Text of prayer Psalm 15
Within the walls of the temple, Psalm 15 is traditionally sung in Church Slavonic. This version of the text is also used for home prayer, but those for whom it is difficult to understand are advised to use the modern translation into Russian.
With accents in Church Slavonic
Translated into Russian
Text of Psalm 15 in Russian with interpretation
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Christian Psalm 15 is one of the most difficult to interpret. The reason for this is the inconsistency and brevity of the thoughts expressed in the psalm, as well as the lack of their development. At the same time, according to some explanations of researchers, the text of the Christian Psalm 15 was considered very important, since in the Jewish tradition it is called the “golden song”, and in Orthodoxy - the pillar, which meant that the wisdom contained in it is worthy of being written in pillar for the edification of the people. It is known that the words of the fifteenth psalm belong to the Jewish psalmist David, and that they were written during his flight from King Saul, who wanted to destroy him as a potential rival.
The interpretation of the Orthodox Psalm 15 explains that its text is prophetic and messianic, since David predicts in it the salvation that everyone who believes in the Lord will receive from the risen Savior. “For You will not leave my soul in hell and You will not allow Your holy one to see corruption” (Ps. 14:10) - with these words David predicted the descent of Jesus into hell and the liberation of all the righteous from it. The Monk Arseny of Cappadocia advises listening and reading the 15th Psalm of King David in order to find lost keys.
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Read the text of the prayer Psalm 15 in Russian
Protect me, O God, for I trust in You. I said to the Lord: You are my Lord; You don't need my blessings. To the saints who are on earth, and to Your wondrous ones - all my desire is for them. Let the sorrows of those who flow to a foreign god multiply; I will not pour out their bloody drink offerings, nor will I remember their names with my lips. The Lord is part of my inheritance and my cup. You hold my lot. My lands have passed through beautiful places, and my heritage is pleasant to me. I will bless the Lord, who gave me understanding; even at night my insides teach me. I have always seen the Lord before me, for He is at my right hand; I will not hesitate. Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad; even my flesh will rest in hope, for You will not leave my soul in hell and will not allow Your saint to see corruption. You will show me the path of life: fullness of joys before Your face, bliss at Your right hand forever.
Psalter, text of Orthodox Psalm 15 in Church Slavonic language
Save me, Lord, for I trust in you. Reh Lord; My Lord you are, for you do not demand my good things. To the saints who are on this earth, the Lord surprises all His desires in them. Having increased their infirmities, I hastened them to this day; I will not gather their councils from the blood, neither will I remember their names in my mouth. The Lord is part of my wealth and my cup; You are the one who arranges my property for me. I have already attacked my sovereigns; for my property is sovereignly mine. I will bless the Lord who gave me understanding; even before night my womb punished me. I will foresee the Lord before me, as if he is at my right hand, and let me not move. For this reason my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; Moreover, my flesh will dwell in hope. Because you will not leave my soul in hell, let your venerable one see corruption. He told me these are the paths of the belly; fill me with joy with your face; beauty is in your right hand to the end.
History of writing
The content of the 15th Psalm contains an indication of the time of its composition. The second verse of the work says that the Lord demands “good” from the king. Here this word must be interpreted as sacrifices, which are the obligatory and most important basis of the Old Testament cult. An important indication is also present in the lines of the third verse of the psalm. Here the word “saints” is interpreted as “Jews,” the people chosen by the Most High, called by Him to serve and making a great vow to Him.
Psalm 15 is a work in which the author separates himself from his people who lived on God’s earth, in other words, in Palestine, assigned to him by heaven. Given this, it can be assumed that the king wrote a song of praise while staying outside Palestine. The fourth verse reflects the wickedness of everyone around, David himself has nothing to do with it.
Separated from the Jews, surrounded by pagans, the prophet does not have the opportunity to offer sacrifices to the Lord. These events correspond to the time when David lived under Saul and was then forced to flee his persecution. He found salvation from Ahnusu in Ziklag, from the king of the Philistines. Confirmation of this is present in the 1st book of Samuel (27:1-7).
