The Fifth Kathisma

Antiphon One

Psalm 33(32)

Exult, you just, in the Lord! Praise, you upright, his glory! 2) Give thanks to the Lord on the harp; on the ten-stringed lyre play to him. 3) Sing him a song that is new; play your best for him with shouts of joy. 4) For straight is the word of the Lord, and his every work stands true. 5) He cherishes justice and right; with the Lord's loving kindness the earth overflows.

6) By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and by the breath of his mouth their starry host. 7) He gathers the waters of the sea as if in a jar; he stores up the deep in vaults.

8) Let all the earth stand in awe of the Lord; let all who inhabit the world revere him. 9) For he spoke, and it came into being; he commanded, and it stood fast. 10) The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations; he thwarts the peoples' designs. 11) But the plans of the Lord endure forever, the designs of the mind, for ages on end. 12) How happy the nation of the Lord, its God, has blessed, the people he has chosen as his own.

13) From heaven the Lord looks down; he sees all the children of men. 14) From the place where he sits he gazes intently upon all the dwellers of the earth, 15) he who fashioned the hearts of men, who observes all they do.

16) No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by the might of his great strength. 17) A horse is vain hope for deliverance; for all its great strength, it provides no escape. 18) But see how the eyes of the Lord are on those who revere him, on those who await his loving kindness, 19) to save them from death, to sustain them in famine.

20) We set our hope on the Lord; he is our help and our shield. 21) In him our hearts find joy; in his holy name we trust. 22) May your loving kindness rest on us, O Lord, for we place our trust in you.

Psalm 34(33)

I will bless the Lord at all times; ever shall his praise be on my lips! 2) In the Lord shall my soul glory; let the lowly hear and be glad. 3) Come extol the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.

4) I sought the Lord, and he answered me; from all my fears he delivered me. 5) Whoever looks to him will beam with joy; no longer will he hang his head in shame. 6) Here was a poor wretch who cried out to the Lord: The Lord heard him and rescued him from all his distress. 7) The angel of the Lord is ever encamped with those who revere him, to rescue them. 8) Taste and see that the Lord is good; happy is he who takes refuge in him. 9) Revere the Lord, all you, his holy ones; those who revere him want for nothing. 10) The rich suffer want and go hungry, but those who revere the Lord never lack anything.

11) Come, children, hear me; awe and respect for the Lord is my lesson for you. 12) Who is there among you who delights in life, who looks for a long life to enjoy prosperity? 13) Guard your tongue against malice, then, and your lips against words of guile. 14) Avoid evil and do good; seek out peace and follow after it. 15) The eyes of the Lord are on the just; his ears hear their cries of anguish. 16) But the Lord turns his face away from the wicked; all trace of them vanishes from the face of the earth. 17) When the just cry out, the Lord hears, and he frees them from all their troubles. 18) The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19) It is woe upon woe for the just man, but the Lord will deliver him from them all. 20) For he keeps watchful care over every bone of his body: not one of them will be broken. 21) But evil will reward the wicked with death, and he who despises the just will pay for it. 22) The Lord rescues the souls of his servants; those who take refuge in him shall never perish!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: Both now and forever, and unto ages of ages, amen.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia: Glory to you, O God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia: Glory to you, O God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia: Glory to you, O God.

Antiphon Two

Psalm 35(34)

Judge those who judge me, O Lord; fight those who fight me. 2) Take hold of shield and buckler; rise up to my aid. 3) Ready the spear and the javelin to confront my pursuers. Say to my soul: I am your saving help. 4) Let them be shamed and disgraced, those who seek my life. Let them be turned back in dismay, those who plot my ruin. 5) Let them be like chaff in the wind, the angel of the Lord driving them on. 6) Let their fate be darkness and destruction, the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

7) For without cause they laid a net for me; without cause they dug a pit for me. 8) Let disaster overtake them by surprise, and the net they laid entangle them; let them fall headlong into their own pit. 9) Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exult in his saving help. 10) All my bones shall say: Lord, who is like you, saving the poor from one stronger than he, the poor and the needy from those who rob them? 11) Lying witnesses testify against me; perfect strangers rise to question me. 12) They award me evil for good, ravaging my soul.

13) Yet, when they were ill, my dress was sackcloth. I afflicted my soul with fasting, prayer in my heart, 14) as though it were my bosom friend, my brother. I was bowed in grief, like one mourning for his mother. 15) Now that I stumble and limp, they are filled with glee and gather against me. People I do not know descend on me to strike at me; endlessly they jeer at me. 16) Circling me with vicious, mocking grimace, they gnash their teeth at me.

