On three occasions, [the Priests] lift up their hands four times in a day -- at dawn, at noon*, at minchah, and at neilah, the words of Rabbi Meir. And the Sages say, at minchah and neilah there was not the lifting of the hands, as it is said (Deut. 18:5), "[For God chose him (i.e., the Priest) from all your tribes] for standing and administering in the name of God, him and his sons, all the days." "His sons" are juxtaposed with "him": Just as he stands and lifts up his hands in the morning, his sons also stand and lift up their hands in the morning.

Moses instituted eight watches for the Priesthood, and eight watches for the Levites. Once David and Samuel the Seer rose up, they made them into twenty-four Priestly watches and twenty-four Levitical watches, as it is said (1 Chr. 9:22), "[David and Samuel the Seer] established them in their office of trust" -- these are the Priestly and Levitical watches. The prophets that were in Jerusalem rose up and affixed there twenty-four posts [of Israelites] corresponding to the twenty-four Priestly and Levitical watches, as it is said (Num. 28:2), "Command the Children of Israel and say to them, My sacrifices, My food ... [you are to be vigilant in offering Me at their appointed time]." It is impossible to say that all of Israel [was tasked with this duty]; rather, it teaches that the agent of a person is like himself.

[When] the time arrived for the Priestly and Levitical watch, they would ascend to Jerusalem. And the Israelites who were in the same watch, [but] who were unable to ascend to Jerusalem, would assemble in their cities and read the Act of Creation (i.e., the beginning of Genesis), and they would desist from working that entire week. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says, [the absence of] Priests and Levites and musical instruments prevents the [Temple] service [from being performed]. On the first of Nissan, there is no minchah and no neila, on account of there being a mussaf offering and a wood offering on that [day].

A large portion (i.e., more than three verses of the Act of Creation) is read by two [men of the post], and a small one by an individual, during the morning service and during mussaf, the words of Rabbi Meir.* And the Sages say, any [day] in which there is a mussaf [offering], they they read [the Act of Creation] during mussaf; and any [day] in which there is no mussaf [offering], they do not read it during mussaf. For the morning service and for mussaf, they enter the synagogues and read, and for minchah they read (i.e., recite) by heart. Rabbi Yehuda says, an individual does not read by heart; rather, they enter the synagogues and read by heart in the same way that they read the Shema (see Tos. Sotah 6:2).

Why did they see fit to specify the times for the wood offering of the Priests and the people (Taan. 4:5)? [They said,] when the returning exiles did not find wood in the [Temple] chamber, those [families] stood up and were generous with their own wood, and handed it over to the public, and thus the prophets were generous with them, such that even if the [Temple] chamber is filled with wood, and even if [there is sufficient] wood from the public, that those [families may continue to] stand up and be generous with their own wood. There should not be a sacrifice that is offered up, except if [the wood pile] started with their wood, as it is said (Neh. 10:35), "We have cast lots to bring the wood offering, etc.," and it says (Ezra 7:10), "For Ezra had prepared his heart [to expound upon the Torah of God, etc.]."

[On] those days (of the wood offerings) it is forbidden regarding eulogizing [and fasting, (both) whether when the Temple was destroyed or when the Temple was not destroyed]. Rabbi Yosi says: when the Temple was destroyed we permit it because one is mourning for them. Rabbi Elazar bar Tzadok said: I was among the descendants of S'nav, the son of Benjamin, and when Tisha B'Av fell on Shabbat and we delayed it until after Shabbat we would fast, but not complete [it].

What are the "children of the pestle-stealers" (b'nei gonvei eli) and the "children of the fig-cutters" (b'nei kotzei k'tziyot) (Taan. 4:5)? It was that at the time that the kings of Greece stationed border guards on the roads so that [the pilgrims] would not ascend to Jerusalem, in the same way that Jeroboam had stationed them. Whoever was fit [to enter the Temple] and sin-fearing in that generation would take his first fruits, cover them up with packing-figs, and place them in vessels, and take a basket and a pestle on his shoulder, and ascend. When he arrived to that same guard-post, they said to him, "Where are you going?" He said, "To make these two [clumps of] packing-figs into two rounds of fig-cake with that mortar over there that is before me, [and] with this pestle that is on my shoulder." As soon as he passed that same guard-post, he adorned [the first-fruits] and brought them up to Jerusalem.

