The Fourteenth Kathisma

Antiphon One

Psalm 102(101)

Lord, hear my prayer; let my cry for help reach you. 2) Do not hide your face from me in my time of need; turn your ear to me; when I call, be quick to answer me, 3) for my days are vanishing like smoke; my bones are like charred wood. 4) My days slip away like a shadow; I wither away like grass. 5) Like scorched grass, my heart has withered indeed! I am utterly wasted away by death. 6) Ashes are my bread, tears my drink. 7) I am mere skin and bones from my grieving; my bones stick out through my flesh. 8) I am no more than a vulture in the desert, an owl that dwells among ruins. 9) I lie awake; I am like some lonely sparrow on the rooftop. 10) All day long my enemies insult me; they used to praise me once, but not they use my name as a curse. 11) In your fury and wrath, you have lifted me up only to fling me aside. 12) He has humbled my strength by his power; my God has cut short my days in the middle of my life!

13) I plead with him: Do not snatch away my life before it is half over, when your own years last forever. 14) Long ago you founded the earth; the heavens are your handiwork. 15) Though they vanish, you remain. They will wear out like clothing; you will change them like clothes and discard them. 16) But you, you never change; your years will never end. 17) You, Lord, you sit enthroned from eternity; your fame resounds through all generations.

18) Rise up, then! Have mercy on Sion! For it is time to be gracious to her! Yes, the time has come! 19) For your servants love her very stones; they are moved to pity even by her dust. 20) So, then, let your servants' children dwell secure, and let their seed endure before you. 21) May the nations revere the name of the Lord; may all the kings of the earth be awed by your majesty, 22) when the Lord builds Sion anew and appears to her in all his glory. 23) May he attend to the prayer of the destitute; may he no longer ignore their plea. 24) May the Lord look down from his sacred heights, look down from heaven to earth 25) to hear the groans of prisoners, to release those condemned to death, 26) that the Lord's name may be proclaimed in Sion, that his praise may ring out in Jerusalem 27) when people and kings meet there to worship the Lord. 28) Put this on record for all generations, that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord.

Psalm 103(102)

Bless the Lord, O my soul! From the depths of my being, bless his holy name! 2) Bless the Lord, O my soul! Forget not all his favors! 3) He it is who pardons all your failings, who cures all your ills, 4) who rescues your life from deadly peril, who crowns you with tenderness and mercy, 5) who fills your lifetime with goodness, who restores your youth like an eagle's.

6) The Lord's acts are acts of righteousness; he avenges those who have been wronged. 7) He confided his plans to Moses; he showed the Israelites what he could do. 8) The Lord is compassionate and gracious; he is slow to anger, rich in mercy. 9) He is not forever finding fault, forever nursing his anger. 10) He does not treat us as our sins deserve, nor repay us for our faults.

11) High as the heavens are above the earth, such is the greatness of his love for those who revere him. 12) Far as east is from west, such is the distance he has removed our sins from us. 13) As a father is compassionate with his children, so is the Lord compassionate with those who revere him. 14) For he knows full well the stuff we are made of; he knows we are but dust. 15) Man's days are like grass; like a flower in the field he blossoms; 16) then the wind passes over it and it is gone; forgotten forever is the spot where it grew. 17) But the Lord's love for those who revere him lasts for ever and ever. He will keep his word to their children's children, 18) to those who hold fast to his covenant, who are mindful of doing his will.

19) The Lord's throne is fixed firmly in the heavens; his dominion extends over all the earth. 20) Bless the Lord, all you his angels, mighty beings who do his bidding, who wait on his word. 21) Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, his servants who carry out his commands. 22) Bless the Lord, all you his creatures, in every corner of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

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 104(103)

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord, my God, you are great indeed -- clothed in majesty and splendor, 2) robed in light as with a cloak. You spread out the heavens like a tent-cloth, 3) you built your towering palace far above their waters; making the clouds your chariot, you travel on the wings of the wind; 4) you use the winds for messengers, for servants, the flaming fire.

5) You fixed the earth on its foundations, never to be disturbed. 6) With the deep you covered it, as with a garment; the waters rose higher than the mountains; 7) you rebuked them and they took to flight; at the sound of your thunder they fled: 8) cascading down through the mountains, they flowed through the valleys to the place you gave them; 9) you set a limit they may not pass, lest they cover the earth again.

