The Hodayot, or Thanksgiving Hymns from the Dead Sea Scrolls

https://tianmu.org/good-work-library/judean/dead-sea-scrolls/hymns-and-prayers/thanksgiving-hymns

Text: Thanksgiving Hymns (הודיות, 1QHᵃ), Columns III–XXVI

Source Language: Late Second Temple Hebrew

Original Manuscript: Qumran Cave 1, discovered 1947

Source Transcription: García Martínez, F. & Tigchelaar, E.J.C., The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, Brill, 1997

Translation: New Tianmu Anglican Church (Good Works Translation), 2026

Translation Method: Blind translation from Hebrew source text. No existing English translation was consulted during the drafting process. Extensively fragmentary columns are translated from readable portions; lacunae are indicated with [...].

Register: Gospel (plain, direct, warm)

The Thanksgiving Hymns — Hodayot in Hebrew — are a collection of devotional poems from Qumran Cave 1. Twenty-four columns survive, though the opening columns are badly damaged. Each hymn typically begins with "I thank You, Lord" or "Blessed are You, Lord," and moves through a landscape of human frailty, divine mercy, cosmic wonder, and grateful praise.

These are the most intimate texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Where the Community Rule legislates and the War Scroll commands, the Thanksgiving Hymns pray. Several hymns may have been composed by the Teacher of Righteousness himself — the anonymous founder of the Qumran community. Whether or not that is true, the voice that speaks here is unmistakably singular: one human being, made of clay and dust, standing in awe before the God of knowledge.

This is a Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated directly from the Hebrew transcription of García Martínez & Tigchelaar (Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, Brill, 1997). No existing English translation was consulted. Lacunae are marked with [...] where the scroll is damaged.

Fragments of the Opening Hymns

Columns III–IV are badly damaged. Only fragments survive.

[...] the oppressed [...] and His mercies upon [...] the poor [...] And who can measure the might [...] of old [...] Your might [...]

[...] shall stand for all the years of eternity [...] from Your hand all things sealed [...] the sons of man, according to their understanding [...] His kingdom. Who has made all these things? [...] and to You belongs desire, and in righteousness [...] You shall set [...] before You [...] void and the inclination of clay [...] and holiness, and as You have willed [...] for Your name [...]

[...] without judgment [...] a devouring fire [...] the flesh of its slain [...] in its dryness and a stumbling [...] without judgment [...] striking suddenly [...] melting like wax before fire [...]

Thanksgiving for Forgiveness

I thank You, Lord, for hidden things [...] which they did not attain [...] and from the judgment [...] thoughts of wickedness You shook off. You purified Your servant from all his transgressions, in the abundance of Your mercy, as You spoke through Moses: to bear transgression, iniquity, and sin, and to atone for guilt and unfaithfulness.

You kindled the foundations of mountains, and fire devours to the depths of Sheol. But those [...] by Your judgments You have preserved for Your servants in faithfulness, that their seed may stand before You all their days. You raised up an everlasting name — to bear transgressions and to cast away all their iniquities, giving them as an inheritance all the glory of Adam and length of days.

I thank You — from the spirits You have placed in me I find an answer of the tongue, to recount Your righteous acts, Your patience, and Your acts of forgiveness for former transgressions — to fall down and to beg for mercy upon my transgression and the perversity of my heart. For I have wallowed in impurity and have walked far from the counsel of truth. But I was not weary, and to You belongs the righteousness, and to Your name the blessing forever. Act according to Your righteousness and redeem Your servant, and let the wicked come to an end.

I understood that the one You have chosen — You make his way straight, and by the understanding of Your knowledge You restrain him from sinning against You, restoring to him his humility through Your chastisements. You have hedged in Your servant from sinning against You and from stumbling in all the words of Your will. Strengthen [...] against the spirits of wickedness, to walk in all that You love and to reject all that You hate and to do what is good in Your eyes, for the spirit of flesh is Your servant's [...].

I thank You, for You have poured out Your holy spirit upon Your servant [...] his heart [...]