What is the meaning of the "children of Salmai, the Netophatite"?* It was at the time that the kings of Greece stationed border guards on the roads so that [the pilgrims] would not ascend to Jerusalem, in the same way that Jeroboam ben Nebat had stationed them. Whoever was sin-fearing and fit [to enter the Temple] in that generation would bring two logs of wood and fashion them into a type of ladder (sulam), and place them on his shoulder, and ascend. When he arrived to that same guard-post, he said to him, "Where are you going?" He said, "To take two doves from that dovecote over there that is before me, with this ladder that is on my shoulder." As soon as he passed that same guard-post, he broke up [the logs of wood] and brought them up to Jerusalem, and according to how they delivered themselves on account of the Torah and on account of the commandments, therefore it turned out that they had a good name and a good remembrance for all time. And about them it says (Prov. 10:7), "The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing," and about Jeroboam ben Nebat and his colleagues it says (ibid.), "And the name of the wicked shall rot."

[From where do we derive that the Second Temple was also destroyed on the Ninth of Av (Taan. 4:6)?] Rabbi Yosei says, a meritorious matter is brought about on an auspicious day, and a deleterious matter on an inauspicious day (Taan. 29a:11 (Steinsaltz tr.)). When they destroyed the First Temple, it was at the conclusion of Shabbat, and the conclusion of the Sabbatical year, and it was the watch of Yehoyariv, and the Ninth of Av. And so too with the Second [Temple]. And [at the time of both destructions] the Levites were standing on their platform and saying (Ps. 94:23), "And He will turn their iniquity [and their evil] upon them, etc." In the future, when the Temple will be rebuilt, what does it say (1 Chr. 16:36), "Blessed be Hashem, God of Israel, from Eternity until Eternity," [and] (Ps. 72:18-19), "He performs wonders alone, and blessed is His glorious name [forever], etc."

"On the ninth of the [fourth] month the [walls of the] city were breached" (Jer. 39:2) -- regarding the Second [Temple] and regarding the First [Temple]. And [it says] (2 Kings 25:9), "[In the fifth month,] on the seventh [of the month ... Nabuzaradan ... came to Jerusalem and he burnt the House of the Lord"]" (see Taan. 29a:8). If it is said* of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city.", "on the seventh of the month," why is it [also] said, "on the ninth of the month"? [And] if it is said, "on the ninth of the month," why is it [also] said, "on the seventh of the month"? Rather, on the seventh of the month, the nations conquered the Heichal, and they carried away the pillars, and the Sea [of Solomon (1 Kings 7:23-26)], and the slaughtering-stalls. And they were working on its demolition on the seventh, eighth, and ninth, until the turning of the day (i.e., twilight). And thus it says (Jer. 6:4), "Alas for us, for the day is turning, for the shadows of the evening are stretching out." At evening time, they set fire to it, and it was burned with the setting of the sun, on the tenth of the month.

Whenever it is the meal [before] the Ninth of Av, it is prohibited to eat meat or to drink wine, and it is forbidden to eat two cooked dishes, and it is forbidden to wash and to anoint, and any meal that is not [the meal before] the Ninth of Av, it is permitted to eat meat, and to drink wine, and it is permitted to eat two cooked dishes, and it is permitted to wash and to anoint. Rabbi Yishmael b'Rabbi Yosei in the name of his father [says], any time that it is permitted to eat, it is permitted to wash one's face, hands, and feet. And one may not greet chaverim (i.e., those punctilious in observance) on the Ninth of Av. But to a common person, [one may return a greeting] in an undertone. They decreed this from the Ninth of Av until the conclusion of the Ninth of Av. Once the Ninth of Av has passed, they are permitted [to greet] everyone.

[If] the Ninth of Av falls on Shabbat, a person may eat all he requires, and drink all he requires, and place upon table even such a feast as that of Solomon in his time, and he may not withhold anything from himself.

The same days [that now are fast days] will in the future be festive days for Israel, as it is said (Zech. 8:19), "Thus said God, the fast of the fourth month, etc., [will be for joy and happiness and cheerful festivals for the House of Judah]," and all who mourn for her (i.e., Jerusalem) in this world will be joyful in the world to come, as it is said (Is. 66:10), "Rejoice with Jerusalem and be gladdened with her, all those who love her, etc."