We read the Psalter. Psalm 15
Audio |
Conversation with Archpriest Alexy Ladygin about the Psalter.
The Psalter is a great mystery. To penetrate this mystery means to learn the ways of God through the teachings of the psalmist David. – Are there strong and not so strong psalms?
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,” says the Apostle Paul. And by the power of grace we cannot say: which are strong and which are not. The power of a psalm depends on the power of perception that we have in our hearts. If this psalm resonates in our heart and is united with the spirit, the passion with which it was written, then it reaches Heaven. And even if we read the “strongest” psalm, as we call it, filled with the depth of experience, with a cold heart, it will not be strong. Everything must be mutual, strength lies in the reciprocity of perception, prayer, and appeal to God.
Psalm 15 is called “The Writing of Pillars.”
Why table writing? This was an ancient tradition: when they wanted to edify a hero who had done something very important for the state or a specific locality, they tried to immortalize him. Not to glorify, because they understood: our glorification is illusory before eternity itself, from which man has departed. They glorified him in order to edify subsequent generations, so that through this image they would become familiar with the virtue that this or that person had, or with his heroism. On the pillar, David writes something very important that he wants to convey, to perpetuate.
The Holy Fathers say that the 15th Psalm is Christological, it speaks of the feat of our Savior, Who took upon Himself a special feat - to save the human race; not because it had to be done, but because he is God’s property, which the Lord will never leave. The psalm speaks about how the Lord, having sent His Only Begotten Son, accomplished a feat, about the collaboration of the Holy Trinity. This psalm reveals the deepest and greatest secret, which is why it is very dear to us. The Pillar Record is a monument that says that the feat of our Divine Savior, Who came and redeemed the entire human race, should never be forgotten. The psalmist David reveals a lot here, edifying not only those who live in the time of Christ, but also those who lived before His Coming, so that they reflect on their lives, their actions, the paths of life that they chose.
“Keep me, O Lord, for I trust in You.” The psalmist David says that the Lord protects only those who trust in Him, who live according to His laws and commandments. And when we ask God for help and intercession, we must always show our lives and the truth that we are doing.
So the Divine Savior Himself, when He was the God-man, had these human sides of life. It is known from the Holy Scriptures that in His ministry there were also human experiences: He grieved, cried, was angry, wanted to eat... The Lord Himself prayed, He turned to God the Father...
“Reh of the Lord: You are my Lord, for You do not require my good things.” We must clearly understand that we are not following our own paths. Our task is to follow the path that the Lord Himself paved with His earthly life, His earthly ministry. And this reasoning reveals the conversion and earthly ministry of not only the Savior, but also of every Christian. The Lord does not require good deeds from us so that we show them to Him, but these good deeds must be present in our lives so that the Lord can see: with good deeds we testify to the life we lead, and it is built according to the commandments of God. It is not God who needs proof that we always live with God, but we.
“To the saints who are on His earth, the Lord surprises all His desires in them.” The Lord reveals and gives a lot to the saints. Holiness is a very important moment in life, and the fact that saints appear in this life is also God’s great mercy. Holiness appears through the fulfillment of life, and if there were no holiness, then there would be no God's favor.
“Having increased their infirmities, I hastened them to this day: I will not gather their councils from bloodshed, neither will I remember their names in my mouth.” Here we can talk about saints who also experienced various sorrows and difficulties in their lives. And in vain we think that a person who is holy and close to God does not experience any trials. In fact, there are a lot of such trials in life, but the Lord shows His grace and mercy: when a person turns to Him, these infirmities become less painful, they pass without touching the heart, that is, in weakness only a person can see the hand of God. When a person is doing well, he forgets about God and lives his own life, and only in sorrows, difficulties and illnesses does he feel the closeness of God and always turns to Him for help. And then the Lord promises to consign everything to oblivion.
