to invade Tigray by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in November 2020, alleges deacon at the Church of St. Mary of Zion, which Ethiopian Orthodox believe hosts the Ark of the Covenant. Source Christianity Today

The people of Tigray trace their heritage to a joining of the ancient Saba culture of the Levant lead by Queen Sheba to the Israeli kingdom of Solomon.  Today Tigray is mostly Ethiopian Orthodox which was born in Axum with minority Catholic  and Muslims. All whom share in recognizing the Psalm written by David as holy.

When Saul had not followed God’s commands and David was chosen  to be the next leader of the Israelites David it is traditionally held wrote this prayer, Psalm 35, to God when Saul was pursuing his capture and death.

Here its in Amharic and English. Dear Lord we pray:

 አቤቱ፥ የሚበድሉኝን በድላቸው፥ የሚዋጉኝንም ተዋጋቸው። 1 Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
ጥሩርና ጋሻ ያዝ፥ እኔንም ለመርዳት ተነሥ። 2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
ሰይፍህን ምዘዝ የሚያሳድዱኝንም መንገዳቸውን ዝጋ ነፍሴን፦ መድኃኒትሽ እኔ ነኝ በላት። 3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
ነፍሴን የሚሹ ሁሉ ይፈሩ ይጐስቈሉም ክፉትን በእኔ ላይ የሚያስቡ ይፈሩ ወደ ኋላቸውም ይበሉ። 4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
በነፋስ ፊት እንዳለ ትቢያ ይሁኑ፥ የእግዚአብሔርንም መልአክ ያስጨንቃቸው። 5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them.
 መንገዳቸው ዳጥና ጨለማ ይሁን፥ የእግዚአብሔርም መልአክ ያሳድዳቸው። 6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them.
በከንቱ ያጠፉኝ ዘንድ ወጥመዳቸውን ሸሽገውብኛልና፥ ነፍሴን በከንቱ አበሳጭተዋልና። 7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
ያላወቁት ወጥመድ ይምጣባቸው፥ የሸሸጉትም ወጥመድ ይያዛቸው በዚህ ወጥመድ ውስጥ ይውደቁ። 8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.
ነፍሴ ግን በእግዚአብሔር ደስ ይላታል፥ በማዳኑም ሐሴት ታደርጋለች። 9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
አጥንቶቼ ሁሉ እንዲህ ይሉሃል። አቤቱ፥ እንደ አንተ ማን ነው? ችግረኛን ከሚቀማው እጅ፥ ችግረኛንና ድሀውንም ከሚነጥቀው እጅ ታድነዋለህ። 10 All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?
የክፋት ምስክሮች ተነሡብኝ፥ የማላውቀውንም በእኔ ላይ ተናገሩ። 11 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.
ስለ በጎ ክፋትን መለሱልኝ፥ ነፍሴንም ልጆችን አሳጡአት። 12 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
 እኔስ እነርሱ በታመሙ ጊዜ ማቅ ለበስሁ፥ ነፍሴንም በጾም አደከምኋት ጸሎቴም ወደ ብብቴ ተመለሰ። 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
ለወዳጄና ለወንድሜ እንደማደርግ አደረግሁ ለእናቱም እንደሚያለቅስ ራሴን ዝቅ ዝቅ አደረግሁ። 14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.
በእኔ ላይ ተሰበሰቡ ደስም አላቸው ግፈኞች በእኔ ላይ ተሰበሰቡ እኔም አላውቅሁም ቀደዱኝ አልተውኝምም። 15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:
ፈተኑኝ በሣቅም ዘበቱብኝ፥ ጥርሳቸውንም በእኔ ላይ አንቀጫቅጩ። 16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.
አቤቱ፥ እስከ መቼ ድረስ ታይልኛለህ? ነፍሴን ከክፉ ሥራቸው ብችነቴንም ከአንበሶች አድናት። 17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.
አቤቱ፥ በታላቁ ጉባኤ ውስጥ እገዛልሃለሁ፥ በብዙ ሕዝብ መካከልም አመሰግንሃለሁ። 18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.
በግፍ የሚጠሉኝ በላዬ ደስ አይበላቸው፥ በከንቱ የሚጣሉኝም በዓይናቸው አይጣቀሱብኝ። 19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
ለእኔስ ሰላምን ይናገሩኛልና፥ በቍጣም ሽንገላን ይመክራሉ። 20 For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.
 አፋቸውንም በእኔ ላይ አላቀቁ እሰይ እሰይ፥ ዓይናችን አየው ይላሉ። 21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.
 አቤቱ፥ አንተ አየኸው ዝም አትበል አቤቱ፥ ከእኔ አትራቅ። 22 This thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.
አምላኬ ጌታዬም፥ ወደ ፍርዴ ተነሥ፥ አቤቱ፥ ፍርዴን አድምጥ። 23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.
አቤቱ አምላኬ፥ እንደ ጽድቅህ ፍረድልኝ፥ በላዬም ደስ አይበላቸው። 24 Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.
በልባቸው። እሰይ እሰይ፥ ነፍሳችንን ደስ አላት አይበሉ ደግሞም፦ ዋጥነው አይበሉ። 25 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
በመከራዬ ደስ የሚላቸው ይፈሩ፥ በአንድነትም ይጐስቍሉ በእኔ ላይ የሚታበዩ እፍረትንና ጕስቍልናን ይልበሱ። 26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.
ጽድቄን የሚወድዱአት ደስ ይበላቸው ሐሴትንም ያድርጉ የባሪያውን ሰላም የሚወድድ እግዚአብሔር ታላቅ ይሁን ዘወትር ይበሉ። 27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
 ምላሴ ጽድቅህን ሁልጊዜም ምስጋናህን ይናገራል። 28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.

Amen.

Author: Professor Tony Magana

Professor Tony Magana is Head of the Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences at Mekelle University in Mekelle, Ethiopia. He directs a neurosurgery residency and training program as well as neuroscience research.

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