Psalm for the Instructor

A psalm for the Instructor, to fall down before God [...] the works of God [...] and to understand [...] the ways of eternity [...] knowledge, and to understand the man of flesh and the mystery of spirits [...]

Blessed are You, Lord, for the spirit of flesh [...] with the power of Your might [...] with the abundance of Your goodness, the length of Your patience, and the zeal of Your judgments [...] without measure.

The chosen one in knowledge shall understand all insight [...] and the mysteries of thought [...] For to You alone belongs holiness from of old and forever. You are He [...] the holy ones.

You have revealed the ways of truth and the works of evil — wisdom and folly [...] righteousness [...] and truth, and understanding — wickedness and folly. All who walk [...] their appointed times for peace and destruction in all [...] judgment — eternal glory and abundance of delights. And joy forever for the works [...] appointed.

These You established from of old to judge by them all Your works, before You created them, together with the host of Your spirits and the congregation of Your holy ones, together with the firmament of Your holiness and all its hosts — together with the earth and all its offspring, in the seas and in the deeps, according to all Your designs, for all the ages of eternity. And the appointed visitation — for You established them from of old, and the work of [...] in them, so that they might recount Your glory throughout all Your dominion. For You showed them what they had not seen — that which existed before, and to create new things, to break down what had been established from of old, and to raise up that which shall be forever. For You established them from of old, and You shall be forever.

In the mysteries of Your understanding You apportioned all these things, to make known Your glory. But what is he — the spirit of flesh — to understand all these things and to comprehend the mystery of Your great wonder? And what is one born of woman, amid all Your awesome works? He is a structure of dust, kneaded of water, whose foundation is guilt and sin, a perverse spirit rules in him, and whose shame is a source of impurity.

If he acts wickedly, he becomes an everlasting sign and a portent for generations — an abomination to all flesh. Only by Your goodness is a man made righteous, and in the abundance of Your mercy You purify him. In Your glory You adorn him and give him dominion amid abundance of delights with everlasting peace and length of days. For Your word does not turn back.

And I, Your servant, know through the spirit You have given me — righteous are all Your works, and Your word does not turn back. All Your appointed seasons are established [...] clear for their purposes. And I know [...]

Blessed Are the Seekers

[...] You have revealed our ear [...] Blessed are the men of truth and the chosen ones of righteousness — seekers of understanding and seekers of insight, builders of [...] lovers of mercy and humble of spirit, purified by affliction and refined by the crucible [...] restraining themselves until the time of Your judgment, and watching for Your salvation.

You have strengthened Your statutes in their hands, to do justice in the world and to give an inheritance to all [...] holiness for generations of eternity. All the foundations of their works, together with delight [...] the men of Your vision.

Blessed are You, Lord, who gives understanding to the heart of Your servant — to comprehend all these things, to understand [...] to restrain oneself from the works of wickedness, and to bless in righteousness all who choose Your will, to love all that You have loved and to abhor all that You have hated.

You instructed Your servant in the spirits of man, for according to the spirits [...] between good and evil [...] to inform them of their works. I know from Your understanding that in Your favour upon a man You strengthen his lot with the spirit of Your holiness, and so You bring me near to Your understanding. According to my nearness, my zeal burns against all who do wickedness and all men of deceit. For all who draw near to You do not rebel against Your mouth, and all who know You do not alter Your words, for You are righteous and true — all Your chosen ones.

All wickedness and injustice You shall destroy forever, and Your righteousness shall be revealed before the eyes of all Your works.

I know through the abundance of Your goodness, and by an oath I have bound myself never to sin against You, and never to do anything evil in Your eyes. So I have been brought into the community with all the men of my counsel. According to his understanding I shall bring each man near, and according to the greatness of his inheritance I shall love him. I shall not lift the face of the wicked, and the bribe of the wicked I shall not recognise. I shall not exchange Your truth for wealth, nor any of Your judgments for a bribe. Rather, as You draw each man near, so shall I love him; and as You put each far away, so shall I abhor him. I shall not bring into the counsel of Your truth one who is not reckoned in Your covenant.