If we turn to the Christology of this psalm and talk about Christ, then we are talking about the fact that the Lord treats the gathering of such people very poorly. When infirmities appear, they depart from God in them. So, when the Israelites refused the Lord, He did not remember their names. Here the Lord shows: your title, your names depend on the life you lead and on the loyalty you maintain to God.
“The Lord is part of my wealth and my cup; You are the one who builds up my wealth for me.” Here the Lord Himself turns to God the Father with the words: The Lord is part of my heritage. Prosperity is the entire people, God's wealth after the creation of man by the Lord. But the enemy of the human race was able to steal this property from God through the use of the free will of man himself, directed towards sin. This property is no longer God’s. “My cups” is death. Praying for the cup is praying for death. At the same time, the cup is the Divine Blood that the Lord shed for the people of the whole world. The Lord Himself arranged it in such a way that He transfers to His Son, the Heir, the property - the entire human race. And after death, the property belongs to Christ Himself. Christ not only takes away with power and force, but redeems this property with His honest Blood: through death He redeems every human soul from the hands of the enemy of the human race.
“I have already attacked my sovereign, for my sovereign wealth is mine.” Holy interpreters say that when the Lord founded the Church, it was scattered throughout the world and was not gathered together, because the preaching was still going on. Why is property expensive and powerful? Because the Lord redeemed her with His blood. And we know: what is hard for us is the most precious and most valuable thing in our life. And what is given to us cheaply, we do not value, do not value, and scatter in our lives.
“I will bless the Lord, who warned me, and punished my belly even until night.” I will bless the Lord, who taught and instructed me. The psalmist David speaks about the night, because at night there are bad thoughts, it is in the darkness that a person plots bad deeds.
“I will foresee the Lord before me, as he is at my right hand, so that I will not be moved.” Here the psalmist David says that the actions that I do are right, because they are always before the Lord. And when the Lord is with me, I will not turn aside. And our Lord did not step aside, because he walked before the face of God. The tradition is leaving our Christian life when we talk about right and left deeds, but in fact even the words that we use reflect our Christian essence - we have the concept of right deeds and left deeds. If we talk about right deeds, these are right deeds, deeds that come from the Lord, who reminds us that we must constantly do them, therefore, at baptism, an angel of God is placed on the right side, and a destructive angel is placed on the left.
“For this reason my heart is glad, and my tongue is glad, and my flesh also dwells in hope.” Here the psalmist says that everything that is born, both good and evil, is first born in the heart, then comes out of the tongue, and then a person commits it. There is less responsibility for words, for thoughts: they are always judged for deeds, because the initial stage of the action we commit is born in our thoughts, heart.
“For Thou hast not left my soul in hell, let Thy venerable one see corruption.” Next we talk about our Savior and our eternal life, since the Lord did not leave my soul in hell. Here the psalmist prophesies: The Lord did not see corruption, and we will follow the Lord, our soul will not be in hell, and our future and eternal body will not see corruption.
“Thou hast said unto me the ways of life, fill me with gladness with Thy countenance, beauty is in Thy right hand to the end.” The most important thing here is the words “beauty is in Your right hand to the end.” Here it is said about the Divine Son that He did not see corruption, but also the power and beauty of God Himself in the Son. And His right hand is strong in the Divine Son, Who conquered death and immortalized all humanity through the Resurrection and gave it eternity.
The meaning of Psalm 15
Despite the completeness of the development of David’s thoughts, they are all expressed briefly. This, combined with the lack of clarity of the work, is the reason why this eulogy is considered one of the most difficult to understand. To get to the bottom of its meaning, it is necessary to carefully analyze the individual verses of the prayer:
Verse 1: At the beginning of Psalm 15, David repeats a thought found in most of his writings. It is as follows: his faith in God is deep, unshakable, his devotion to the Almighty cannot be doubted. The king emphasizes that all his life he trusted in the Lord, seeing in him the only hope for salvation. Finding himself far from the Jews, surrounded by pagans who were strangers to him by blood and faith, he waited for help from above.
