Kathisma 12

THE TWELFTH KATHISMA

Psalm 85

A prayer of David.

Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my soul, for I am holy; O Thou my God, save Thy servant that hopeth in Thee.
Be merciful unto me, O Lord; for unto Thee will I cry all the day long.
Rejoice the soul of Thy servant, for unto Thee have I lifted up my soul.
For Thou, Lord, art good and gentle, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee.
Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplication.
In the day of my trouble I cried to Thee, for Thou hast heard me.
Among the gods there is none like unto Thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto Thy works.
All the nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord, and shall glorify Thy name.
For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things, Thou art God alone.
Guide me in Thy way, O Lord, and I will walk in Thy truth; let my heart rejoice that I may fear Thy name.
I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Thy name for evermore.
For great is Thy mercy toward me, and Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest Hades.
O God, the transgressors are risen up against me, and the assembly of the mighty hath sought after my soul, and have not set Thee before them.
But Thou, O Lord my God, art full of compassion, and merciful, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy, and true.
O look Thou upon me, and have mercy upon me; give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and save the son of Thine handmaid.

Work in me a sign unto good, and let them which hate me see and be ashamed; for Thou, O Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me.

Psalm 86

A Psalm of a song for the sons of Korah.

His foundations are in the holy mountains.
The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.
I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. And behold the foreigners, and those of Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians; these were born there.
A man shall say, Zion is my mother, and, That man was born in her, and, The Most High Himself hath established her.
The Lord shall tell it in His writings of the people and of the princes, even of them that have been born in her.
How joyful are all they that have their habitation in Thee!

Psalm 87

A song of a Psalm for the sons of Korah. To the end: about the response of Mahaleth, for instruction for Hemon the Israelite.

O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried by day and night before Thee.
Let my prayer come before Thee; incline Thine ear unto my supplication.
For my soul is full of evils, and my life hath drawn nigh unto Hades.
I am counted with them that go down into the pit; I am become as a man that hath no help, free among the dead.
Like the bodies of the slain that sleep in the grave, whom Thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from Thy hand.
They have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

Thy wrath presseth hard upon me, and Thou hast brought all Thy waves upon me.
Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; they have made me an abomination unto them.
I am delivered up, and have not come forth; mine eyes are grown weak by reason of poverty.
Lord, I have called upon Thee all the day long; I have stretched out my hands unto Thee.
Wilt Thou work wonders for the dead? or shall physicians raise them up to praise Thee? Shall any in the grave tell of Thy mercy, and of Thy truth in that destruction? Shall Thy wonders be known in that darkness, and Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But unto Thee have I cried, O Lord, and in the morning shall my prayer prevent Thee.
Lord, why castest Thou off my soul, and turnest Thou Thy face away from me? I am poor and in troubles from my youth up; yea, having been exalted, I was humbled and brought to distress.
Thy fierce wrath hath gone over me, and Thy terrors have troubled me. They came round about me like water; all the day long they compassed me about together.
Friend and neighbour hast Thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance, because of my misery.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God.
Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy; Lord, have mercy. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Psalm 88

For instruction: for Ethan the Israelite.

I will sing of Thy mercies, O Lord, for ever; with my mouth will I shew forth Thy truth from generation to generation.
For Thou hast said, Mercy shall be built up for ever; Thy truth shall be established in the heavens.
I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn unto David My servant.
Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne from generation to generation.
The heavens shall declare Thy wonders, O Lord, Thy truth also in the congregation of the saints.
For who in the clouds shall be compared unto the Lord? and who among the sons of God shall be likened unto the Lord? God Who is glorified in the assembly of the saints, great and terrible toward all them that are round about Him.
O Lord God of hosts, who is like unto Thee? Thou art mighty, O Lord, and Thy truth is round about Thee.
Thou art ruler the might of the sea, and Thou stillest the tumult of her waves.
Thou hast humbled the proud, as one that is slain; and Thou hast scattered Thine enemies with the arm of Thy strength.
The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine; as for the world and the fulness thereof, Thou hast founded them.
The north and the sea Thou hast created them; Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name.
Thine is the mighty arm. Let Thine hand be strengthened, let Thy right hand be exalted.
Justice and judgment are the establishment of Thy throne; mercy and truth shall go before Thy face. Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation.
They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance, and in Thy name shall they rejoice all the day, and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
For Thou art the glory of their strength, and in Thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
For of the Lord is our help, and of the Holy One of Israel, our King.
Then Thou spakest in a vision to Thy sons, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty, I have exalted one chosen out of My people.
I have found David My servant, with My holy oil have I anointed him.