I thank You, Lord — great as Your strength and abundant as Your wonders, from everlasting to everlasting. You are gracious and great, abounding in mercy, forgiving those who repent of transgression, but visiting the iniquity of the wicked. You love truth with generosity of heart, and iniquity You hate forever.

And I, Your servant — You have graced me with a spirit of knowledge, to love truth and to abhor all ways of wickedness. I love You freely, and with all my heart [...] Your insight. For from Your hand this comes, and without Your will nothing shall be.

The Birth of the Man-Child

The most famous passage in the Hymns — the poet uses the imagery of a woman in the agonies of childbirth to describe the birth of something wondrous.

Now my soul [...] they reckon me as nothing. They make my soul like a ship in the depths of the sea, like a fortified city before its enemies.

I am in anguish like a woman giving birth for the first time, for her pangs have turned upon her and the pain is fierce upon her womb — to bring forth a firstborn through the womb of the pregnant one. For children have come to the brink of death, and the one pregnant with a man-child suffers in her pains. For through the waves of death she shall give birth to a male, and amid the pangs of Sheol there shall spring forth from the crucible of the pregnant one a wonderful counsellor with his might, and a man shall be delivered from the waves.

In the one pregnant with him, all the pangs come rushing, and fierce pain at their births, and trembling seizes those who bear them. At his birth all the pangs shall come upon the crucible of the pregnant one, and she who is pregnant with the viper suffers a fierce pang. The waves of the pit burst forth for all the works of terror. The foundations of the wall shake like a ship upon the face of the waters. The heavens roar with a thundering sound. Those who dwell in the dust are terrified by the roaring of the waters, and their wise men — all their wisdom is swallowed up.

The deeps of the sea rage with the swirling of the deep waters. The waves rise high, and the breakers of water roar. As they rage, Sheol and Abaddon open — all the arrows of the pit fly with their steps to the abyss. They sound their voice. The gates of Sheol open for all the works of the viper. The doors of the pit close upon the one pregnant with wickedness, and the eternal bars upon all the spirits of the viper.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance

I thank You, Lord, for You redeemed my soul from the pit. From Sheol and Abaddon You raised me up to an everlasting height. I walk on a limitless plain, and I know there is hope for the one You formed from dust for the eternal counsel. The perverted spirit You purified from great transgression, to stand in the station with the host of the holy ones, and to enter into community with the congregation of the sons of heaven.

You cast for a man an eternal lot with the spirits of knowledge, to praise Your name in the community of jubilation, and to recount Your wonders before all Your works.

But I — a creature of clay, what am I? Kneaded of water, to whom am I reckoned? What strength do I have? For I stand at the border of wickedness, and my lot is with the wretched. The soul of the poor man lives amid great tumult, and overwhelming calamities accompany my steps.

When all the traps of the pit open and all the snares of wickedness are spread, and the net of the wretched upon the face of the waters — when all the arrows of the pit fly without return, and are shot without hope — when the line falls upon judgment and the lot of wrath upon the forsaken — when the fury of wrath comes upon the hidden ones, and the appointed time of fury upon all of Belial — when the cords of death tighten with no escape, and the torrents of Belial overflow all the high banks like a fire devouring all who drink from them, consuming every green and dry tree, sweeping with flames of fire until no one who drinks from them remains — it devours the foundations of clay and the surface of dry land. The foundations of mountains become a burning, and the roots of flint become torrents of pitch. It devours to the great deep. The torrents of Belial burst forth to Abaddon. The creatures of the deep roar with the noise of those casting up mud. The earth cries out over the calamity that comes upon the world. All its creatures shake and stagger, and all who are upon it go mad with the great calamity.

For God thunders with the roar of His might, and His holy dwelling resounds with His true glory. The host of heaven adds its voice. The everlasting foundations melt and shake. The war of the heavenly warriors sweeps through the world and does not turn back until the annihilation that is decreed forever — and there is nothing like it.