Verse 2: David mentions “good things,” which, as stated above, involve sacrifices. These are intended to awaken in a person an awareness of his sins, guilt before God, and awaken a desire to be reconciled with Him. The Lord does not expect sacrifices from the king; he wants the prophet to serve him with his being, that is, with his deeds and thoughts.
Verse 3: We are talking about the “saints,” that is, about the Jewish people chosen by the Almighty, who are under His protection and guidance. The Jews, called to be saints, received the gift of “land”, Palestine, “wonderful”, in other words, priests, had the honor of being greatly respected by the people. The king, speaking about his native land, blood, true shepherds, clearly misses them.
Verses 4 and 5: The only true Lord is Jehovah, only those who believe in Him can expect favors from above. David emphasizes that “tribulation” awaits others who believe in foreign gods. This word means deprivation.
Verse 6: In this part of the work the phrase “my boundaries” is found, which is interpreted as “my possessions” or “my “borders”. Such are dear to David.
Verse 7: The content of this verse suggests that, while surrounded by the Philistines, the king received a revelation from the Most High, by which he “was admonished.”
Verse 8: The author feels the help of God, with His support he avoids misfortune and failure. Finding himself far from his homeland, among the pagans, he continues to believe in salvation.
Verses 9 and 10: The thought of the constant protection of the Almighty is for David a source of bright joy, which he was unable to hide (the words “my tongue rejoiced” speak of its external manifestations). The support of the Lord instilled in him sincere faith that his body was not in danger of decay, he would remain alive.
This hope, as we know, thanks to the testimony in the book of Acts (2:29, 13:36), was not realized. The king died, like any mortal, his body decayed. Given this, some experts suspect that the above lines do not refer to David, but to Christ, his resurrection.
Verse 11: At the end of the song of praise, the author summarizes everything that has been said previously, emphasizing the joy that communication with the Almighty brings him.
15:1Song of David. Protect me, O God, for I trust in You.
David asks God to protect him, and God gave David many blessings, gave him wisdom and often saved him from the hands of his enemies. But how does God protect? Does He hold our hand to prevent us from committing sin? No, He gives wisdom not to sin and strength to withstand temptation, but we ourselves must decide to resist sin and make the efforts that depend on us.
15:
2 I said to the Lord, You are my Lord;
You don't need my blessings. God does not need anything from David that a mortal man could give, our God does not need anything, everything is His. The case is that no matter how much you give to the donor, he will not receive any profit from it. This is similar to when a small child gives his toy into the hands of his father, who himself gave it to the baby. What does a Father need from a child? Obedience and love.
15:
3,4 To the saints who are on earth, and to [Your] wondrous ones—to them is all my desire.
4 Let the sorrows of those who flow to a foreign [god] be multiplied; I will not pour out their bloody drink offerings, nor will I remember their names with my lips. David is concerned only with the fate of God's saints, for the sorrow of the wicked is the natural result of their wickedness. But David is concerned about the saints of God.
15:
5,6 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup.
You hold my lot. 6 My lands have passed through beautiful [places], and my inheritance is pleasant to me. In the words of David - and the prophetic words of Christ that God is his portion, his cup and lot, that is, OUTSIDE of God - the life of Christ is unthinkable. And the “boundaries” of this inheritance are beautiful; there is nothing better than being in God’s lot, limited by the “fence” of His principles.
15:
7 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding;
even at night my insides teach me. David thanks God, who enlightened him with the meaning of life, even at night David does not rest from God’s teaching: his conscience - and on the bed of sleep reminds him of the path of God’s servant, for it happens that in the evening you pray, but there is no decision about how to do it correctly enroll. And in the morning you wake up - and the decision comes, although you seem to have been sleeping and not thinking all night
15:
8 I have always seen the Lord before me, for He is at my right hand;
I will not hesitate. For such servants, God is always real, His presence and support are always felt, as if He were standing at the right hand of David. Such confidence in God helps us not to waver in our determination to remain faithful to Him, no matter what happens to us, because He shows us HOW to act in solving our problems.