10) From ravines you make springs gush forth into watercourses that wind among the mountains; 11) they give drink to all the beasts of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst; 12) the birds of heaven dwell on their banks; from among the branches they send forth their song. 13) From your towering palace you water the hills; the earth drinks its fill of your gift. 14) You make grass grow for cattle and plants for man's use, that he may bring forth bread from the earth, 15) and wine to gladden man's heart, oil to make his face glisten, and bread to strengthen his heart. 16) The trees of the Lord drink their fill, the cedars he planted on Lebanon; 17) there, the sparrows make their nest; in the treetops the stork has its home; 18) for the wild goats there are the mountains; for the rock-badgers, the boulders and cliffs.

19) You made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set; 20) you bring darkness and it is night, and all the beasts of the forest roam about; 21) young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. 22) The sun rises, and they withdraw to their dens; 23) man goes forth to his work, to labor till evening falls.

24) How manifold are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you wrought them all! The earth overflows with your riches! 25) And the sea! Look how great and wide! With its moving swarms past counting of living things both great and small. 26) There the ships sail back and forth, and Leviathan, whom you made to play with.

27) They all look to you, hoping for food when it is time; 28) you give it to them and they gather it up; you open your hand and they eat their fill. 29) If you hide your face, they are restless and troubled; when you take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust they came from. 30) You send forth your breath and they are created; and you renew the face of the earth. 31) May the glory of the Lord last forever! May the Lord take pleasure in all his works! 32) He looks at the earth and it trembles; he touches the mountains and they smoke. 33) I will sing to the Lord all my life! I will sing for joy in my God as long as I live! 34) May my song ever please him, that I may rejoice in the Lord. 35) Away with sinners from the face of the earth! Let the wicked be no more! Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

Antiphon Three

Psalm 105(104)

Alleluia! Give praise to the Lord and call on his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 2) Sing to him and praise him with music! Celebrate his wonders in song! 3) Glory in his holy name! Let your hearts be glad, O you who seek the Lord! 4) Turn to the Lord and his strength; seek out his presence at all times. 5) Call to mind the wonders he has worked, his marvels, and the judgments he has issued, 6) O seed of Abraham, his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen one, 7) for he is the Lord our God, and his rule extends throughout the earth.

8) He remembers forever the covenant he made, the promise he made for a thousand generations: 9) the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac, 10) which he confirmed in a decree for Jacob, for Israel in an everlasting pact, 11) when he said: I will give you the land; Canaan will be your allotted portion.

12) They were then but a few in number, a mere handful of strangers in the land, 13) wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. 14) He allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings because of them. 15) He warned them: Do not touch my anointed ones; do no harm to my prophets.

16) He called down famine on the land, breaking every stem of wheat. 17) He sent a man ahead of them, Joseph who was sold as a slave. 18) His feet were bruised by fetters, and around his neck an iron collar, 19) until the word of the Lord came to him, and God's prediction came to pass. 20) He inspired the pharaoh to release him, making the ruler of those people set him free. 21) Pharaoh made him lord of his household, governor over all his domain, 22) to dictate to his princes as he saw fit, to advise his elders.

23) Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob came to live in the land of Ham. 24) The great one made his people abound; they became too numerous for their hostile hosts. 25) Their hearts changed, and they came to hate his people, double-dealing with his servants. 26) He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen. 27) They performed his signs among them, his wonders against the land of Ham.

28) He turned their waters into blood, making their fish die. 29) Their land teemed with frogs; they were even in the chambers of pharaoh. 30) At his word, swarms of flies appeared and gnats throughout the country. 31) He gave them hail for rain; lightning flashed throughout their land. 32) He put a blight on their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees on their hillsides. 33) He spoke and brought the locusts, grasshoppers without number. 34) They devoured every blade of grass in the land; they consumed the crops of the soil. 35) He sent darkness, and so it grew dark. But still they refused to obey him, 36) so he struck down the first-born of Egypt, the first-fruits of all their vigor. 37) Then he led forth his people, his chosen ones, as they rejoiced in him with joyous songs. 38) He led them out with silver and gold; among the tribes not one faltered. 39) Egypt was overjoyed that they left, for they sorely feared them.

40) He spread out a cloud to screen them and fire to light their way in the night. 41) They asked and he gave them quail; with bread from heaven he satisfied them. 42) He opened the rock, and water gushed forth, flowing like a river in the desert, 43) for he remembered his sacred pledge to Abraham, his servant.

44) He gave them heathen lands, and they seized the wealth of those nations 45) for as long as they would keep his statutes and observe his laws. Alleluia!

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia: