Translation:Mishnah/Seder Zeraim/Tractate Berakhot/Chapter 5/5/Translation

One who is praying, and makes a mistake,

it is a bad omen for him;

and if he was a delegate of the congregation, it is a bad omen for his delegators (the congregation),

because "a person's messenger is [considered] like himself".

They used to say about Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa

that when he would pray for the sick,

he would say, "This one will live, and this one will die".

They said to him: "How do you know"?

He replied to them:

"If the prayer is fluent in my mouth, then I know that it has been accepted;

and if not, then I know that it has been torn up [because the person is better off dying]."