The Seventh Kathisma

Antiphon One

People everywhere, clap your hands! Cry out to God with shouts of joy! 2) For the Lord most high is awesome, great king over all the earth! 3) He makes nations prostrate at our feet, and peoples, beneath us. 4) He chose us for his own, the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

5) God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up to a blast of trumpets. 6) Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our king, sing praises!

7) For God is king over all the earth; praise him with all your skill. 8) God is king of the nations; he reigns from his holy throne. 9) You nobles of the peoples, gather round, for the God of Abraham is the strong one: God is truly the king of earth, exalted above all!

Great is the Lord and worthy of the greatest praise in the city of our God, 2) on his holy mountain, that fairest of heights, the joy of all the earth. Mount Sion, deep heart of the north, is the city of the great king. 3) God himself is her citadel: He himself is her bulwark.

4) Kings joined forces once; against her they advanced together. 5) But at the sight of her, they were astounded; they panicked and fled in terror. 6) Trembling seized them there, like a woman in the throes of labor; 7) like the ships of Tarshish shattered by the east wind.

8) The likes of what we heard we have now witnessed in the very city of the Lord of power and might, in the city of our God--may God preserve her forever! 9) In your temple, O Lord, we reflect on your faithful care. 10) Like the heavens, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. 11) Your right hand overflows with generosity; Mount Sion rejoices, and the towns of Judah exult because of your acts of providence.

12) Go through Sion; make the rounds of her; count her towers; 13) take note of her ramparts; examine her fortresses, so you can tell generations to come: 14) God is our God forever and always: He it is who leads us!

Hear this, people everywhere; listen, all you inhabitants of the world: 2) men of every rank, rich and poor alike! 3) My mouth is about to speak words of wisdom, for my heart is full of insight. 4) My ear is attuned to the moral of the proverb; the mystery will be set to the music of the harp.

5) Why should I fear troubled times, when the malice of my slanderers surrounds me, 6) these men who trust in their riches, who glory in their great wealth? 7) No, a man cannot redeem himself, or pay his own ransom to God. 8) The price of life is much too high 9) to remain alive forever, to escape decay. 10) For all can see that wise men die, that the foolish and senseless perish alike, and leave their wealth to others. 11) Tombs are their eternal homes, the dwelling place for every generation of those once famous on earth. 12) Man, in spite of his riches, does not endure: he is like the beasts that perish.

13) Such is the fate of those who foolishly trust in themselves, and of their followers who lap up all they say. 14) Like sheep they are headed for the depths of the earth, with death as their shepherd, urging them on. Their flesh rots away, and their bodies waste away in the pit, stripped of all honor. 15) But God will ransom my soul from the hand of death; he will take me to himself.

16) Be not impressed when a man grows rich, when his household goods increase, 17) for he will take nothing with him when he dies; his wealth cannot follow him. 18) Though he flatters himself in his lifetime--they will have to admit I did well for myself-- 19) in the end he must join all his fathers and never again see the light. 20) Man in prosperity forfeits understanding; he is like the beasts that 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

The mighty one, God, the Lord, speaks: he summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2) From Sion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth; 3) our God is coming and he will not fail to act. Before him goes a devouring fire; a violent storm rages round about him. 4) He summons the heavens from on high, and the earth below to the trial of his people. 5) Let those devoted to him gather together before him; those who made him a sacrifice when they entered a covenant with him. 6) Let the heavens proclaim the justice of his claim, for he is the God of justice.

7) Listen, my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you, for I am God, your God. 8) I censure you not for your sacrifices, nor for your burnt offerings made to me daily. 9) I have no need of a bull from your stalls, or of goats from your pens. 10) For all the beasts of the forest are mine, and the thousands of cattle in the hills. 11) I know every bird in those hills; the teeming life in the fields is present before me. 12) Were I hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. 13) Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? 14) Make praise your sacrifice to God and fulfill your vows to the most high. 15) Then, if you call on me in time of trouble, I will rescue you and I will spread out a feast for you.

16) But to the wicked, God says this: What right have you to recite my commandments, or mouth the terms of my covenant? 17) For you despise correction, and turn your back when I speak.

18) When you find a thief, you fall in with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers. 19) You use your mouth to forge evil and harness your tongue to deceit. 20) You malign your brother continually, forever defaming the son of your mother. 21) You do all these things and expect me to say nothing! Do you fancy that I am like you? I will accuse you; I will show you where you are wrong.

22) You are unmindful of God; you had better take care, or I will tear you to pieces and no one will save you. 23) As for him who offers me a sacrifice of praise -- for him I will give a feast, for he prepares a way for me to show him the saving power of God.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your kindness; in your great tenderness, wipe out my sin. 2) Over and over again, cleanse me of all malice; from my fault purify me.

3) For my sin is only too clear to me; my sin is ever before me. 4) Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your eyes, this I have done. You are just when you sentence, without reproach when you judge. 5) For in guilt itself was I born; a sinner my mother conceived. 6) But you love truth at the heart of my being; teach me wisdom deep within me.