However, in what cases does a person not hesitate, and in what cases does he hesitate? We are thinking. Option one. You are standing at the abyss. Ahead of you is the other shore. And you, naturally, do NOT hesitate between the choice - to move there or not, because there is NO POSSIBILITY to move there: there is no bridge, and you do not know how to fly. And therefore you are absolutely calm, standing in front of the abyss. And you don’t care what could be waiting for you there, on the other side - after all, you will never be able to get there anyway. And you return to yourself without hesitation. And it doesn’t matter what awaits you WHERE you HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY to be at the moment: you are CONFIDENT that you are right.
Another option. You are standing at the abyss. Ahead of you is the other shore. There is a rope bridge over the abyss. Pretty decent and durable, but fluctuates a lot in the wind. And you see a real opportunity to get there, into the unknown. Therefore, you begin to hesitate between the choice of whether to take a risk or not to take advantage of the OPPORTUNITY. Satisfy your curiosity or not. And it’s already starting to seem to you that the place where you are now is not good enough for you. I want new sensations. You are hesitant to make your choice. You are NOT SURE that you are right.
And another option. You are standing at the abyss. Ahead of you is the other shore. And in front of you is a large and durable stone bridge, along which cars drive and people walk to the other side. You don’t want to return to yourself - to the place where you are now. It’s hard for you and everything is wrong, you want to leave and change your life for the better. And you DO NOT hesitate. You step on the bridge and go to the other side in the confidence that leaving the wrong past is the only way to have a future. You are SURE that you are right.
Two of these options are a demonstration of the inner state of confidence in one’s actions, described by David’s words “I WILL NOT SHAKE!” This state is pleasing to God because a person is CONFIDENT in what he chooses (Rom. 14:22).
So, when is a person confident in his actions? 1) When there is NO OPPORTUNITY to hesitate: you know exactly WHAT God requires of you. And there is no way to pretend that you don’t know. Then you do not hesitate, for you want to please God. Like the psalmist. 2) And when the OPPORTUNITY not to hesitate is CLEAR, inviting, you can say: when you know for sure that God’s way is YOUR way, and the way you lived before is wrong. And you go, don’t hesitate, because it’s YOURS.
The one who hesitates DOES NOT KNOW HIS path: he remains with us on “this shore” only because he does not have the opportunity to remain without us. And if given the opportunity to escape to the other side, he might run away. Therefore, he who hesitates is unreliable either for God or for his neighbor: expect betrayal from him at any moment; he who doubts is not firm in all his ways and there is no point in holding him who wavers by the LACK OF THE OPPORTUNITY to escape (James 1: 6, 8) On the contrary, it is necessary to give everyone in general the opportunity to “escape” - to live according to one’s own choice - and thus all “NOT ours” and all those who hesitate will be revealed. Therefore, God allowed everyone in this age to go their own ways, forcibly holding no one back from anything, in order to see for Himself who “ours” are and to include them in His book of life for the coming age (Malach. 3:16)
15:
9,10 For this my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
even my flesh will rest in hope, 10 for You will not leave my soul in hell and will not allow Your saint to see corruption. It was this confidence in God that helped Jesus at one time to withstand the trials of death on the cross (he was doomed to death and could not be avoided her, remaining faithful to the Father). Jesus was confident that God would not leave him to rot in the grave, but would rescue him from there so quickly that human flesh would not even have time to “deteriorate.” These verses, as explained by the Apostle Peter, are a prophecy of Jesus Christ, who rose again on the third day and did not remain to decay in the grave (Acts 2:25-31)
