Kathisma 15

THE FIFTEENTH KATHISMA

Psalm 105

Alleluia.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.
Who shall utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who shall make all His praises to be heard?
Blessed are they that keep judgment, and do righteousness at all times.
Remember us, O Lord, with Thy favour that Thou bearest untor Thy people; O visit us with Thy salvation.
That we may see the good of Thy chosen, that we may be glad in the gladness of Thy nation, that we may glory with Thine inheritance.
We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done unrighteously.
Our fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt, and they remembered not the multitude of Thy mercy; but provoked Thee as they went up by the Red Sea.
Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known.
He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so He led them into the depths, as in a wilderness.
And He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
The waters covered those that afflicted them; there was not one of them left.
Then believed they His words, and sang His praise.
They made haste, they forgat His works, they waited not for His counsel;

But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the place without water.
And He gave them their request, and sent fulness into their souls.
They provoked Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
And a fire was kindled in their company; a flame burned up the wicked.
And they made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the graven thing.
Thus they changed His glory into the likeness of a calf that eateth grass.
And they forgat God who had saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, Wondrous works in the land of Ham, terrible things at the Red Sea.
And He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He should destroy them.
Yea, they despised the desirable land; they believed not His word; But murmured in their tents; they hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.
Therefore He lifted up His hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness; to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.
They were made initiates also of Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
And they provoked Him to anger with their inventions, and destruction was multiplied among them.
And Phinehas stood up and made propitiation, and the plague abated. And that was counted to him for righteousness, from generation to generation for evermore.
They provoked Him also at the waters of strife, and Moses was hurt for their sakes.
Because they provoked his spirit, and he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them;

But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works; and they served their graven things, and it became a scandal unto them.
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the graven things of Canaan.
And the land was murderously defiled with blood, and it was polluted with their own works, and they went a whoring with their own inventions.
Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.
And He gave them into the hands of their enemies, and they that hated them had dominion over them.
Their enemies also afflicted them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.
Many times did He deliver them, but they provoked Him with their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquities.
Nevertheless the Lord regarded them in their affliction, and heard their supplication.
And He remembered His covenant, and repented according to the multitude of His mercy.
He made them to be pitied in the sight of all those that had taken them captive.
Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, that we may give thanks to Thy holy name, that we may glory in Thy praise.
Blessed be the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting; and all the peoples shall say, So be it, so be it.

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 106

Alleluia.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.
Let them that have been redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands: from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the sea.
They wandered in the wilderness, in a waterless land; they found not the way to a city of habitation.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
And they cried unto the Lord in their affliction, and He delivered them out of their distresses.
And He led them forth into the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Let them praise the Lord for His mercies, and for His wonderful works to the sons of men.
For He hath satisfied the empty soul, and filled the hungry soul with goodness.
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in poverty and iron, Because they rebelled against the words of God, and provoked the counsel of the Most High.
Their heart also was brought down with labours; they waxed feeble, and there was none to help.
And they cried unto the Lord in their affliction, and He saved them out of their distresses.
And He brought them out of darkness, and the shadow of death; and brake their bonds asunder.
Let them praise the Lord for His mercies, and for His wonderful works to the sons of men.
For He hath broken in pieces the gates of brass, and shattered the bars of iron.
He helped them out of the way of their transgressions, for they were brought low because of their iniquities.
Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near unto the gates of death.
And they cried unto the Lord in their affliction, and He saved them out of their distresses.
He sent his Word, and healed them, and delivered them from their corruption.

