The Tenth Kathisma

Antiphon One

I place my trust in you, O Lord; do not disappoint me, O eternal one! 2) In your justice rescue me and set me free. Turn your ear to me and deliver me; 3) be a rock of refuge for me to which I can always turn. You promised to come and save me at any time, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4) Save me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grip of the criminal and the thief. 5) For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O my God, from my youth. 6) I have leaned on you from the womb; from my mother's breast you have sustained me: I shall praise you forever! 7) I am an example for many, for you are my strong refuge. 8) My mouth is filled with your praise; I tell out your glory and your majesty throughout the day!

9) Do not cast me off in my old age; as my strength fails, do not forsake me. 10) My foes have their eye on me; with others they conspire for my life, saying: 11) God has deserted him; chase him and catch him, for no one will save him. 12) O God, be not far from me! My God, come quick to help me! 13) Let my accusers perish in frustration; let those who seek my ruin be covered with shame and disgrace. 14) As for me, I will continue to hope, and I will add to your praises day after day. 15) My mouth recounts your faithful deeds all day long, your saving acts, though I could never tell them all! 16) I shall approach your sanctuary, O Lord; I shall proclaim your faithfulness, O Lord, yours alone!

17) You have taught me from my youth, O God, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 18) Now that I am old and gray, O God, do not desert me until I tell the next generation about your power, 19) all those yet to come, about your might.

Your faithfulness reaches to the sky, O God; you have done great things, O God; who is your equal? 20) Though you make me see misery after misery and wrong upon wrong, you will restore me to life and raise me, once more, from the depths of the earth. 21) Make my offerings acceptable, and reward me with your comfort. 22) I promise I will praise you on the harp for your faithfulness, O God; I will play to you on the lyre, O holy one of Israel. 23) My lips shall rejoice when I sing to you, my whole being, for you have redeemed me. 24) Throughout the day, my tongue shall recite your faithful acts -- O, that they who seek my ruin be shamed and disgraced!

Grant the king your own skill in judgment, O God, and the king's son your own sense of justice, 2) that he may rule your people rightly and your poor with justice. 3) May the mountains and the hills bring peace to your people! May he award the oppressed fair judgment 4) and protect the children of the needy, crushing those who do them wrong.

5) May he live as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon gives light, age after age. 6) May he be welcomed like rain on a newly cut field, as showers on thirsty soil. 7) May his days flourish with justice, with prosperity and peace until the moon shines no more.

8) May he rule from sea to sea, from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. 9) May desert-dwellers kneel before him, and his enemies bite the dust. 10) May the kings of Tarshish and the islands pay him tribute, and the kings of Sheba and Arabia offer gifts. 11) May all kings prostrate before him, and all nations serve him.

12) If he rescues the oppressed when they cry for help, and the needy who have no one to help them; 13) if he takes pity on the poor and the afflicted and saves the lives of the lowly; 14) if he ransoms their lives from oppression and violence, and precious is their blood in his sight: 15) Then, long may he live! May he receive gold from Sheba, and may prayers be said for him always, and may blessings be invoked on him throughout the day. 16) May a surplus of grain rustle even on the tops of the mountains; may his fruit trees blossom like Lebanon, flourishing like the grass of the earth. 17) May his name be blessed forever! While the sun lasts, may his name also endure! May all the tries of the earth find their happiness in him, and may all nations call him blessed!

18) Praised be the Lord God, the God of Israel, for he has worked wonders! 19) Praised be his name and his glory forever, and unto ages of ages! May all the earth be filled with his glory! Amen, amen. 20) The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, end here.

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

In spite of everything, God is goodness itself for the pure of heart, O Israel! 2) Yet, my feet came close to stumbling; my steps were nearly led off course, 3) envying the arrogant as I did, watching the wicked get rich.

4) There is no pain for them; their bodies are healthy and strong. 5) Human sorrow never touches them, nor are they afflicted like others. 6) So, pride is their necklace, violence, the robe that clothes them. 7) Perversity oozes from their hearts, and their minds overflow with fantasy. 8) They scoff as they whisper their malice; their arrogance plans oppression. 9) Their mouths defy heaven, and their tongues challenge even the world below. 10) So people turn and follow them, lapping up their every word. 11) Then they say: How could God know? Does the most high know everything? 12) That is what the wicked are like: they ignore the eternal one, and yet they continue to grow in wealth.

13) So it was for nothing that I kept my heart pure, that I washed my hands in innocence! 14) For nothing was I afflicted all day long and punished anew every morning! 15) Had I said: That talk appeals to me! I would be a traitor to your people. 16) I tried to fathom all this, but it seemed a hopeless task. 17) Then I pierced the mystery; I perceived what their fate would be.

18) How slippery the paths you set them on; you make them slide to their destruction. 19) Sudden will their devastation be; their end will come, and they will disappear into the land of terrors. 20) Like a dream one disregards on waking, O Lord, so will you dismiss them as mere phantoms. 21) So it was that my mind had soured, that my feelings hardened. 22) In my stupidity, I failed to understand; I was like a brainless beast before you.

23) Yet, I shall always remain with you, so take hold of my hand; 24) guide me with your counsel and, in the end, receive me with glory. 25) For what else does heaven hold for me but you; and what do I want on earth but you? 26) My flesh and my heart waste away in longing, for God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever! 27) Those who abandon you are doomed; you destroy those who betray you. 28) As for me, my joy lies in holding fast to my God, in placing my trust in the Lord God, forever proclaiming what he has done.

