The Ninth Kathisma

Antiphon One

It is only right to praise you in Sion, O God! Vows to you shall be fulfilled, 2) for you listen to prayer. All flesh must lay its faults before you; 3) though our faults overpower us, you blot them out. 4) Happy is the man you choose, whom you invite to live in your courts: You fill his heart with the beauty of your house, with the holiness of your temple.

5) You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God, our saviour; you are the hope of the very ends of the earth, of those far beyond the seas. 6) You fixed the mountains in their place by your power -- you are yourself robed in power! 7) You calmed the raging seas and all their roaring waves; 8) the turmoil of the nations you subdued. Those who live at the ends of the earth are dazed by your signs and wonders.

9) Make morning and evening rejoice! Make the rains come down in torrents, O God, to restore your people and your land! 10) Bless it abundantly: let heaven's fountains overflow with water; with your rains provide for your family dwelling there. 11) Let the earth bring forth grain, to sustain the needy who settle there, for this is why you made it! 12) Drench its furrows and soak down its ridges; loosen its clods with gentle showers, and bless it with fruitfulness! 13) Crown the year with your bounty; wherever you pass, let there be plenty. 14) Make the boundless meadows lush with rich growth, and clothe the hills in gladness! 15) Fill the pastures with herds of cattle, and make a mantle of wheat stretch out through the valleys! And everywhere, let there be joy; everywhere, songs of praise!

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth! Sing praises to the glory of his name! 2) Praise upon praise for his glory! Tell God: How awesome you are! 3) The greatness of your power makes your enemies cringe. 4) All the earth falls down before you, singing to you, singing hymns in honor of your name.

5) Come, see what God has done, how wondrous are his dealings with mankind. 6) Flowing waters he turned into dry land that his people might cross dry-shod; there we rejoiced in him. 7) He rules forever by his power; he keeps close watch on all the nations: let rebels tame their pride. 8) Bless God, you nations! Let his praise be heard, far and wide! 9) For he wills that we should yet live; he will not let us stumble. 10) For you have tried us, O God, as men do silver. 11) You led us into the wilderness; you put ulcers on our thighs; you let sickness drive us hard. 12) Yes, you dragged us through fire and water, but once the ordeal was over, you refreshed us with new life.

13) So now I approach your temple with sacrifices in fulfillment of every vow 14) my lips ever uttered, that my mouth ever swore in the face of trouble. 15) Burnt offerings of fattened sheep I bring to you; the smoke of ram's flesh, of bullocks and goats prepared in your honor. 16) Come, listen to me, you who revere God; I will reveal the mercies he has shown me. 17) When I cried out to him in prayer, high praise on my tongue, 18) had wrong been in my heart the Lord would not have listened. 19) But God not only listened, he accepted my prayer. 20) Blessed be God, for he does not reject my plea; he does not withdraw his mercy from me!

O that God be kind to us and bless us, that he smile on us and come to us, 2) that his way be known on earth, among all nations his saving help! 3) Let all people praise you, O God; let all people praise you!

4) Let the nations be glad and shout for joy, for you are the ruler! It is you who lead the nations into the plains, and the peoples into the land. 5) Let all people praise you, O God; let all people praise you!

6) Let the earth yield its harvest; let God, our God, bless us! 7) Yes, may he bless us and bless us, so that all the ends of the earth may revere him!

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

Let God arise; let his foes be scattered, and let those who hate him flee before him! 2) As smoke is blown away, so are they blown away; as wax melts before fire, so do they perish, the godless ones, before God. 3) But the just rejoice before God; they leap and dance for joy!

4) Sing to the Lord; make music to his name; clear the way for him who rides the clouds! Leap for joy in the Lord and dance before him! 5) Father of orphans and defender of widows -- such is God who dwells in his holy place. 6) God restores exiles to their homes; he opens to captives the gates of prosperity, but the stubborn he entombs in a wasteland. 7) Day after day he bears our burdens; God himself is our saviour. 8) God is for us a God who saves, and to this sovereign Lord we owe our escape from death! Blessed be the Lord!

9) The Lord said: I shall lead them back from the fiery furnace; I shall lead them out of the depths of the sea. 10) God will smash the heads of his foes, the hairy skulls of all who persist in their stubbornness, 11) that you may wade through their blood, that the tongues of jackals may lick up their share of the blood of your enemies.

12) Show forth, O my God, show forth your might, that might you set to work for us from your temple high in Jerusalem! 13) Rebuke the oppressor, the beast that lives among the reeds, the bull-generals of the nations, and all their calf-soldiers who trample on peoples in their lust for silver! You scatter people who delight in war! To you kings will come bearing gifts. 14) Let the great ones of Egypt come to you; let Ethiopia stretch forth its hand to the Lord! 15) Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God! 16) Make music to the Lord, to him who rides the heavens, the ancient heavens! Look! His voice resounds, that voice of might! 17) Come, acknowledge the power of God! Over Israel his splendor, in the skies his might! 18) O how awesome is God in his holy place! He it is, this God of Israel, who will give his people strength and power. Blessed be God!

