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 2B The Passover Haggadah

And gave their land as a heritage, His mercy endures forever;

A heritage to Israel his servant, His mercy endures forever;

Who remembered us when we were downcast, His mercy endures forevers

And delivered us from our foes, His mercy endures forever;

Who gives food to all creatures, His merey endures forever;

Give thanks to the God of heaven, His mercy endures forever.

NISHMATH

‘The soul of every living being shall bless thy name, Lord our God; the spirit of all mortals shall ever glorify and extol thy fame, our King. From eternity to eternity thou art God. Besides thee we have no king who redeems and saves, ransoms and rescues, sustains and shows mercy in all times of woe and stress. We have no King but thee.

God of the first and of the last, God of all creatures, Lord of all generations, endlessly praised be he who guides his world with kindness and his creatures with mercy. The Lord neither slumbers nor sleeps; he rouses those who sleep and awakens those who slumber; he enables the speechless to speak and sets the captives free; he supports all who fall and raises all who are bowed dowt To thee alone we give thanks.

Were our mouth filled with song as the sea [is with water], and our tongue with ringing praise as the roaring waves; were our lips full of adoration as the wide expanse of heaven, and our eyes sparkling like the sun or the moon; were our hands spread out in prayer as the eagles of the sky and our feet as swift as the deer— we should still be unable to thank thee and bless thy name, Lord

in this beautiful poem, which has been modified and expanded in the course of centuries. It is held that Nishmath is a composite poem, consisting of three independent parts. The first paragraph was known in mishnaic times, the second was composed in talmudic times (up to ninnen), and the concluding part was added during the early geonie period. �