I thank You, Lord, for You have been to me a wall of strength against all who destroy [...] You hide me from the calamities of turmoil [...] bars of iron that none may enter [...] around it, lest [...]

Thanksgiving for Light

I thank You, Lord, for You illuminated my face for Your covenant. From [...] I seek You, and like the dawn established for its perfection You have appeared to me.

But they — Your people [...] they flattered them, and interpreters of deceit led them astray. They stumbled without understanding, for their works were done in folly. I was despised by them, and they did not esteem me when You strengthened Yourself in me.

[...] from the womb to old age, in the guilt of unfaithfulness. And I knew that righteousness does not belong to man, nor perfection of the way to the son of man. To God Most High belong all the works of righteousness, and the way of man cannot be established except by the spirit that God has fashioned for him — to make the way perfect for the sons of man, that all His works may know the strength of His might and the abundance of His mercy upon all the sons of His favour.

Trembling and shaking seized me, and all my bones shook. My heart melted like wax before fire, and my knees flowed like water poured down a slope. For I remembered my guilt and the unfaithfulness of my fathers when the wicked rose against Your covenant and the wretched against Your word. I said: In my transgression I am abandoned from Your covenant. But when I remembered the strength of Your hand, together with the abundance of Your mercy, I took courage and rose. My spirit held firm in the face of affliction, for I leaned upon Your mercies and the abundance of Your compassion. For You atone for iniquity and purify man from guilt by Your righteousness.

Not for man [...] You have done this, for You created the righteous and the wicked [...] I will hold fast to Your covenant until [...] for You are truth, and righteous are all Your works.

Thanksgiving for the Source of Life

I thank You, Lord, for You did not abandon me when I sojourned among a foreign people. You did not judge me according to my guilt, nor abandon me to the schemes of my inclination. You helped my life from the pit, and gave [...] amid lions destined for the sons of guilt — lions that crush bones of the mighty and drink the blood of warriors. You set me in terror amid many fishermen who spread their nets upon the face of the waters, and hunters for the sons of wickedness.

But there, for judgment, You established me. The counsel of truth You strengthened in my heart, and from there a covenant for those who seek it. You closed the mouth of young lions whose teeth are like a sword and whose fangs like a sharpened spear — all their schemes designed to seize. But they did not open their mouth against me, for You, my God, hid me from the sons of man, and Your Torah You concealed in me until the time of revealing Your salvation to me. For in the distress of my soul You did not abandon me. You heard my cry in the bitterness of my soul. You recognised my pain in my sighing, and You delivered the soul of the poor one from the den of lions.

The Planting

I thank You, Lord, for You placed me by a source of flowing streams in dry land, a spring of water in a land of drought, channels watering a garden [...] a planting of cypress, elm, and cedar together — for Your glory — trees of life by a hidden spring, concealed amid all the trees of the waters.

They shall send forth a shoot for an everlasting planting, striking root before they blossom. Their roots they extend to the watercourse, and its trunk opens to living waters. It becomes an eternal source.

On the shoot of its leaves all the beasts of the forest shall feed. Its trunk shall be a trampling-ground for all who pass along the way. Its branches are for every winged bird. All the trees of the waters tower above it, for in their planting they grow tall, but toward the watercourse they do not send their root.

The shoot of holiness for the planting of truth is concealed — without esteem and without knowledge its seal is the mystery. But You, O God, have hedged in its fruit by the mystery of mighty warriors and spirits of holiness and the whirling flame of fire, so that no stranger may come to the spring of life, nor drink the holy waters with the everlasting trees, nor bear fruit with the planting of heaven. For he sees without recognising, and considers without believing in the source of life. He gives the everlasting [...] But I have been an object of contempt. The torrents surge against me, casting up their filth upon me.

