Thanksgiving in America

 

Transcript of President George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation from October 3, 1789.

 

By the President of the United States of America—

 

A Proclamation

 

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their Joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

 

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

 

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us—and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

 

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

 

Go. Washington

Something To Consider:

 

Thoughts on the Election

 

What do you have planned for this week?

 

When setting a trap just doesn't work out:

 

A Little Different Kind of Proverb of the Week

 

Proverb of the Week

Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.              – Proverbs 26:10 (ESV)

The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors. - Proverbs 26:10 (KJV)

This Proverb of the Week will depart from my normal practice of commenting on its content to explain the very different rendering of the same Hebrew text by various Bible translations.

So what’s going on here? The issue comes down the fact that words in Hebrew have a range of use and meaning which often depends on the context in which they are used, just as words in English do. As it turns out, two of the key Hebrew words in this proverb have a wide range of possible meaning. Keep in mind that the word “God” is not in the original Hebrew of this proverb as indicated by it being shown in italics in the KJV to indicate it was added to help clarify meaning. The word translated as “great” in the KJV is translated as “one who hires” in the ESV, both representing someone in authority. Likewise, the Hebrew word translated as “formed” in the KJV is translated as “wounds” in the ESV, both legitimate translations.

The difference in how the proverb is translated largely comes down to whether the translators understood the authority mentioned to be the great God, as the KJV does, or merely an employer as the ESV and many other translations render it.  It’s important to note that the truth of both translations of this proverb can be supported by other passages of scripture, and though only one of them can properly reflect the intention of the inspired author, this should not be cause for alarm over the trustworthiness of the Bible.

Most important of all is to note that there are only a handful of verses in the Bible that fall into this category of being this difficult to translate, and none of them, in any way, effect any major Christian doctrine or belief.