Fifth Kathisma

Psalm 32

Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; praise becometh the upright. Confess unto the Lord with the harp; with the ten-stringed psaltery, sing psalms unto him. Sing unto him a new song, sing psalms well unto him with jubilation. For upright is the word of the Lord, and all his works are with faith. The Lord loveth merciful works and judgment; the earth is full of the Lord’s mercy. By the Word of the Lord were the heavens established, and by the Spirit of his mouth, all their power; gathering together, as in a vessel, the waters of the sea; laying up in treasuries the abysses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stagger before him. For He spake, and they came into being; He commanded, and they were created. The Lord bringeth to nought the counsels of the nations; He disregardeth the reasoning of the people, and He disregardeth the counsels of rulers. But the counsel of the Lord remaineth for ever, the reasoning of his heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He hath chosen for his inheritance. The Lord looked down from heaven, He beheld all the sons of men; from his dwelling-place which He prepared, He looked down upon all them that dwell upon the earth: fashioning the hearts of each of them, understanding the works of all of them. The king is not saved by great power, nor shall the giant be saved in the greatness of his might. Vain is the horse for salvation; in his great power he shall not be saved. The eyes of the Lord beheld them that feared him, that hoped in his mercy: to deliver their souls from death, to sustain them in famine. Our soul waiteth upon the Lord, for He is our Helper and Defender. For in him shall our hearts be glad, and in his holy name have we hoped. Let thy mercy be upon us, O Lord, as we have set our hope on thee.

Psalm 33

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be con tinually in my mouth. In the Lord my soul shall make her boast; let the meek hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me; and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and He heard me; and delivered me from all mine afflictions. Draw nigh to him and be enlightened; and your faces shall not be ashamed. This poor one cried and the Lord heard him, and saved him from all his tribulations. The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him, and shall deliver them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that hopeth in him. Fear the Lord all ye his Saints, for there is no lack for them that fear him. The rich have become poor and hungry, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me; the fear of the Lord will I teach you. Who is the man that wanteth life, loving to see good days? Withhold thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no deceit. Shun evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears unto their prayers. But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil, to blot out their memory from the earth. The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and delivered them from all their tribulations. The Lord is nigh to them that are of broken heart, and He shall save the humble in spirit. Many are the tribulations of the righteous, but out of them all shall the Lord deliver them. The Lord keepeth all their bones, and not one of them shall be broken. The death of sinners is evil, and they that hate the righteous shall offend. The Lord shall deliver the souls of his servants, and none of them that hope in him shall offend.

Psalm 34

Judge them, O Lord, that wrong me; war against them that war against me. Take up armor and shield, and rise up to my help. Bring forth the sword and shut off the way against them that pursue me; say to my soul, I am thy salvation. Let them be ashamed and reproved that seek my soul; let them be turned back and put to shame that devise evil for me. Let them become as chaff before the face of the wind, and the angel of the Lord afflict them. Let their way become dark and slippery, and the angel of the Lord pursue them. For without a cause, they have hidden their snare of destruction for me; in vain have they reviled my soul. Let a snare which he knoweth not come upon him, and the trap which he hath hidden catch him, and let him fall into the very same snare. But my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; it shall delight in his salvation. All my bones shall say, Lord, O Lord, who is like unto thee? who deliverest the poor man from the hand of them that are stronger than he, and the poor and needy from them that despoil him. Unrighteous witnesses have risen against me; they asked me things I had not known. They rewarded me evil for good, and barrenness to my soul. But I, when they troubled me, was clothed with sackcloth, and I humbled my soul in fasting, and my prayer shall turn back to my bosom. As a neighbor, as our own brother, so did I treat them well, as one wailing and grieving so was I humbled. And they rejoiced and gathered together against me; scourges gathered together upon me, and I knew not: they were separated and repented not. They tempted me, they scoffed at me with sneering; they gnashed their teeth at me. O Lord, when wilt thou look? Restore my soul from their evil deeds, mine only-begotten from the lions. I will confess thee in a great church, with a mighty people will I praise thee. Let not them that bear me enmity unrighteously rejoice over me, those that hated me without a cause, and winked their eyes. For they spake to me peacefully, but wrathfully devised deceit. And they opened wide their mouth against me, saying, Well! Well! our eyes have seen it. Thou hast seen it, O Lord, keep thou not silent: Lord, turn not away from me. Arise, O Lord, and attend to my judgment, O my God and my Lord, to my cause. Judge me, O Lord, according to thy righteousness, O Lord my God, and let them not rejoice over me. Let them not say in their hearts, Well! Well! our soul; neither let them say, We have swallowed him up. Let them be ashamed and reproved together that rejoice at mine evils; let them be clothed with shame and reproach that speak greatly against me. Let them rejoice and be glad that desire my righteousness, and let those that desire the peace of his servant always say, The Lord be magnified. And my tongue shall meditate upon thy righ teousness, upon thy praise all the day long.

