Texts from their published editions. Guidance on what this tradition does at this moment is on the occasion page, and background on the tradition is at /traditions/jewish.
Texts from their published editions
Each text below was transcribed from the edition named under it and checked twice, independently, against that edition. Where the two transcriptions disagreed by even one character, the text is not shown here. That is a claim about wording only: these are not selected or endorsed for any particular situation, and nobody credentialed in the tradition has signed them. Older spelling is kept as the edition prints it.
Psalm 23 (JPS 1917)
A short psalm of trust attributed to David, widely used at funerals, at memorial gatherings and at the Sabbath afternoon meal in some communities. In Jewish use it is read in Hebrew from the Book of Psalms and is not tied to a fixed liturgical slot the way the fixed prayers are.
English · The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text (JPS), 1917
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
He guideth me in straight paths for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
For Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Jewish Publication Society of America, 1917. Published 1917, before 1929, US public domain. Source
The Shema, first paragraph (JPS 1917)
The Shema, first paragraph (JPS 1917), as it appears in the edition cited below.
English · The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text (JPS), 1917
HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart;
and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.
Jewish Publication Society of America, 1917. Published 1917, before 1929, US public domain. Source
Wording and scope vary between editions and between communities, so this entry is tied to one named edition and makes no claim about which form is right in a given setting.
Nothing here has been signed by a reviewer credentialed in this tradition. When that happens, reviewed prayers appear above these, and these stay where they are, as an anthology. How that works.