Fourteenth Kathisma

Psalm 101

O Lord, hearken to my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee. Turn not away thy face from me; in the day when I am afflicted, bow down thine ear to me. In the day when I call upon thee, hear me speedily. For my days are vanished like smoke, and my bones are dried up like brushwood. I am smitten like grass, and my heart is withered away, for I forget to eat my bread. From the voice of my sighing, my bones have cleaved to my flesh. I am become like a pelican of the desert; I am become like a night raven in the ruins of a house. I have watched, and am become like a solitary sparrow on a housetop. All the day long mine enemies reviled me, and they that praised me swore against me. For I ate ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, from the presence of thy wrath and thy displeasure; for having lifted me up, thou hast cast me down. My days have declined like a shadow and I am withered like grass. But thou, O Lord, remainest unto the ages, and thy memorial is from generation to generation. Thou shalt arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to have compassion on him; for the time is come. For thy servants were pleased with the stones thereof, and they shall have compassion on the dust thereof. And the nations shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. For the Lord shall build up Zion, and He shall appear in his glory. He hath looked down upon the prayer of the humble, and hath not disregarded their supplication. Let these things be written for another generation, and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord. For He hath looked out from the height of his sanctuary; the Lord from heaven hath looked down upon the earth, that He might hear the sighing of them that are in fetters, that He might loose the sons of them that are slain; to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem, when the people shall be gathered together, and kings to serve the Lord. He answered him in the way of his might, Declare unto me the fewness of my days. Take me not away in the midst of my days; thy years are from generation to generation. In the beginning hast thou, O Lord, founded the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest: and they all shall wax old like a garment, and like a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. The sons of thy servants shall abide, and their seed shall prosper for ever.

Psalm 102

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who cleanseth all thy transgressions, who healeth all thine infirmities, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion, who satisfieth thy desire with good things; thy youth shall be renewed like an eagle’s. The Lord worketh mercies and judgment for all that are wronged. He made known his ways unto Moses, his will to the children of Israel. Compassionate and merciful is the Lord, long-suffering and of great mercy. He shall not be wroth until the end; nor shall He keep his anger for ever. Not according to our sins hath He dealt with us, nor according to our transgressions hath He rewarded us. For as high as the heaven is above the earth, the Lord hath strengthened his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. As a father is compassionate to his children, so is the Lord compassionate to them that fear him. For He knew our frame; He remembered that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass; as the flower of the field so shall he flourish. For the spirit passeth in him, and he shall not be: the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from ages to ages on them that fear him. And his righteousness upon children’s children, to such as keep his covenant, and remember his commandments to do them. The Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven; and his kingdom shall be master over all. Bless the Lord, all ye his angels, powerful in might, that do his word, hearing the voice of his words. Bless the Lord, all ye his powers, ye servants of his that do his will. Bless the Lord, all ye his works, in every place of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 103

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art become exceeding great; with confession and with maj esty art thou clothed. Who dost robe thyself with light as with a garment; who spreadest out the heaven like a curtain. Who covereth with waters its upper rooms; who doth fix the clouds for his chariot; who walketh upon the wings of the wind. Who maketh his angels spirits, and his servers a flaming fire. Who foundeth the earth upon its firmness; it shall not be bowed down for ever and ever. The abyss, like a garment, is its robe; upon the mountains shall stand the waters. At thy rebuke they shall flee; at the voice of thy thunder, they shall be afraid. The mountains go up, and the plains go down to the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound which they shall not pass, neither return to cover the earth. Who sendeth forth fountains into the valleys; among the mountains shall the waters run. They shall give drink to all the beasts of the field; the wild asses shall await in their thirst. Over them shall the birds of the heavens have their habitation; from the midst of the rocks shall they give forth their voices. Thou waterest the mountains from thine upper rooms; with the fruit of thy works is the earth sated, making grass to grow for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men, that thou mayest bring forth bread out of the earth, and wine that gladdeneth the heart of man; to make his face cheerful with oil; and bread that strengtheneth man’s heart. The trees of the plain shall be sated, the cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted. There the sparrows shall make their nest. The dwelling of the heron precedeth them. The high mountains are for the hart; the rocks a refuge for the conies. He made the moon for seasons; the sun hath known its setting. Thou didst set the darkness, and it became night; in it shall run all the beasts of the forest, the young lions roaring after their prey, and seeking of God their meat. The sun hath arisen and they have gathered together, and in their dens shall they lay them down. Man shall go forth to his work and to his labor until the evening. How great are thy works become, O Lord; in wisdom hast thou made them all. The earth is full of thy creation. This is the sea, great and wide; there are creeping things without number, animals both small and great. There the ships go across; and that serpent which thou hast formed to play in it. All wait upon thee, to give them their food in due season. When thou givest it them, they shall gather it; when thou openest thy hand, all things shall be filled with goodness. When thou turnest away thy face, they shall be troubled; thou takest away their spirit, they shall vanish and to their dust shall they return. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, and they shall be created; and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord be for ever; the Lord shall be glad in his works. Who looketh down upon the earth, and maketh it to tremble; who touchest the mountains and they smoke. I will sing unto the Lord in my life; I will sing psalms unto my God as long as I shall be. Let my conversation please him; and I shall be glad in the Lord. Let sinners vanish from the earth, and transgressors, so that they shall be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 104

O confess unto the Lord, and call upon his name; pro claim his works among the nations. Sing unto him, and sing psalms onto him; declare all his wonders. Be ye praised in his holy name; let the heart of them that seek the Lord rejoice. Seek ye the Lord, and be strengthened, seek ye his face continually. Remember the wonders He hath wrought; his wonders and the judgments of his mouth. Ye seed of Abraham, his servants, ye children of Jacob, his elect. He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant for ever, a word which He hath commanded for a thousand generations, which covenant He made to Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. And He appointed it to Jacob for a precept, and to Israel for an eternal covenant, saying, To thee will I give the land of Canaan, the course of your inheritance, when they were few in number, very few, and sojourners in it. And they passed from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people. He suffered no man to wrong them; and He rebuked kings for their sakes. Touch not mine anointed ones, and to my prophets do ye no evil. And He called a famine upon the land; He broke up every staff of bread. He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold for a slave. They humbled his feet in fetters; his soul passed into iron. Until his word came, the word of the Lord inflamed him. The king sent and loosed him, the ruler of the people, and let him go. He made him lord over his house, and ruler over all his possessions, to chasten his rulers, as himself, and to teach his elders wisdom. Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And He increased his people greatly, and made them mightier than their enemies. And He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal deceitfully with his servants. He sent forth Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom He had elected; He put in them the words of his signs, and his wonders in the land of Ham. He sent forth darkness, and made it dark, for they provoked his words. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in the chambers of their kings. He spake and the dog-fly came, and lice in all their boundaries. He turned their rain showers into hail, and a flaming fire in their land. And He smote their vines and their fig-trees; and broke every tree of their boundary. He spake and the locust came, and caterpillers innumerable, and devoured all the grass in their land, and devoured the fruit of their land. He smote also every first-born of their land, the first-fruits of all their toil. And He brought them out with silver and gold; and there was not a feeble one among their tribes. Egypt was glad at their departure, for the fear of them fell upon them. He spread out a cloud for a covering to them, and fire to give them light by night. They asked, and the quail came, and He filled them with the bread of heaven. He clove the rock, and the waters flowed; rivers ran in dry places. For He remembered his holy word, given to Abraham his servant. And He brought his people out with joy, and his chosen with gladness. And gave them the lands of the nations, and they inherited the toil of the people, that they might keep his statutes and seek out his law.