Psalm 136 can be looked at as a practice passage for the new Hebrew reader. It, like a children's reader, has a repeated passage -- כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃ -- which translates to "His steadfast love endures forever." The rest of the verses are short sayings of God's work in history and in the nation of Israel. These are punctuated by the recurring refrain. Verse 1: "Give thanks to YHWH for He is good! His steadfast love endures forever." One can imagine the choral reading of the passage by the congregation. I would love to hear it.

I endeavor to use this passage to practice Hebrew reading fluency. Many of the Psalms I have memorized (in English), I intend to use as a pathway to practice reading Hebrew (and I still intend to get there). I have, however, decided to use this one -- Psalm 136, which I have not memorized in English (It's on my list but I have not tackled learning it yet). Nevertheless, I am tackling it now in Hebrew. I am convinced that adding an attempt to read fluently -- with much practice -- will be of assistance to learning the language. This platform is a good place to put the Hebrew for reading which is readily accessible.

I have not written this as of yet, but I am also working my way through a Hebrew workbook for first year Seminarians. Since I have completed a full year of Biblical Hebrew at the seminary level (though many years ago), I feel as if this is a way to revive the language I have always desired to better read. I am currently memorizing Perfect/Imperfect verbs. I have memorized the pattern verb -- to kill -- or קטל -- in a parsed table in all forms ... perfect and imperfect (right now that is what I am saying to myself when sleep is elusive rather than memorizing a Psalm; though I am also working on Psalm 82). I have made flashcards of seven strong verbs in all the forms (3ms, 3fs, 2ms, 2fs, 1cs ... and the plurals similarly .... i.e., he killed; she killed; etc. he will kill; they will kill; y’all [y’all is Texan speak for 2nd Person plural] will kill, etc., and I am working to fluency with recognition of these verbs. I am ready and anxious to move to chapter 8 of Essential Biblical Hebrew when I have sufficiently mastered perfect and imperfect verbs.

For reading practice (I will add verses as I master these with some fluency):

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Psalms 136 (vv1-5)

1 הוֹדוּ לַיהוָה כִּי־טוֹב כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃

2 הוֹדוּ לֵֽאלֹהֵי הָאֱלֹהִים כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃

3 הוֹדוּ לַאֲדֹנֵי הָאֲדֹנִים כִּי לְעֹלָם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃

4 לְעֹשֵׂה נִפְלָאוֹת גְּדֹלוֹת לְבַדּוֹ כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃

5 לְעֹשֵׂה הַשָּׁמַיִם בִּתְבוּנָה כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃

Give thanks to YHWH for He is good! His steadfast love endures forever.**

Give thanks to the God of Gods! His steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of Lords!** His steadfast love endures forever.

Who alone does great wonders. His steadfast love endures forever.

Who by understanding made the heavens. His steadfast love endures forever.

**I will read verse one as "Ho-Do, L-Ha-Shem ki tov." Which translates to: "Give thanks to ‘Ha-Shem‘ for He is good." Normally YHWH is read as Adonai in place of saying the Divine Name. Adonai is the ordinary word translated as "Lord" and is the normal substitute word when reading YHWH. Ha-Shem is also sometimes used to replace pronouncing the Divine Name. In Psalm 136, in verse three (just 2 verses from verse 1), Adonai is used in scripture in the same way YHWH was used in verse 1. So, verse 3 would translate like: “Give thanks to the Adonai of Adonim [Lord of Lords].” Thus, it seems appropriate to use Ha-Shem ["the name"] in verse 1 since it is so close to a different (actual/non-replacement) use of Adonai. I don't know how a Jewish reader would read Psalm 136 but this is my approach for now. I also have no qualms with pronouncing YHWH, but I am following this practice (Saying Adonay rather than pronouncing YHWH) in my reading attempts to gain Hebrew fluency.