(12)I, I am the One who comforts you! What ails you that you fear Man who must die, Mortals who fare like grass?

(16)Have put My words in your mouth And sheltered you with My hand; who planted the skies and made firm the earth,

I Have said to Zion: You are My people! (17) Rouse, rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, You who from GOD’s hand
Have drunk God’s wrath-filled cup, You who have drained to the dregs The bowl, the cup of reeling!

(1)Awake, awake, O Zion!Clothe yourself in splendor; Put on your robes of majesty, Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and the impure Shall never enter you again.(2)Arise, shake off the dust, Sit [on your throne], Jerusalem! Loose the bonds from your neck, O captive one, Fair Zion!

(7)How welcome on the mountain Are the footsteps of the herald Announcing happiness, Heralding good fortune, Announcing victory, Telling Zion, “Your God reigns!”

(11)Turn, turn away, touch naught impure As you depart from there; Keep pure, as you go forth from there, You who bear the vessels of GOD!

(1)Comfort, oh comfort My people, Says your God.

(16)This poem was written by Rabbi Solomon Halevy Alkabetz, whose name שְׁלֹמֹה הַלֵוִי is spelled out by the first letter of each stanza. In this poem, the bridegroom (Israel) calls to his Beloved Friend (God) asking that He join him in welcoming his bride (the Sabbath). The concept of welcoming the Sabbath goes back to Talmudic times. Rabbi Chanina robed himself and stood at sunset on the eve of the Sabbath and exclaimed, “Come! Let us go forth to welcome the Sabbath Queen.” Rabbi Yanai garbed himself in festive attire on Sabbath eve and exclaimed; “Come bride, Come bride” (Shabbos 119a).

(17) Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(18)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(19) “Preserve” and “Remember” in a single utterance the One Almighty caused us to hear; Adonoy is One, and His Name is One; for fame, for glory, and for praise.

(20)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(21) To greet the Sabbath, come let us go for it is the source of blessing; from the very beginning, of old, it was appointed; last in creation, first in [God's] thought.

(22)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(23)On Yom Tov and Chol Hamoed skip to יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאל

(24) Sanctuary of the King, royal city, arise, come forth from the upheaval; too long have you dwelt in the valley of weeping; He will show you abundant pity.

(25)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(26) Shake the dust off yourself, arise, dress up in your garments of glory, my people; through the son of Yishai the Bethlehemite, draw near to my soul and redeem it.

(27)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(28) Wake up! wake up! for your light has come, arise and shine. Awaken! awaken! utter a song, The glory of Adonoy is revealed upon you.

(29)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(30) Feel not ashamed or humiliated why are you bowed down, why do you moan? In you will take refuge the poor of my people; and the city will be rebuilt on its ancient site.

(31)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(32) They will be ravaged, those who ravaged you, and they will be cast far off, all who devour you. Your God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.

(33)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(34) Right and left you will spread out. and Adonoy, you will praise; through the man descended from Peretz we will rejoice and exult.

(35)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(36)The chazzan and congregation turn to face the entrance while reciting this verse. While saying the words בּוֹאִי כַלָּה , Come Bride bow and turn back, to signify that the Sabbath is entering.

(37) Come in peace, crown of her husband, come with song, (rejoicing) and good cheer; amidst the faithful of the treasured people. Come Bride, come Bride, come Bride, Shabbos Queen!

(38)Refrain: Come my Beloved Friend to greet the bride, let us welcome the Sabbath.

(4)Nevermore shall you be called “Forsaken,”Nor shall your land be called “Desolate”;But you shall be called “I delight in her,”And your land “Espoused.”For GOD takes delight in you,
And your land shall be espoused.(5)As a youth espouses a maiden,Your sons shall espouse you;
And as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,So will your God rejoice over you.

(6)Raise your eyes to the heavens, And look upon the earth beneath:Though the heavens should melt away like smoke, And the earth wear out like a garment, And its inhabitants die out as well, My victory shall stand forever, My triumph shall remain unbroken.(7) Listen to Me, you who care for the right, O people who lay My instruction to heart! Fear not mortals’ insults, And be not dismayed at their jeers; (8) For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, The worm shall eat them up like wool.
But My triumph shall endure forever, My salvation through all the ages.

(11)Hear, O ETERNAL One, and have mercy on me;O ETERNAL One, be my help!”(12)You turned my lament into dancing,you undid my sackcloth and girded me with joy,(13)that [my] whole being might sing hymns to You endlessly;O my ETERNAL God, I will praise You forever.

(1)Listen to Me, you who pursue justice, You who seek GOD:
Look to the rock you were hewn from, To the quarry you were dug from.(2)Look back to Abraham your father And to Sarah who brought you forth. For he was only one when I called him, But I blessed him and made him many.(3)Truly GOD has comforted Zion,
Comforted all her ruins—Made her wilderness like Eden, Her desert like the Garden of GOD.
Gladness and joy shall abide there, Thanksgiving and the sound of music.

I, I am He who comforts you”: Scripture says “who comforts you” in the plural, but then says “Who are you?” in the feminine singular, and afterward says “you have forgotten” and “you are afraid” in the masculine singular. This is the customary manner of Scripture when addressing the Congregation of Israel: when it speaks in the plural, it addresses the individual members; when it speaks in the singular, it addresses the nation as a whole; and when it speaks in the feminine, it addresses the congregation.