Why, O God, are you always angry? Why does your wrath smoulder against the sheep you tend? 2) Remember the flock you made your own so long ago: with your staff, rescue the tribe you chose for your own domain, and this Mount Sion, where you reside. 3) Pick your way through all these ruins, through this lasting destruction the enemy has wrought in your sanctuary. 4) The shouts and screams of their malice echo through the place where your people used to gather; 5) they set up their standards as trophies of victory high above the entrance. 6) With axes they hacked at the paneling, battering down the doors with hammer and hatchet. 7) They torched your holy place, utterly destroying the dwelling place of your name. 8) In their hearts, they conspired with one another: Once and for all let us finish them off! Let us destroy every shrine of their God in the land! 9) Our own standards are nowhere to be seen! Gone are prophets and counselors! 10) How long, O God, is the enemy to scoff at you, the foe, to revile your name, O conqueror? 11) Why do you hold back your left hand; and your right hand, why do you keep it hidden?

12) Destroy the kings from the east, O God! Work your victory in our very midst. 13) It was you who shattered the sea with your might, who smashed the heads of the monstrous Tannin; 14) it was you who crushed Leviathan's heads and gave him as food for the desert tribes; 15) it was you who released the springs and torrents, who made swollen waters run dry; 16) it was you who made day and night, who caused the moon and sun to be; 17) it was you who determined all the climates of the earth, who made summer and winter. 18) So now, remember, O Lord, the insults of the foes who blaspheme you, and the foolish people who revile your name. 19) Do not give the hawks your turtle-dove, nor forget the souls of the afflicted, O conqueror. 20) Look down on your temple; the city is smothered in darkness and the countryside rife with violence. 21) Let not he oppressed sit in shame, but let the poor and the needy praise your name. 22) Rise up, Lord, and champion your cause! Remember how the fool blasphemes you day after day. 23) Do not overlook the uproar of your adversaries nor the ever-rising din of those who hate you.

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

Antiphon Three

We praise you, O God, we praise you! Your wondrous works tell us that your name is near.

2) You say: First I choose the time; then I judge fairly. 3) The earth and all its inhabitants may tremble, but I make its pillars stand firm. 4) I say to the arrogant: Enough of your bragging! -- to the wicked: Do not flaunt your strength! 5) Do not flaunt your strength against the most high nor hurl defiance against the rock! 6) For what exalts a man comes not from the east, or the west, or the wilderness; but it is God who judges: One man he puts down; he exalts another. 7) In the hand of the Lord is a cup of foaming wine which is heavily drugged; 8) he pours from it, and all the wicked of the earth drink, draining it to the very last drop!

9) As for me, I proclaim the eternal one; I sing to the God of Jacob. 10) He says: It is mine to break the pride of the wicked, but the honor of the righteous I exalt!

In Judah God makes himself known; in Israel his name is great. 2) Salem became his den, and Sion, his lair. 3) There he broke the attack of the archers, the shields and swords and weapons of war.

4) O what awe you inspired, O God of brilliant light! 5) They tried to plunder the mountain of the lion, those stout-hearted men, but they slept their last sleep; they died, those soldiers of prowess; they perished. 6) At your roar, O God of Jacob, horse and chariot collapsed and lay stunned.

7) How awesome you are! Who can stand up to your fury, to your ancient wrath? 8) From heaven you shall thunder the sentence; the earth shall shudder with fright and lie still, 9) when God rises for judgement, to deliver the lowly of the earth.

10) They will rejoice and praise you; those who survive will be overjoyed; they will feast in your honor. 11) Make vows and fulfill them to the Lord, our God; let all those around him bring gifts to him who sees, 12) who fathoms the minds of princes, who strikes terror in the hearts of kings.

In despair I cry out to you, O God of gods! Listen at once to my cry, O God of gods! 2) By day I look for the Lord; by night I stretch out my hands tirelessly, but my soul refuses to be consoled. 3) I think of God, and I groan; I reflect, and my soul grows faint. 4) My eyes are used to wakefulness; I am so troubled, I cannot speak. 5) My thoughts turn to days gone by, to years long passed. 6) At night, I strum my lyre, but my soul keeps questioning. 7) Will the sovereign Lord be angry forever; will he show us his favor no more? 8) His unfailing love, has this vanished forever, has his promise failed? 9) Has the source of God's mercy dried up; has anger stifled his loving kindness? 10) I thought to myself: This is what troubles me: It has changed; the right hand of the Lord has changed! 11) I remember your wondrous works, the marvels you worked of old. 12) I ponder all your actions, reflecting on your mighty deeds.

13) O God, how holy are your ways! What God is great as our God? 14) You are a God who works wonders! You made the nations taste your might! 15) Now, with your arm, redeem your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph! 16) The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and they began to churn; the depth shuddered in terror. 17) The clouds burst forth in floods; storm clouds thundered; your arrows flashed to and fro. 18) The sound of your thunder rolled through the heavens; your lightning flashes lit up the world; the depths of the earth quaked and shook. 19) Your path led through the sea, your way through mighty waters; but no one could trace your footsteps! 20) Lead your people like a flock, by the hand of a Moses and an Aaron!

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

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