Let them praise the Lord for His mercies, and for His wonderful works to the sons of men.
And let them sacrifice to Him a sacrifice of praise, and declare His works with rejoicing.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These men have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.
He spake the word, and a stormy wind arose; and the waves thereof were lifted up.
They mount up to the heavens, and they go down into the depths; their soul was melted away with evils.
They were troubled, and they staggered as a drunken man; and all their wisdom was swallowed up.
And they cried unto the Lord in their affliction, and He brought them out of their distresses.
And He commanded the storm, and it was calmed into a breeze, and the waves thereof fell silent.
And they were glad, because they were stilled; and He guided them to the haven of His will.
Let them praise the Lord for His mercies, and for His wonderful works to the sons of men.
Let them exalt Him in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the seat of the elders.
He hath turned rivers into a wilderness, and the streams of waters into dry ground; A fruitful land into saltness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
He turned a wilderness into pools of waters, and a parched land into streams of waters.
And there He made the hungry to dwell, and they prepared cities for habitation, And they sowed fields, and planted vineyards, which yielded fruits of increase.
He blessed them also, so that they were multiplied greatly; and He suffered not their cattle to decrease.
And again, they were minished and brought low through affliction, evils, and sorrows.
Contempt was poured upon their princes; and He caused them to wander in a wilderness, where there is no way.
Yea, He helped the poor out of his poverty, and made his families like a flock.

The upright shall see it, and be glad, and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
Who is wise, and will keep these things, and will understand the mercies of the Lord?

Psalm 107

A song of a Psalm of David.

O God, my heart is ready, my heart is ready; I will sing and give praise with my glory.
Awake, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake right early.
I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praise to Thee among the nations.
For Thy mercy is great above the heavens, and Thy truth even to the clouds.
Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Thy glory above all the earth.
That Thy beloved may be delivered, save with Thy right hand, and hear Thou me.
God hath spoken in his holy one, I will be exalted, and divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of tabernacles.
Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the strength of My head, Judah is My king.
Moab is the cauldron of My hope, over Edom will I stretch out My shoe; the strangers are made subject unto Me.
Who will lead me into a fortified city? Or who will lead me into Edom?

Wilt not Thou, O God, Who hast cast us off? And wilt not Thou, O God, go forth with our hosts? Give us help from trouble, for vain is the salvation of man.
Through God shall we do mightily; and He shall bring our enemies to nought.

Psalm 108

Unto the end: a Psalm of David.

O God, pass not over my praise in silence, for the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me.
They have spoken against me with a deceitful tongue, they have compassed me about also with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.
In return for my love they falsely accused me; but I gave myself unto prayer.
And they rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
Set Thou a sinner over him, and let the devil stand at his right hand.
When he is judged, let him go forth condemned, and let his prayer become sin.
Let his days be few, and let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
Let his children be vagabonds without a dwelling place, and let them beg; let them be cast out of their ruined habitations.
Let his creditor search out all his substance, and let strangers spoil all his labours.
Let there be none to help him, nor anyone to have pity upon his fatherless children.
Let his children be given over to destruction; in one generation let his name be blotted out.
Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Let them be before the Lord continually, and let the memory of them perish from the earth.
Because he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy, and one broken in heart, that he might slay him.

And he loved cursing, and it shall come upon him; and he delighted not in blessing, and it shall be far from him.
And he put on cursing like a garment, and it came into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
Let it be to him as a garment wherewith he is clothed, and like a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
This is the dealing of the Lord with them that slander me, and with them that speak evil against my soul.
But deal Thou for me, O Lord, Lord, for Thy name’s sake, for Thy mercy is good.
Deliver Thou me, for I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled within me.
I am taken away like a shadow when it declineth; I am shaken off as the locusts.
My knees are grown weak through fasting, and my flesh is changed for want of oil.
I am become a reproach also to them; they looked upon me, and they shaked their heads.
Help me, O Lord my God, and save me according to Thy mercy.
And let them know that this is Thy hand, and that Thou, O Lord, hast done it.
They shall curse, but Thou shalt bless; let them be ashamed that rise up against me; but Thy servant shall be glad.
Let them that slander me be clothed with confusion, and let them be covered with shame, as with a double mantle.
I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise Him among the multitude.
For He hath stood at the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from them that persecute me.