(1)I am he that comforteth you. The pronouns I and you, refer to the prophet and the people respectively. (2)Thou. It is generally believed that Israel is here addressed; but I think, that the prophet speaks to his own soul, in a prophetical spirit; comp. And I have put my words in thy mouth (ver. 16).

We come from dust, and return to dust. We labour by our lives for bread, we are like broken shards, like dry grass, and like a withered flower; like a passing shadow and a vanishing cloud, like a breeze that passes, like dust that scatters, like a fleeting dream. But You are the king who lives eternal.

(2) On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Teaching before the congregation, men and women and all who could listen with understanding.

(9) Nehemiah the Tirshatha, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were explaining to the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the ETERNAL your God: you must not mourn or weep,” for all the people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Teaching. (10) He further said to them, “Go, eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks and send portions to whoever has nothing prepared, for the day is holy to our Sovereign. Do not be sad, for your rejoicing in GOD is the source of your strength.” (11) The Levites were quieting the people, saying, “Hush, for the day is holy; do not be sad.” (12) Then all the people went to eat and drink and send portions and make great merriment, for they understood the things they were told.

(8)Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days as joyous for the Jewish people as the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur, ...

And we are told in the Pesiqta, from Bereshit until the 17th of Tammuz we conclude with something related to the matter of the portions. From there on, everything goes according to the time and according to the scenario: three of rebuke and seven of comfort and two of repentance. And their mnemonic is DShḤ NV' ARQ ShDSh.

“When Rosh Chodesh Av falls on Shabbat, the haftarah is ‘Your new moons and appointed festivals My soul hates’” (Isaiah 1:14).

We do not follow this ruling. Instead, we read from Jeremiah, “Hear the word of the Lord” (Jeremiah 2:4), and on the Shabbat preceding Tisha B’Av we read “The vision of Isaiah” (Isaiah 1:1).

The reason is that we follow the Pesikta and recite the three haftarot of calamity before Tisha B’Av. They are:

“The words of Jeremiah” (Divrei Yirmiyahu; Jeremiah 1:1)

“Hear the word of the Lord” (Shim’u devar Adonai; Jeremiah 2:4)

“The vision of Isaiah” (Chazon Yeshayahu; Isaiah 1:1)

After Tisha B’Av come the seven haftarot of consolation, followed by two haftarot of repentance. They are:

“Comfort, comfort” (Nachamu, nachamu; Isaiah 40:1)

“But Zion said” (Vatomer Tziyon; Isaiah 49:14)

“O afflicted one, storm-tossed” (Aniyah so’arah; Isaiah 54:11)

“I, I am the One who comforts you”

(Anochi, Anochi; Isaiah 51:12)

“Sing, O barren one” (Roni akarah; Isaiah 54:1)

“Arise, shine” (Kumi ori; Isaiah 60:1)

“I will greatly rejoice” (Sos asis; Isaiah 61:10)

“Seek the Lord” (Dirshu; Isaiah 55:6)

“Return, O Israel” (Shuvah; Hosea 14:2)

We therefore place “O afflicted one, storm-tossed” before “Sing, O barren one,” because it is the nature of these consolations to become progressively greater and more praiseworthy.

This sequence begins with Parashat Pinchas, and its mnemonic is:

דש״ח נו״ע אר״ק שד״ש

Divrei [Yirmiyahu], Shim’u, Chazon; Nachamu, Vatomer [Tziyon], Aniyah [so’arah]; Anochi, Roni [akarah], Kumi [ori]; Sos [asis], Dirshu, Shuvah.

“I will greatly rejoice” is always read when the Torah portion is Atem Nitzavim—that is, on the Shabbat preceding Rosh Hashanah—because it is the last of the consolations. “Seek the Lord” is read on the Fast of Gedaliah, and “Return, O Israel” on the Shabbat preceding Yom Kippur.

When there is a Shabbat between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, “Seek the Lord” is read on the Shabbat preceding Yom Kippur, because it contains the verse, “Seek the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6), referring to the Ten Days of Repentance. “Return, O Israel” is then read between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, because it contains the verse, “I will give you the early rain and the late rain” (Joel 2:23), as well as, “The Lord has sounded His voice before His army” (Joel 2:11)—a passage concerned with water and therefore especially appropriate before Sukkot.

This practice, established according to the Pesikta, should never be altered. Rabbeinu Tam explained it this way as well. One should not follow the opinion of “Rav HaChovel,” who reverses and confuses the order by placing “Return, O Israel” before Yom Kippur and “I will greatly rejoice” between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. One should not interrupt between the first six consolations and the seventh.

Rather, follow the words of Rabbeinu Tam:

“With the upright it is properly concluded: ‘I will greatly rejoice’ at its beginning, and ‘Return’ at its end.”

As for why we do not read Chazon on a Shabbat that coincides with Rosh Chodesh Av: we hold that the formal mourning practices take effect only during the week in which Tisha B’Av occurs. Rav, who rules that Chazon should be read, maintains that the mourning begins immediately upon the arrival of Rosh Chodesh. That, however, is not the accepted halakhah. Rabbi Eliezer of Metz explained it this way as well, and therefore we read “Hear the word of the Lord.”

Similarly, we follow Masechet Soferim by reading “Moses pleaded” (Vayechal; Exodus 32:11) on public fast days, although the Mishnah states that the reading should be the blessings and curses.