Twentieth Kathisma

Psalm 143

Blessed is the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to do battle, my fingers to war. My mercy and my refuge, my helper and my deliverer, my defender, and I have hoped in him, who subjecteth my people under me. O Lord, who is man, that thou hast made thyself known to him, or the son of man, that thou art mindful of him? Man hath become like vanity, his days like a shadow pass away. O Lord, bow thy heavens and come down; touch the mountains and they shall smoke. Make the lightning to flash and thou shalt scatter them; send forth thine arrows and thou shalt disquiet them. Send forth thy hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me out of many waters, out of the hand of strange children, whose mouth hath spoken vanity, and whose right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness. O God, I will sing a new song to thee; I will sing psalms to thee with a psaltery of ten strings, to him who giveth sal vation to the kings, to him who redeemeth his servant David from the evil sword. Deliver me and rescue me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth hath spoken vanity and their right hand is the right hand of unrighteousness. Whose chil dren are as new plants sturdy in their youth; their daughters are beautified, adorned after the likeness of a temple. Their garners are full to overflowing with all manner of things; their sheep are fruitful, multiplying in their going forth; their oxen are fat; there is no falling down of a hedge, nor going out, nor crying in their fold. Men have blessed the people to whom these things belong; blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.

Psalm 144

I will exalt thee, O God my king, and bless thy name for ever, and unto ages of ages. Every day will I bless thee, and praise thy name for ever, and unto ages of ages. Great is the Lord, and exceeding praised, and of his greatness there is no limit. Generation after generation shall praise thy works, and declare thy power. Of the magnificence of the glory of thy holiness shall they speak, and declare thy wonders. And of the power of thy fearful acts shall they tell, and declare thy great ness. The memory of the multitude of thy goodness shall they utter, and in thy righteousness shall they be glad. Compassionate and merciful is the Lord, long-suffering and of great mercy. Good is the Lord unto all, and his compassion is upon all his works. Let all thy works confess thee, O Lord, and let thy holy ones bless thee. Of the glory of thy kingdom shall they tell, and of thy power shall they speak: to make known thy power to the sons of men, and the glory of the magnificence of thy kingdom. Thy kingdom is the kingdom of all ages, and thy dominion from generation to generation. Faithful is the Lord in all his words, and holy in all his works. The Lord upholdeth all that fall down, and setteth aright all that are cast down. The eyes of all hope in thee, and thou givest them their food in due season. Thou openest thy hand, and fillest every living thing with good will. Righteous is the Lord in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh to all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. The will of them that fear him will He do, and He will hear their prayer and save them. The Lord keepeth all them that love him; and He will blot out all sinners. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever, and unto ages of ages.

Psalm 145

Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord in my life; I will sing psalms unto my God as long as I shall be. Trust not in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth; in that day all his thoughts shall perish. Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keepeth truth for ever, who wor keth judgment for them that are wronged; who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered; the Lord maketh wise the blind; the Lord setteth aright them that are cast down; the Lord loveth the righteous. The Lord keepeth the stranger. He shall uphold the orphan and the widow, and the way of the sinner shall He destroy. The Lord shall be King for ever; thy God, O Zion, from generation to generation.

Psalm 146

Praise ye the Lord, for psalmody is a good thing; may praise be pleasing to our God. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem, and He will gather together the scattered of Israel, who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their bruises, who counteth the multitude of the stars and who calleth them all by name. Great is our Lord, and great is his might, and of his under standing there is no measure. The Lord upholdeth the meek; He doth humble the sinner even to the ground. Begin with confession to the Lord; sing psalms to our God upon the harp. To him who doth clothe the heavens with clouds, who maketh ready the rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow on the mountains, and herb for the service of man. Who giveth food to the cattle, and to the young ravens that call upon him. He shall not delight in the power of horses, nor is He well-pleased in the limbs of man. The Lord is well-pleased with them that fear him, and with all them that hope in his mercy.

Psalm 147

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; He hath blessed thy children within thee, who maketh peace on thy boundaries, who doth fill thee with the fatness of wheat. Who doth send forth his decrees upon the earth; his word runneth swiftly. Who giveth snow like wool, who sprinkleth the mist like ashes. Who casteth forth his ice like morsels; in the face of his cold, who shall stand? He shall send forth his word, and shall melt them; He shall breathe his spirit and waters shall flow. Who proclaimeth his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt thus with all nations, and his judgments He hath not manifested unto them.

Psalm 148

Praise ye the Lord of heaven; praise him in the highest. Praise him all his angels; praise ye him all his powers. Praise ye him, sun and moon; praise him all ye stars and light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and the water that is above the heavens. Let the name of the Lord be praised. For He spake and they came into being; He commanded, and they were created. He hath established them for ever, and unto ages of ages; He hath laid down a precept, and it shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye serpents, and all ye abysses; fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds, which do his word; mountains and all hills, fruit-bearing trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle; creeping things and feathered birds. Kings of the earth and all people, princes and all judges of the earth, young men and maidens, the old and the younger: let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his confes sion is above earth and heaven, and He shall exalt the horn of his people. A hymn to all his saints is this; to the children of Israel, a people coming nigh to him.

Psalm 149

Sing unto the Lord a new song; his praise in the church of the saints. Let Israel be glad in him that made him, and let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise his name in choir; let them sing psalms to him with timbrel and psaltery. For the Lord is well-pleased with his people, and will exalt the meek unto salvation. The saints shall boast in glory; they shall rejoice in their beds. The exaltation of God shall be in their throats, and two-edged swords in their hands, to work vengeance upon the nations, reproofs among the people; to bind their kings with fetters, and their glorious ones with manacles of iron; to work upon them the judgment that is written: this glory shall be to all his saints.

Psalm 150

O praise God in his saints, praise him in the establishment of his power. Praise him in his acts of power; praise him according to the multitude of his greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet; praise him with psaltery and harp. Praise him with timbrel and choir; praise him with strings and organ. Praise him upon well-sounding cymbals; praise him upon cymbals of jubilation. Let every breath praise the Lord. Glory... now and ever.... Alleluia.

Psalm 151

Small was I among my brethren, and youngest in my father’s house: I tended my father’s sheep. My hands made an organ, and my fingers formed a psaltery. And who shall tell my Lord? the Lord himself, he shall hear. He sent forth his angel, and took me from my father’s sheep, and annointed me with the oil of his annointing. My brothers are handsome and tall, but the Lord was not pleased with them. I went forth to the meeting with the Philistine, and he cursed me by his idols. But I drew the sword from him, and beheaded him, and took away reproach from the sons of Israel.

The End. Glory be to God.