For My hand shall be an ally unto him, Mine arm also shall strengthen him. His enemy shall have no advantage over him, nor shall the son of wickedness have power to hurt him more.
And I will cut down his foes before his face, and put to flight them that hate him.
And My truth and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
He shall cry unto Me, and say, Thou art my Father, my God, and the Help of my salvation.
Also I will make him My firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with him.
His seed also will I establish for ever and ever, and his throne shall be as the days of heaven.
If his sons forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments; If they profane My statutes, and keep not My commandments; Then will I visit their iniquities with a rod, and their transgressions with stripes.
Nevertheless My mercy will I not utterly take from them, nor wrong them in My truth.
Neither will I profane My covenant, nor make void the things that go out of My lips.
Once have I sworn by My holiness, that I will not lie unto David.
His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me, and as the moon that is established for ever, and as a faithful witness in heaven.
But Thou hast cast off and brought to nought; Thou hast been wroth with Thine anointed.
Thou hast destroyed the covenant of Thy servant; Thou hast profaned his sanctuary to the ground.
Thou hast broken down all his hedges; Thou hast made his strong hold a terror.
All that pass by the way have spoiled him; he is become a reproach to his neighbours.
Thou hast set up the right hand of them that afflict him, Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
Thou hast turned away the help of his sword, and hast not holpen him in battle.

Thou hast made an end of his purification; Thou hast cast his throne down to the ground.
The days of his time hast Thou shortened; Thou hast covered him with shame.
How long, O Lord, wilt Thou turn away for ever? Shall Thy wrath burn like fire? Remember what my substance is; for hast Thou created all the sons of man in vain? What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul out of the hand of Hades? Where are Thine ancient mercies, O Lord, which Thou swarest unto David in Thy truth? Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Thy servants, which I have endured in my bosom of many nations.
Wherewith Thine enemies have reproached, O Lord, wherewith they have reproached the recompense of Thine anointed.
Blessed be the Lord for evermore. So be it. So be it.

Psalm 89

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

O Lord, Thou hast been our refuge from generation to generation.
Before the mountains were brought forth, and the earth and the world were formed, from everlasting to everlasting Thou art.
Turn not man away unto lowliness; Thou hast said, Return, ye sons of men.
For a thousand years in Thy sight, O Lord, are but as yesterday which is past, and as a watch in the night.

Things of no account shall their years be; in the morning as the grass shall man pass away.
In the morning he shall flourish, and pass away; in the evening he shall fall, and be withered and dry.
For we have fainted away in Thy wrath, and have been troubled in Thine anger.
Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our life in the light of Thy countenance.
For all our days are spent, and by Thy wrath have we fainted away; our years are reckoned as a spider’s web.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten, and if we be in strength, then fourscore years; and the greater part of these is labour and travail, for mildness is come upon us, and we shall be chastened.
Who knoweth the power of Thine wrath? and for fear of Thee who can recount Thine anger? So make Thy right hand known to me, and to them that in heart are learned in wisdom.
Return, O Lord, how long? and be Thou entreated for Thy servants.
We have been satisfied in the morning with Thy mercy, O Lord, and we have rejoiced, and been glad.
Let us be glad all our days for the days wherein Thou hast humbled us, for the years wherein we have seen evils.
And look upon Thy servants, and upon Thy works, and guide Thou their sons.
And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us; prosper Thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, prosper Thou the work of our hands.

Psalm 90

A song of praise of David. Untitled in the Hebrew.

He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High shall abide under the shelter of the God of heaven.
He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my helper and my refuge; He is my God, and in Him will I hope.

For He shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunters, and from every sharp word.
He shall overshadow thee with His shoulders, and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall compass thee with a shield.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the thing that walketh in darkness, nor for the mishap and the noonday devil.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of sinners.
Because Thou, Lord, art my hope. Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.
There shall no evils befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the asp and basilisk, and the lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot.
Because he hath set his hope in Me, I will deliver him; I will shelter him, because he hath known My name.
He shall cry unto Me, and I will hearken unto him; I am with him in trouble, and I will deliver him, and glorify him.
With length of days will I satisfy him, and shew him My salvation.