But You, my God, have set in my mouth something like an autumn rain for all [...] and a spring of living water that shall not fail. When the heavens open they shall not cease, becoming a torrent overflowing upon [...] waters and seas without measure. Suddenly they pour out from their hiding place in secret [...] and they become waters of [...] every tree, green and dry — a deep pool for every creature [...] like lead in mighty waters [...] a fire. And the planting of fruit [...] eternal, an Eden of glory and fruit forever.

By my hand You opened their source, together with channels of water, turning them by a true line. The planting of their trees by the plumb-line of the sun — branches of glory. When I lift my hand to dig its channels, their roots strike into flint rock [...] in the earth their trunk. In the heat it keeps its strength.

But if I withdraw my hand, it becomes like a bush in the wilderness — its trunk like nettles in a salt flat, its channels bring forth thorns and thistles, briers and brambles [...] its banks turn to stinking trees. Before the heat its leaf withers. It is not opened to the spring [...].

The Suffering Servant

I was dumb [...] an arm broken from its joint. My foot sank in mire. My eyes turned from seeing evil, my ears from hearing of bloodshed. My heart was appalled by evil thoughts, for Belial was present when the inclination of their nature appeared.

All the foundations of my frame shuddered. My bones were disjointed. My insides heaved like a ship in a furious storm. My heart was shattered to the point of destruction. A spirit of staggering engulfed me because of the calamities of their transgression.

I thank You, Lord, for You supported me by Your strength. Your holy spirit You poured out in me — I shall not be shaken. You strengthened me before the wars of wickedness, and in all their calamities You did not terrify me.

I Am Dust

And I — dust and ashes — what can I plan unless You have willed it? What can I think without Your favour? How can I be strong unless You have made me stand? How can I have understanding unless You have formed it for me? What can I speak unless You have opened my mouth? How can I answer unless You have given me insight?

Behold — You are the Prince of the divine ones, the King of the honoured, Lord of every spirit, and Ruler over every work. Without You nothing is done. Nothing is known without Your will. There is none beside You. None compares with You in strength. None stands against Your glory. Your might is beyond price. Who among all Your great wondrous works can summon the strength to stand before Your glory? And what is he, then, who returns to his dust, that he should summon strength? For Your glory alone You have made all these things.

Blessed are You, Lord, God of mercy and abundant grace, for You made these things known to me, to recount Your wonders. I shall not be silent day or night. For Your mercy [...] in the greatness of Your goodness and the abundance of Your compassion, for I have leaned upon Your truth [...] without Your rebuke there is no stumbling, and without affliction there is no grief, apart from Your knowledge.

Thanksgiving for Knowledge

I thank You, my God, for You have wrought wonders with dust. With a creature of clay You have shown exceedingly great things. What am I, that You have instructed me in the counsel of Your truth and given me understanding of Your wondrous works, and placed thanksgiving in my mouth and praise upon my tongue, and the outpouring of my lips in a dwelling of song?

I shall sing of Your mercies. On Your might I shall meditate all the day. Continually I shall bless Your name and recount Your glory among the sons of man. In the abundance of Your goodness my soul shall delight.

I know that truth is in Your mouth, and in Your hand is righteousness, and in Your thought is all knowledge, and in Your might is all power, and all glory is Yours. In Your wrath are all judgments of affliction, and in Your goodness is abundant forgiveness, and Your mercies are upon all the sons of Your favour.

For You instructed them in the counsel of Your truth and made them wise in the mysteries of Your wonder. For the sake of Your glory You purified man from transgression, to sanctify himself for You from all unclean abominations and the guilt of unfaithfulness — to be united with the sons of Your truth and in the lot with Your holy ones, to raise up from the dust the worm of the dead to the everlasting counsel, and from a perverted spirit to Your understanding, and to stand in the station before You with the everlasting host and the spirits [...] to be renewed together with all that is and shall be, and with those who know, in a community of jubilation.

I thank You, my God. I exalt You, my Rock. In the wonder of Your wondrous things that You revealed to me [...] I looked upon [...] mercy, and I knew that righteousness belongs to You, and in Your mercies there is [...] and destruction without Your compassion.

Hymn of the Garden

[...] a source for mourning and bitterness [...] grief was not hidden from my eyes.

