The Eighteenth Kathisma

Antiphon One

I called to the Lord when I was under attack, and he answered me. 2) Save me from lying lips, O Lord, from the deceitful tongue.

3) O what he has in store for you, you deceitful tongue, and what more besides: 4) the sharpened arrows of the warrior, the burning coals of broom wood!

5) What a wretched fate! Whether I live in Meshech or among the tents of Kedar, 6) it would still be living too close, too close to those who hate peace. 7) I was for peace, and I said so, but all they wanted was war.

I lift my eyes toward the mountains; where will my help come from? 2) My help comes only from the presence of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

3) He shall not let your foot slip, for he does not slumber, your protector. 4) No, he never slumbers or sleeps, the guardian of Israel.

5) The Lord is your guardian, your shade; the Lord at your right; 6) by day the sun will not harm you, nor the moon by night.

7) The Lord keeps you safe from evil; he guards you, body and soul. 8) He watches your coming and your going, now and forever.

O my joy when they said to me: Let us go to the house of the Lord! 2) We are there! Standing within your gates, Jerusalem! 3) Jerusalem, a city restored for the fellowship of her people! 4) It is there that the tribes go, the tribes of the Lord, to praise the Lord's name, as it was decreed for Israel. 5) For the judgment seats are there, the seats of David's house.

6) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may those who love you prosper. 7) May there be peace within your walls, prosperity in your homes. 8) For the love of my relatives and friends I say sincerely: Peace to you! 9) For the love of the house of the Lord, our God, I pray for your happiness.

To you do I lift my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens. 2) As the eyes of servants follow their master's hand, like the eyes of a maid on the hand of her mistress, so are our eyes turned to the Lord, our God, waiting for him to show us his mercy.

3) Deal kindly with us, O Lord, deal kindly with us! For we have had our fill of contempt! 4) Long enough have we put up with the scorn of the complacent, the contempt of the arrogant.

Were it not for the Lord on our side -- let Israel repeat it -- 2) were it not for the Lord on our side, when they attacked us, 3) they would have swallowed us alive in their burning rage against us! 4) Then the waters would have swept us away; the rushing current would have drawn us under. 5) Then the raging waters would have overwhelmed us.

6) Blessed be the Lord! He did not let us fall prey to their teeth! 7) We escaped, like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the snare broke, and we escaped. 8) Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

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

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion: unshakable, enduring forever! 2) O Jerusalem! As the mountains shelter you, so does the Lord shelter his people from now to eternity.

3) Never will the scepter of the wicked fall upon the land of the just, so long as the just themselves do not turn to evil.

4) Be good, O Lord, to the good, to the upright of heart. 5) But those who waver between good and evil, may the Lord make them vanish with the wicked! Peace upon Israel!

When the Lord restores the fortunes of Sion -- we see it in our dreams! -- 2) our mouths will be filled with laughter, on our lips, songs of joy. Then shall they say among the nations: What wonders the Lord has done for them! 3) The Lord will do great things for us indeed, and we shall rejoice because of it!

4) O Lord, restore our fortunes, like swollen streams in the Negeb! 5) They who sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy. 6) Though they move along weeping, bearing their seedbags, they shall come back with shouts of joy, bearing their sheaves.

Unless the Lord build the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the Lord guard the city, its guards keep watch in vain. 2) For nothing is your early rising, your putting off sleep, you who toil for the bread of idols; for the Lord is trustworthy and he bestows his gifts on those he loves.

3) Sons are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward from him. 4) Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, so are the sons of one's youth. 5) Happy that man who can fill his quiver with them; when he contends at the city gate, he holds his head high against those who challenge him.

Happy are they who revere the Lord and walk in his ways! 2) You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors. You shall be happy and prosperous, 3) with your wife like a fruitful vine at the heart of your home, your children, like olive shoots gathered round your table. 4) [This is the way of the Lord and he can be trusted; he blesses the man who reveres him.

5) May the Lord bless you from Sion all the days of your life; may you see Jerusalem in prosperity!] 6) May you live to see your children's children. Peace to you, Israel!

Often have they assailed me from my youth -- this is Israel's refrain -- 2) often have they assailed me from my youth, but they could not break me! 3) Like plowmen, up and down my back they plowed, drawing furrows long and deep. 4) May the Lord, the just one, shatter the yoke of the wicked!

5) Let them be routed, those who hate Sion, covered with shame! 6) Let them be like grass on a rooftop, withering before harvest! 7) The reaper cannot fill his hands with it, nor can the binder of sheaves, his arms. 8) And those who pass will not say: The Lord's blessing be with you; we bless you in the name of the Lord!

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

Antiphon Three

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord: 2) O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears attend to my cry for mercy.

3) For if you, Lord, keep an account of our sins--Lord, who will survive? 4) But you always forgive us, and for this we revere you.

5) I call on the Lord; my soul calls on him, and I long for his reply. 6) My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for dawn; more than watchmen for dawn let Israel wait for the Lord! 7) For the love of the Lord is unfailing, and great is his power to redeem; it is he who redeems Israel from all its sins.

O Lord, I do not fill my heart with vain ambitions, nor do I set my sights too high. I am not concerned with things too great for me, nor with matters beyond my understanding. 2) Rather, I have kept my soul peaceful and calm, like an infant, like an infant in its mother's arms. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, now and forever!

Remember, O Lord, to David's credit, all his anxious care, 2) how he swore to the Lord, how he made this vow to the mighty one of Jacob: 3) I will never enter my bedroom, nor climb into my bed; 4) I will not let my eyes sleep, nor my eyelids slumber, 5) until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the mighty one of Jacob.

6) [Look, we heard about it in Ephratha; we learned of it in the fields of Jaar.] 7) Let us go to his dwelling; let us fall in worship at his footstool. 8) Advance, O Lord, to your resting place; you and the ark of your majesty. 9) Let your priests be vested in righteousness; let the faithful shout for joy. 10) For the sake of David, your servant, do not reject your anointed one.

11) The Lord has sworn to David, and he will not go back on his word: One of your own issue will I set on your throne. 12) And if your sons keep my covenant and the law that I teach them, their sons, too, shall sit on your throne. 13) For the Lord has chosen Sion; he wants it for his dwelling:

14) This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I prefer it. 15) I will richly provide for its needs; I will satisfy her poor with bread. 16) I will vest her priests in salvation, and her faithful will shout for joy. 17) There I will make David's strength blossom forth, and a lamp shall burn for my anointed. 18) I will cover his enemies with shame, while on him his crown shall sparkle.

Look! See how good, how pleasant it is to live together like brothers! 2) It is like precious ointment on the head, trickling down the beard, trickling down the beard of Aaron, over the collar of his robes. 3) It is like the dew of Hermon descending on the heights of Sion, for there the Lord gives his blessing: life forevermore!

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who serve in the Lord's house, in the courts of the house of our God! 2) Raise your hands toward the sanctuary, and bless the Lord every night! 3) May the Lord of Sion bless you, he who made heaven and earth!

Glory: Both now:
Alleluia:

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