7) Purify me: I shall be cleaner than spring water; wash me: I shall be whiter than snow. 8) Let me hear the sound of joy and feasting; let them dance, these bones you have crushed. 9) Turn your face away from my sins; cleanse me of all malice.

10) O God, create in me a pure heart, in my belly, a new and constant spirit. 11) Do not banish me from your presence; do not deprive me of your holy spirit. 12) Give me back the joy of your help; insure within me a spirit of fervor,

13) that I may teach sinners your ways, that the misguided may return to you. 14) Rescue me from death, O God, my saving God, and my tongue shall ring out your justice! 15) Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. 16) For you take no delight in sacrifice; were I to make a burnt offering, you would want no part of it. 17) The best sacrifice, a broken spirit; a heart broken and crushed you have never disdained, O God.

18) In your kindness, be good to Sion: Rebuild Jerusalem within its walls! 19) Then you will delight in just sacrifices -- burnt offerings completely consumed! -- then will they lay calves upon your altar!

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

Antiphon Three

Why do you boast of your wickedness, O champion of evil? You who should be devoted to God, 2) why do you harbor evil thoughts all day long? Your tongue is a sharpened razor, you master of deceit! 3) You prefer evil to good, the lie to speaking truthfully. 4) You love treacherous speech and words that hurt.

5) With a crash may God bring you down to destruction, forever doom your children! May he pluck you from your tent and uproot your sons from the land of the living!

6) Honest folk will look on in dread, but then they will laugh at you and say: 7) So much for the man who refused to make God the source of his strength! So much for him who relied on his own great wealth, who grew strong by destroying others! 8) For my part, like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God, I place my trust in God's unfailing love unto ages of ages. 9) I praise you, everlasting one, for all you have done; I glorify your name for its goodness, in the presence of those who are faithful to you.

The fool thinks to himself: God is not here! The deeds of men are abominable, corrupt; no one does good. 2) From the heavens God looks down on the children of men, to find one man of understanding, even one who seeks God. 3) But they are a wicked lot, all of them depraved; not even one good man remains; no, not even one.

4) Are they so ignorant, these evildoers, who devour my people as if they were eating bread, and who never turn to God! 5) They seek to prevail by plotting together, but their plots come to nothing, for God scatters the bones of those encamped against us. They are shamed and confused because God himself rejects them.

6) O, that Israel's salvation might come from Sion! When God restores his people's fortune, it will be gladness for Jacob, joy for Israel!

O God, by your name save me; by your power prove me right! 2) O God, heed my prayer; listen to the words of my mouth! 3) Foreigners rise up to attack me; ruthless men hunt down my soul; they have no room for you in their hearts.

4) But see! God comes to help me: the Lord who is the true sustainer of my life. 5) Let evil recoil upon my foes, Lord; in your faithfulness destroy them! 6) With a willing heart I will offer you sacrifice; I will praise your name for its goodness, O Lord. 7) O, that you would rescue me from all anguish and make my foes really something to behold!

O God, listen to my prayer; do not hide from my pleading! 2) Give me a hearing and answer me, for with all my cares I cannot rest. 3) I am panic-stricken by the shouts of my foes, by the cries of the wicked, for they bring down evil upon me; seething with anger they assail me. 4) And within me, my heart is awhirl: the terror of death hangs over me; 5) fear and trembling seize me; I shudder from head to foot! 6) O, for the wings of a dove, that I might fly away, that I might find some rest! 7) How far would I flee! I would make the wilderness my retreat! 8) I would run to find shelter against the raging wind, against the hurricane 9) that devours, Lord, against the treachery of their tongues.

9) For I see nothing but violence and strife in the city; 10) day and night they patrol, high on its walls. And within, there is nothing but oppression and evil; 11) rumor and scandal run rampant; never are tyranny and fraud far from its streets. 12) It is not an enemy who reviles me -- I could bear that; it is not my foe who rises against me -- I could hide from him; 13) but it is you, my equal, my closest, dearest friend! 14) How intimate the friendship we shared in the house of God!

May death strike them down; 15) may they finish alive in the depths of the earth, for evil has made its home among them! 16) For my part, I will call on God; the Lord will save me. 17) In the evening, in the morning, and at midday, I moan and groan for him to hear me. 18) May he rescue my soul unharmed from the war they wage against me; may he grant me peace though many fight against me.

19) May he bring them to their knees, this one who sits as judge forever, for they will not mend their ways; they have no fear of God. 20) The traitor has stretched forth his hand against his friends; he has broken his word. 21) His speech is smoother than cream, but there is war in his heart; his words are like oil but sharp as drawn swords. 22) Entrust your cares to the Lord and he will support you, for he will never let the just man stumble. 23) As for them, O God, bring them down, into the very pit of destruction. They are men of blood and deceit; may they not live out half their days! As for me, I put my trust in you!

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

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