I knew the inclination of a man toward guilt, and the repentance of man [...] I considered, and I recognised sin and grief [...] they wore into my bones [...] groaning and sighing in a harp of lamentation, for all mournful grief, and bitter mourning — until wickedness is destroyed and there is no more affliction to cause sickness. Then I shall play on the harp of salvation, the lyre of joy, the timbrel of gladness, and the flute of praise without ceasing.

Who among all Your works can recount Your [...] In the mouth of all, Your name shall be praised forever. They shall bless You with understanding. Day by day they shall raise their voice together in joy, and there shall be no sorrow or sighing. Wickedness shall be found no more, and Your truth shall shine forth to everlasting glory and eternal peace.

Blessed are You, Lord, who gave Your servant understanding of knowledge, to comprehend Your wonders [...] to recount by the abundance of Your grace.

Blessed are You, God of mercy and compassion, great in strength and abundant in truth and overflowing in mercy in all Your works. Gladden the soul of Your servant by Your truth and purify me by Your righteousness, as I have hoped for Your goodness and waited for Your mercy and Your forgiveness. You opened my bonds, and in my grief You comforted me. I leaned upon Your mercy.

Blessed are You, Lord, for You wrought these things. You placed in the mouth of Your servant thanksgiving and prayer and an answer of the tongue. You prepared for me a work [...]

The Heavenly Liturgy

The final hymns rise to cosmic praise.

[...] my soul expands [...] safely in a holy dwelling, in quiet and peace, with the eternal winds, in tents of glory and salvation. I shall praise Your name among those who fear You.

For the Instructor: thanksgiving and prayer, to fall prostrate and make supplication continually, from season to season, with the coming of light to its dominion, at the circuits of the day in its order, according to the statutes of the great luminary. At the turning of evening and the going forth of light, at the beginning of the dominion of darkness, at the season of the night in its circuit, at the turning of morning, at the time when it is gathered into its dwelling before the light — at the going forth of night and the coming of day, continually.

In all the birthings of time, the foundations of the ages, the circuits of the seasons in their order — by their signs, for all their dominion, in a sure order, from the mouth of God, the testimony of what is and what shall be — and apart from Him it never was and never shall be. For the God of knowledge established it, and there is no other beside Him.

And I — the Instructor — I know You, my God, by the spirit You have given me. Faithfully I have heard of the mystery of Your wonder. By Your holy spirit You opened within me knowledge of the mystery of Your understanding, and the source of Your might [...] the abundance of Your mercy and the zeal of destruction [...]

The Final Praises

Sing, O beloved! Sing to the King of Glory!

Rejoice in the congregation of God! Ring out in the tent of salvation! Praise in the holy dwelling! Exalt together in the eternal host! Ascribe greatness to our God and glory to our King! Sanctify His name with vigorous lips and a tongue of everlasting praise! Raise your voices together in all the ages! Proclaim and declare — pour out with unceasing joys of eternity!

Bow down and bless — the One who is wondrous in majesty — who makes known the might of His hand, who seals the mysteries and reveals what is hidden, who raises the stumbling and lifts those who fall, who restores the walking of those who wait for knowledge, and brings low the assemblies of the eternally proud.

For He has brought low the height of spirit — without remnant. He has raised the poor from the dust — up to the clouds, exalted in stature, and with the divine ones in the assembly of the community — for everlasting destruction. And those who stumble on the earth He raises without price — their steps with everlasting joy, their dwelling-places with eternal glory that shall not cease.

Announce His might! In His knowledge, by the abundance of mercy and the greatness of compassion upon all the sons of His truth — we know You, God of righteousness, and we understand [...] glory. For we have seen Your zeal in the power of might — and we have recognised [...] mercy, and the wonder of forgiveness, from season to season.

What is flesh before these things? And what [...] to recount them, and to stand in the station [...] the sons of heaven? There is no mediator to answer [...].

Source Text

Hebrew source text: Thanksgiving Hymns — Source Text