17) How long, O Lord, will you stand by idly? Rescue my life from their attacks, my precious life from these lions. 18) I will acclaim you in the great assembly; where the people throng will I praise you. 19) Do not let my treacherous foes gloat over me; do not let those who hate me cast knowing glances at each other. 20) For they do not speak of peace, but of attacking those who mind their own affairs, devising treacherous schemes against them. 21) They gape at me, saying: Yes, we saw you do it! 22) Look for yourself, Lord! Be not silent! Lord, be not far from me. 23) Wake up! Rouse yourself to my cause, for my claim, O my God and my Lord. 24) Take up my defense, O Lord, as befits your justice! My God, let them not grin in triumph! 25) Lest they boast in their hearts: Just what we wanted! Lest they boast: That's the end of him! 26) Let them all be shamed and disgraced, who gloat over my misfortune. Let them be covered with shame and frustration, who malign me. 27) May they sing forth joyously, those who love my cause; may they say without end: Great is the Lord, who delights in the well-being of his servants! 28) Then my tongue will proclaim your justice, all the day long, your praise!

Psalm 36(35)

Perversity whispers to the wicked man in his heart; the dread of God is far from him. 2) For he flatters himself into thinking that his sin will not be found out and despised. 3) The words of his mouth are perverse and untrue; too crass is he for prudence or good sense. 4) Even in bed he plots mischief; he is set on a path of no good, and he never thinks twice about it.

5) From the heavens, O Lord, is your loving kindness; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. 6) Your generosity is like the towering mountains and your providence like the vast abyss; man and beast you make thrive. 7) O Lord! How precious your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8) They eat their fill of the richness of your table; from the streams of your delights you let them drink. 9) For you are the source of life, and in your light we see light.

10) Pour forth your mercy on those who acknowledge you, your generosity, on the upright of heart. 11) Let not the foot of the arrogant overtake me; let not the arm of the wicked fling me down. 12) Thus shall the wicked fall: and once cast down, they shall never rise again!

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

Antiphon Three

Psalm 37(36)

Do not fret because of the wicked; do not envy those who do wrong. 2) For they soon wither like grass; they fade like the green of the fields. 3) Trust in the Lord and do what is right; live in the land and enjoy its riches. 4) Find your pleasure in the Lord; he will give you your heart's desires. 5) Leave everything to the Lord; trust in him. He will take care of you. 6) He will make your goodness shine like light, the justice of your cause, like the noonday sun. 7) Wait calmly for the Lord and be patient; do not be upset when the prosperous succeed in all their schemes. 8) Give up your anger and keep yourself at peace; be not disturbed; it can only do harm.

9) For evildoers will be brought down, while those who look to the Lord shall inherit the land. 10) A little while and there will be no wicked; you will look where they were and they shall not be there. 11) But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity. 12) The wicked scheme against the just; they gnash their teeth at the sight of him.

13) But the Lord laughs at them, for he knows that their day will come. 14) The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows, to bring down the lowly and needy, to murder the upright. 15) But their swords shall run through their own hearts; their bows shall be splintered to pieces. 16) What little the good have is far better than the wealth of the wicked. 17) For the resources of the wicked shall be reduced to nothing, but the Lord will support the just.

18) The Lord looks to the needs of the innocent; their portion shall last forever. 19) They shall not come to grief in bad times; in times of famine they shall eat their fill. 20) But the wicked shall shrivel up and wither away; the enemies of the Lord shall be consumed like meadow-grass in smoke; more quickly than smoke shall they vanish. 21) The wicked man borrows and never repays, but the just man is generous and continues to lend. 22) Those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land; those he has cursed shall be cut down.

23) The steps of a man are made firm by the Lord, who makes sure his stride. 24) Should he stumble he will not fall, for the Lord holds him by the hand. 25) I was once young and now I am old, but never did I see a just man forsaken, or his children begging for bread. 26) He is always generous, ready to lend, and his children are sure to be blessed.

27) Turn, then, from evil and do good, that you may live forever. 28) For the Lord loves the just; he never forsakes those who are devoted to him. They shall be cared for forever, but the offspring of the wicked will perish. 29) The just shall inherit the land and dwell in it forever. 30) The mouth of the just man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is right. 31) The teaching of his God is deep in his heart, and his feet never stumble.

32) The evildoer is always on the watch for the good man, looking for a chance to kill him. 33) But the Lord will not let him fall into his hands, nor have him found guilty when he is tried. 34) Look to the Lord and keep to his ways, and he will raise you up to inherit the land; the wicked will be cut down, and you will live to see it. 35) Many are the times I have see a wicked man thriving, towering like a strong native tree. 36) Then, suddenly, he vanished completely; I looked for him but he was nowhere to be found.

37) Mark the blameless; note well the upright: there is a future for the man of integrity. 38) But the perverse shall be destroyed completely; the future of the wicked does not even exist! 39) Deliverance for the upright comes from the Lord, their stronghold in times of trouble. 40) The Lord saves them and rescues them; he rescues them from the wicked and delivers them, for they seek refuge in him.

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia: