Ninth Kathisma

Psalm 64

To thee belongeth a hymn, O God, in Zion, and to thee shall be rendered a prayer in Jerusalem. Hearken unto my prayer; to thee all flesh shall come. The words of the lawless have overpowered us, but from our impieties thou shalt cleanse us. Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken, he shall dwell in thy courts. We will be filled with the good things of thy house: thy temple is holy, thou art wondrous in righteousness. Hear us, O God our Saviour, the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are far off upon the sea: who dost establish the mountains with thy strength, girded about with power: who dost trouble the depth of the sea; who shall withstand the sound of its waves? The nations shall be disquieted, they that live at the ends of the earth shall be afraid of thy signs: thou shalt make the departures of morning and evening to rejoice. Thou hast visited the earth, and saturated it, thou hast greatly increased it: the river of God is filled with water. Thou hast prepared their food, for thus is its preparation. Saturate her furrows, increase her fruits: in her showers shall she rejoice springing up. Thou hast blessed the crown of the year with thy goodness, and thy plains shall be filled with fatness. The mountains of the wilderness shall be enriched, and the hills shall be girded with joy. The rams of the flock are clothed, and the valleys abound with wheat: they shall cry out, yea, they shall sing psalms.

Psalm 65

Shout unto the Lord, all the earth; sing psalms unto his name; make his praise glorious. Say unto God, How fearful are all thy works; in the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies lie to thee. Let all the earth worship thee and sing psalms unto thee; let them sing psalms unto thy name, O Most High. Come and see the works of God, how fearful in his counsels, more than the sons of men. Who turneth sea into dry land, they shall go in the river on foot; there shall we rejoice in him, who by his power is Master forever; his eyes look upon the nations, that those who provoke him may not be exalted in themselves. Bless our God, O ye nations, and make the voice of his praise to be heard, who establisheth my soul in life, and suffereth not my feet to be moved. For thou hast proved us, O God; thou hast tried us with fire, as with fire silver is tried. Thou hast brought us into the snare; thou hast laid scourges upon our back. Thou hast set men over our head; we have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us to a place of refreshment. I will go into thy house with whole-burnt offerings; I will offer unto thee my prayers which my lips have uttered, and which my mouth spake in mine affliction. Fattened whole-burnt offerings will I sacrifice to thee with incense and rams; I will sacrifice unto thee oxen with goats. Come, hear, and I will tell ye, all that fear God, the great things He hath done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and with my tongue I exalted him. If I have looked upon unrighteousness in my heart, may the Lord not hearken unto me. For this cause God hath hearkened unto me, He hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed is God, who hath not turned away from my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

Psalm 66

O God, be compassionate unto us, and bless us; make thy face to shine upon us, and have mercy on us. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy salvation among all nations. Let the peoples confess thee, O God, let all the peoples confess thee. Let the nations be glad and rejoice, for thou shalt judge the peoples in uprightness, and thou shalt guide the nations of the earth. Let the peoples confess thee, O God, let all the peoples confess thee. The earth hath yielded her fruit. Bless us, O God, our God; bless us, O God, and let all the ends of the earth fear him.

Psalm 67

Let God arise, and let him scatter his enemies, and let them that hate him flee from before his face. As smoke vanisheth, let them vanish, as wax melteth in the face of fire: so let sinners perish before the face of God, but let the righteous be glad, let them rejoice before God, let them delight in joy. Sing psalms unto God, sing psalms unto his name; make a way for him that rideth in the west, the Lord is his name, and rejoice before him. Let them be troubled by his countenance, the Father of orphans and Judge of widows; God is in his holy place. God establisheth the solitary in a house, manfully leading forth fettered ones, and them that provoke also, even them that dwell in tombs. O God, when thou didst go forth before thy people, when thou didst go through the desert, the earth quaked, yea, the heavens dripped before the face of the God of Sinai, before the face of the God of Israel. Rain didst thou willingly grant, O God, to thine inheritance; it was wearied, but thou didst refresh it. Thy creatures dwell in it; in thy goodness hast thou prepared for the poor, O God. The Lord shall grant utterance with great power to them that proclaim glad tidings. The king of the hosts of his beloved, according to the beauty of the house, shall divide the spoils; if ye sleep among the lots, ye shall have wings of a dove covered in silver, and her back in brilliant gold. When He that dwelleth in the heavens shall distribute kings upon it, they shall be snow-white in Selmon. The mountain of God is a rich mountain, a curdled mountain, a rich mountain. Why do ye reckon there be other curdled mountains? This is the mountain wherein God is well-pleased to dwell: for the Lord shall abide therein till the end. The chariots of God are ten thousand fold, thousands of stalwarts: the Lord is among them in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou art ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts among men, for they were disobedient, that thou mightest abide with them. The Lord God is blessed, the Lord God is blessed day by day; the God of our salvation doth prosper us. Our God is the God who saveth: and of the Lord’s Lord are the pathways from death. But God shall crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of them that continue their transgressions. The Lord said, I will lead back from Basan, I will lead back through the depths of the sea, that thy foot may be dipped in blood, the tongue of thy dog with that of thine enemies. Thy processions have been seen, O God, the processions of my God and King, who is in his sanctuary. Princes at the head, singers next, in the midst of maidens playing timbrels. In the churches bless ye God, the Lord from the fountains of Israel. There is Benjamin the younger in ecstasy, the princes of Judah their masters, the princes of Zebulon, the princes of Nephthalim. Command, O God, thy might; strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought in us. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring thee gifts. Rebuke the wild beast of the reed, the assembly of bulls among the heifers of the peoples, lest they exclude them that have been proved like silver: scatter the nations that desire war. Ambassadors shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall lead with her hand unto God. O ye kingdoms of the earth, sing unto God; sing psalms unto the Lord, who rideth the heaven of heavens to the east: He shall make a mighty sound with his voice. Give glory to God: in Israel is his excellency, in the clouds is his might. God is wondrous in his Saints: the God of Israel, He shall give might and strength to his people; blessed is God.

Psalm 68

Save me, O God, for the waters have come in, even unto my soul. I am sunk in deep mire, and there is no stand ing; I am come into the depths of the sea, and a tempest hath overwhelmed me. I am wearied from crying, my throat hath become hoarse; mine eyes have failed from waiting upon my God. They that hate me without a cause are multiplied more than the hairs on my head; mine enemies are strengthened, who persecute me unrighteously; for what I did not take, I then gave back. O God, thou knewest my foolishness, and my transgressions are not hidden from thee. Let them not be put to shame on my account who wait upon thee, O Lord, O Lord of Hosts; neither let them be disgraced on my account who seek thee, O God of Israel. For thy sake have I borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I became alienated from my brethren, and a stranger to my mother’s children. For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproach thee have fallen upon me. And I covered my soul with fasting, and it was made a reproach against me. And I put on sackcloth as my garment, and I became for them a proverb. They that sat in the gate gossiped about me, and they that drank wine sang about me. Yet as for me, my prayer is to thee, O God, in convenient time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercies hearken unto me, in the truth of thy salvation. Save me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of deep waters. Let not the flood over whelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up, nor let the well shut its mouth against me. Hearken unto me, O God, for thy mercy is good; according to the multitude of thy compassions look upon me. Turn not away thy face from thy child; hear me speedily, for I am afflicted. Attend to my soul and redeem it; on account of mine enemies, deliver me. Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my disgrace; before thee are all them that afflict me. My soul hath waited for reproach and misery; and I waited for one to share mine affliction, and there was none, and for some to comfort me, and I found none. And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table before them be for a snare, and for a recompense, and for a stumbling-block. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not, and let their back be bowed down continually. Pour out on them thine anger, and let the anger of thy wrath overtake them. Let their courts become desolate, and in their dwellings let there be no inhabitant, because they persecuted him whom thou hast smitten, and they added pain to my wounds. Add iniquity to their iniquity, and let them not enter into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and with the righteous let them not be writ ten down. Poor and afflicted am I: may thy salvation, O God, come before me. I will praise the name of my God in song, I will magnify him in praise; and God shall be more pleased, than with a young calf having horns and hoofs. Let the poor see and be glad; seek ye the Lord, and your souls shall live. For the Lord heareth the needy, and disregardeth not his fettered ones. Let the heavens and the earth praise him, the seas and all creatures in them. For God shall save Zion, and the cities of Judæa shall be built, and they shall dwell therein, and inherit it: and the seed of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall dwell in it.

Psalm 69

O God, attend to my help; O Lord, hasten to help me. Let them be ashamed and disgraced that seek my soul; let them be turned back and ashamed who wish me harm; let them be turned back at once in shame that say to me, Well! Well! Let them rejoice and be glad in thee, all those that seek thee, O God, and let all those that love thy salvation continually say, The Lord be magnified. But I am poor and needy, O God, help me; my helper and deliverer art thou, O Lord, do not tarry.