19) When you marched forth to lead your people, O God, when you marched across the desert, 20) the earth trembled, the heavens rumbled, at the sight of God, the God of Sinai, at the sight of God, the God of Israel. 21) That peak of Bashan is no peak of God, but a mountain of pride, that peak of Bashan! 22) What right have you, you arrogant peaks, to look down on this mountain where God has chosen to reign, where the Lord will live forever?

23) The chariots of God were twice ten thousand; in grandeur the Lord advanced from Sinai. 24) The Lord thundered forth his word; couriers spread the news: 25) El Shaddai has dispersed a mighty army, while in the camp housewives divide the spoils. 26) Even for those within the sheepfolds there were wings like a dove's, covered with silver, 27) sparkling with the sheen of green gold, and precious pearls like snow on Mount Zalmon. 28) When you came out victorious, you took captivity captive, receiving tribute from their hands, even from those who rebelled against your presence there. 29) They have seen your paths in the desert, O God, the paths of my God and king in grandeur. 30) The singers march up front, and musicians take up the rear; between them, young maidens sound their timbrels. 31) In chorus, bless God, the Lord, you sons of Israel! 32) There is Benjamin, the youngest, leading them; the princes of Judah in robes of brocade, the princes of Zebulon, the princes of Nephthali.

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

Antiphon Three

Save me, O God, for the waters have risen to my neck! 2) I am sinking into the mire, and there is nothing to hold on to. Into deep waters have I fallen, and the rushing current is sweeping me away. 3) I am exhausted from crying out; my throat is on fire; and my eyes grow dim looking for my God. 4) More numerous than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without reason. They are more numerous than the hairs of my beard, those who hound me for no reason. Should I make amends to them--I, who never robbed them?

5) O God, you know how foolish I am; my sins lie naked before you. 6) May they never be disappointed in me, those who trust you, Lord of power and might! May they never be shamed in me, those who seek you, O God of Israel! 7) It is for you that I put up with insults, that shame covers my face, 8) that I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons. 9) For the zeal of your house consumes me, and insults aimed at you fall on me! 10) If I mortify my flesh with fasting, they taunt me for it; 11) if I put on sackcloth, for them it is something to laugh at, 12) the gossip of those who sit around by the door, the meaningless song of drunkards.

13) As for me, I pray for your favor, O Lord; in your great love, O God, answer me now with your saving help that never fails. 14) Rescue me from this morass! Let me not be sucked in! Let me escape my foe; let me not be caught by the deep! 15) Let not the current carry me away, nor the whirlpool suck me under; let not this pit close its mouth about me! 16) Answer, Lord! In your loving mercy, in your great tenderness, look at me! 17) Do not hide your face from your servant! Hear me quickly, for I am distressed! 18) Attend to my soul and deliver it; from my foe deliver it! 19) You see how they abuse me; disgraced and shamed, I stand before you. 20) Scorn has broken my heart; I have reached the end of my strength. In vain I waited for one to share my sorrow, for someone to comfort me, but there was none. 21) For food they gave me poison; in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22) Let their tables be a snare to them, and their feasts, a trap. 23) Let their eyes grow weaker and weaker, until they are blind. And then, let their seed fail them! 24) Pour out your anger on them; let your scorching wrath overtake them; 25) let their lands be laid waste, their tents, deserted! 26) For in their rage, they fall upon one whom you strike and add to the wounds of your victim. 27) Make them pay, wrong for wrong! Let them never share the reward of the just. 28) Let them be erased from the book of life, never to be recorded among the just.

29) But me -- bent over, full of pain -- let your help renew me, O God! 30) I shall praise God's name with a song; I shall exalt him with thanksgiving! 31) That will please the Lord, more than a calf, more than a strong one with its horns and hoofs. 32) When they see it, the poor will jump for joy; you who seek God, your hearts will live forever! 33) For the Lord hears the poor; he has not scorned his own in their chains. 34) Let heaven and earth praise him, the sea and all that moves about in it. 35) For God shall save Sion, he shall rebuild the cities of Judah.

36) There they will live -- it will be theirs; his servants' sons shall inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell in it.

Quick, O God! Rescue me! O Lord, help me! 2) Let shame and disgrace fall on those who hunt down my soul! Make them back off! Make them recoil in confusion, who gloat at my ruin! 3) Make them draw back, covered with shame, who jeer at me. 4) But for all who seek you, joy and gladness! For those who love your help, let them always say: God is great! 5) As for me -- poor wretch that I am -- O God, hasten to me! O you, my helper, my saviour; O Lord, do not delay!

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

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