To the chief musician, a psalm of David: In the Lord I have taken refuge. This is what the verse says, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid" (Psalm 118:6). It can be compared to a king who had a servant whom he loved, but his other servants were jealous of him. The king said, "Whoever is compassionate towards me, I am grateful to him." "Nodi" should be read as "Nodu" (meaning "flee"), as Rabbi Acha said, "When Israel was exiled, the nations of the world rejoiced and tried to remove them from their place." Rabbi Acha explained that the verse "Like a bird wandering from its nest, so is a man wandering from his place" (Proverbs 27:8) refers to the Lord, who is a warrior and has no place other than the Temple, as it says, "This is my resting place forever and ever" (Psalm 132:14).

Shavna and Yoash. What did they do? They wrote letters and concealed them in an arrow and shot it towards Sennacherib through the window. In the letter, they wrote that all of Israel seeks to make peace with you, but Hezekiah and Isaiah do not allow us to do so. They shot it in darkness. To the two righteous ones, Hezekiah and Isaiah: ...

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? If the righteous ones who sustain your world come and the wicked people come and disturb them, what can the righteous one of the world do? If a stone which is needed for sustenance of the world stands and the wicked come and disturb it, what can the righteous one of the world do? What if they sink until the depths, and the wicked come and disturb them, what did you do for those who perform commandments?...

“The Lord is in His Holy Temple. The Lord-His throne is in Heaven…” (Tehillim 11:4) When Israel does the will of the Makom ‘The Lord is in His Holy Temple,’ and when they do not do the will of the Makom ‘The Lord-His throne is in Heaven.’ R’ Elazar said: whether the Holy Temple is destroyed or not the Divine Presence doesn’t move from within it, as it says “The Lord is in His Holy Temple.” Even though His throne is in Heaven, His Presence is in the Holy Temple, as it says “…and My eyes and My heart shall be there at all times.” (Kings I 9:3) So too it says “…and He answered me from His holy mount to eternity.” (Tehillim 3:5) Even though it is just a mountain, it maintains its holiness. R’ Elazar said: see what is written “…for now you shall go forth from the city; and you shall dwell (shachantah) in the field…” (Micah 4:10) It is written as shechinati (My Presence), even though it is destroyed My Presence remains there. R’ Acha said: the Divine Presence never moved from the western wall, as it says “…behold, he is standing behind our wall…” (Shir haShirim 2:9) R’ Yanai said: when a king of flesh and blood enters his banquet hall, he does not know what is in the bed chamber. Not so the Holy One, rather ‘The Lord is in His Holy Temple. The Lord-His throne is in Heaven.’ He looks and sees the whole world, and no eye can grasp Him.

"His eyes see, his eyelids test the sons of man. For whom does he test? He tests the righteous, as it is said, 'The Lord tests the righteous' (Psalms 11:5). Why does he not test the wicked? Because they cannot withstand it, as it is said, 'But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest' (Isaiah 57:20). Rabbi Yosei bar Hanina said: This flax plant, when it is coarse, if one exerts too much pressure upon it, it snaps. But when it is fine, one may exert great pressure upon it for whatever purpose it is desired, and it will not snap. So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not test the wicked, who cannot withstand it, but He does test the righteous, as it is said, 'The Lord tests the righteous.' But the wicked and one who loves violence His soul hates." (Talmud Bavli, Berachot 5a)