Psalm 35

The lawless man, for to sin, saith in himself that there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he hath been deceitful before him, to find his transgression and hate it. The sayings of his mouth are transgression and deceit; he was not inclined to understand to do good. He hath devised transgressions upon his bed; he hath set himself on every bad way, but was not offended by evil. O Lord, thy mercy is in the heavens, and thy truth even in the clouds: thy righteousness is like a mountain of God, thy judgments like a great abyss; thou shalt save men and beasts, O Lord. How thou hast multiplied thy mercy, O God! the sons of men shall hope under the shelter of thy wings. They shall become drunk with the plenteousness of thy house; thou shalt give them to drink of the torrent of thy pleasure. For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light. Extend thy mercy to them that know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, nor the hand of the sinner move me. There all the workers of transgression have fallen. They are cast out, and shall not be able to stand.

Psalm 36

Do not imitate evildoers, nor envy the workers of trans gression. For like grass shall they quickly dry up, and like green herb shall they quickly fall off. Hope in the Lord, and do good, and dwell upon the earth, and thou shalt be fed with its riches. Delight in the Lord, and He shall give thee the petitions of thy heart. Reveal thy way to the Lord, and hope in him, and He shall do it; and He shall bring forth thy righteousness like light, and thy judgment like the noonday. Subject thyself unto the Lord, and implore him; do not imitate him that prospereth in his own way, the man that worketh lawlessness. Cease from wrath, and forsake anger; take not imitate so far as to do evil. For evildoers shall be utterly destroyed, but they that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth. And yet a little while, and the sinner shall be no more, and thou shalt seek his place and not find it. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight in an abundance of peace. The sinner shall observe the righteous man, and shall gnash his teeth at him, but the Lord shall laugh at him, for He foreseeth that his day shall come. The sinners drew the sword, they bent their bow to overthrow the poor and needy, to slay the upright in heart. Let their sword enter into their own heart, and let their bow be broken. Better is the little of the righteous man than the great riches of sinners. For the sinners’ arms shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous. The Lord knoweth the ways of the blameless, and their inheritance shall be for ever; they shall not be ashamed in time of evil, and in days of famine they shall be satisfied: for the sinners shall perish. But the enemies of the Lord, once they are glorified and exalted, shall vanish as smoke vanisheth. The sinner borroweth and repayeth not, but the righteous showeth compassion and giveth. For those that bless him shall inherit the earth, but those that curse him shall be destroyed. By the Lord shall the steps of man be directed, and he shall greatly desire his way. When he shall fall, he shall not be injured, for the Lord giveth strength to his hand. I was younger, but I have grown old, and I have not seen the righteous man for saken, nor his seed seeking bread. All the day long he showeth mercy and lendeth justly, and his seed shall be blessed. Decline from evil, and do good, and abide unto ages of ages. For the Lord loveth judgment, and shall not forsake his Saints; they shall be preserved for ever. The blameless shall be avenged, and the impious shall be destroyed. But the righteous shall inherit the earth, and they shall abide therein unto ages of ages. The mouth of the righteous shall practice wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart, and his footsteps shall not slip. The sinner beholdeth the righteous man, and seeketh his death: but the Lord shall not leave him in his hands, nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait upon the Lord, and keep his way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the earth; when sinners are destroyed, thou shalt see. I have seen the impious highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon; and I passed by and, behold, he was not, and I sought him, but his place was not found. Keep innocence, and behold uprightness, for there are remnants for the peaceful man. But transgressors shall be destroyed at once; the remnants of the impious shall be destroyed. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, and He is their Defender in time of tribulation; and the Lord shall help them and deliver them, and He shall rescue them from sinners, and save them, for they have hoped in him.