"Rain upon the wicked coals and brimstone; and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup." This is as it is stated (Proverbs 26:21), "As charcoal is to embers and wood to fire, so is a contentious person to kindling strife." The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Whoever exalts himself will ultimately be judged with fire." This was seen in the generation of the Flood, as it is written (Job 6:17), "When they are hot, they vanish; when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place." This was also the fate of the people of the Tower of Babel, as it is written (Genesis 11:8), "And the Lord scattered them abroad from there upon the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city." The people of Sodom were also punished with fire, as it is written (Genesis 19:24), "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire." Pharaoh was struck with hail and fire, as it is written (Exodus 9:24), "And there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail." Sennacherib was consumed by fire, as it is written (Isaiah 10:16), "Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire." Nebuchadnezzar was also punished with fire, as it is written (Daniel 3:22), "Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." Shem's descendants, including Elam and Ashur, were burned in front of him, as it is written (Genesis 10:22), "The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur." Sisera was fought against from the heavens, as it is written (Judges 5:20), "They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera." Edom was judged with fire, as it is written (Daniel 7:11), "I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." Gog and Magog were also punished with fire, as it is written (Ezekiel 38:22), "And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone." All the other nations will also be judged with fire, as it is written (Isaiah 66:16), "For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many." The traps used to capture animals are also made of coals, as it is stated (Proverbs 7:23), "Till an arrow strike through his liver; as a bird hastens to the snare, and knows not that it is for his life." Fire and brimstone are also used for purification, as Rabbi Yudan said, "When a person smells sulfur, his soul trembles because it knows that it will eventually have to endure it, as it is written (Jeremiah 18:17), 'I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; ' There are four cups of retribution for the nations of the world, and four cups of salvation for Israel."......

"For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will see His face." Rabbi Judah bar Simon said, "Everyone hates his profession, but the Holy One, blessed be He, does not hate His profession, for the Lord is righteous, and He loves the righteous." And who are those who will see His face? Seven classes who are destined to stand in the future before the Holy One, blessed be He. And what is the excellent class among them who receive the divine presence? It is the class of the upright, as it is said, "The upright will see His face." And it is written elsewhere, "The upright shall sit before Your face." It should have said, "The upright will see Your face." What is the meaning of "The upright will see His face"? Before the world was created, the upright saw the divine presence. Another interpretation: "The upright will see His face" - these are the seven classes of the righteous, as it is written, "And the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament," like the sun and moon, like the stars, lightning, roses, and torches. "Like the sun," as it is said, "And His lovers are as the sun when it goes forth in its might." "Like the moon," as it is said, "And as the moon is established forever." "Like the stars," as it is said, "And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament." "Like lightning," as it is said, "They shall run like the lightning." "Like roses," as it is said, "To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim." "Like torches," as it is said, "Their appearance is as torches." And the first class sits before the King and sees the King and His face, as it is said, "The upright shall sit before Your face." And it says, "The upright will see His face." The second class is "Happy are they that dwell in Your house." The third is "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?" The fourth is "Happy is the man whom You choose." The fifth is "Lord, who shall abide in Your tabernacle?" The sixth is "Who shall dwell on Your holy hill?" The seventh is "And who shall stand in His holy place?" And all... "And opposite them are seven apartments in Gehinnom, and these are: Sheol, Abaddon, the Valley of Similarity, Tzelmoth, the Netherworld, and the Land of Dryness. Behold, there are seven apartments for the wicked and the righteous, each according to their deeds in their own apartments. They said that Ish Tzrorot, the nephew of Rabbi Yosi ben Yo'ezer, was a man of Tsoridah who rode on a horse and went before the king and went out to execute criminals. He said to his horse, "Some of you, my horse, are ridden by a master who is harsh, and some of you are ridden by a master who is gentle." He said to his provokers, "All the more so for those who do His will." He said to him, "But does not man do His will more than you?" He said to him, "All the more so for those who do His will." The matter entered him like the straw of an innkeeper, and he went and fulfilled four death sentences of the court by himself. What did he do? He brought a beam, planted it in the ground, tied Nimah to it, set up wood, surrounded it with a stone fence, and made a furnace in front of him. He stuck the sword in the middle, lit the fire under the stones, hung on the beam, strangled, and Nimah fell into the fire and the sword turned over the stone fence. Rabbi Yosi ben Yo'ezer was surprised and saw his bed floating in the air. He said, "Behold, they have prepared a place for me in the Garden of Eden.