For all connoisseurs and admirers of hell as a place of torment for sinners, this text is useful for thinking about why Jesus ended up in hell, in the “hell” for sinners, if he is a righteous person and does not deserve hellish torment? One of the Christians answered this question this way: “he was sent to sinners in hell or the grave (prison) in order to preach THERE,” using the text from 1 Peter 3:18,19. And, oddly enough, this answer seems convincing to many. Let's try to figure it out:
- firstly, Jesus believed that in hell his FLESH would NOT have time to DESTROY. That is, for hell - FLESH matters, it is the repository of the FLESH OF THE DEAD, the grave, the earthly sphere. This means that hell is on earth and is a place of corruption or decay of flesh to the state of dust, as was predicted to Adam (Gen. 3:19)
- secondly, supporters of hellish torment teach that in hell the soul is tormented - an INCORPOREAL substance. We found out that HELL, the repository of the FLESH of the deceased, is located in the ground. This means that an incorporeal substance that has no smoldering parts has no place in hell; - thirdly, Jesus went to hell DUE TO DEATH. And he went to the dungeon to the spirits ALREADY RESURRECTED - ALIVE, that is. This means that the prison for rebellious spirits of the times of Noah - and hell, in which the flesh of Christ did not have time to decay - DIFFERENT “storehouses”: hell is a storehouse for the flesh, the prison from 1 Peter 3:19 is a “storehouse” for spirits. In hell there are dead persons, in prison there are living ones.
15:11
You will show me the way of life: fullness of joy is before You, happiness is at Your right hand forever . cannot be a sufferer until his death with a sad and drooping face - if only because, despite all the horrors of this age, nevertheless, the man of God lives in hope for the future, and hope gives joy, even the most small The man of God considers himself and his life in this century to be a temporary, passing phenomenon, and this in itself is a joyful event, plus hope for a happy life in the eternity of God - and the man of God has no reason for sorrow at all, but here is a reason for joy is very real.
Psalter of King and Prophet David
KATHISMA 15
Psalm 105
1 Alleluia.
Glorify the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. 2 Who will speak out the power of the Lord and make all His praises heard? 3 Blessed are those who keep judgment and do righteousness at all times. 4 Remember us, O Lord, in favor of Your people, visit us with Your salvation, 5 that we may see them in kindness to Your chosen ones, that we may rejoice in the joy of Your people, that we may glory in Your inheritance. 6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity and unrighteousness. 7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders, did not remember the abundance of Your mercy, and they grumbled when they entered the Red Sea. 8 And He saved them for His name's sake, to show His power, 9 And He threatened the Red Sea, and it dried up, and He led them through the deep as through a desert, 10 And He saved them from the hand of those who hated them, and He delivered them from the hand of their enemies: 11 The water covered their oppressors, not one of them remained. 12 And they believed His word, and sang His praise. 13 They soon forgot His works, they did not wait for His purpose, 14 and they burned with desire in the wilderness, and tempted God in the arid place. 15 And He gave to them at their request, He sent satisfaction to their souls. 16 And they angered Moses in the camp, and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord: 17 the earth was opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the congregation of Abiron, 18 and a fire kindled in their congregation, and the flame consumed the sinners. 19 And they made a calf at Horeb, and worshiped the image, 20 and exchanged his glory for the likeness of a calf that eats grass. 21 And they forgot God, who saved them, who did great things in Egypt, 22 miracles in the land of Ham, terrible things at the Red Sea. 23 And He said that He would destroy them, if Moses His chosen one had not stood before Him in defeat to turn away His anger, so that He would not destroy them. 24 And they despised the desired land, they did not believe His word, 25 and they murmured in their tents, they did not obey the voice of the Lord. 26 And He lifted up His hand against them, to cast them out in the wilderness, 27 and to cast down their seed among the nations, and to scatter them throughout the lands. 28 And they joined Beelphegor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead, 29 and provoked Him with their manners, and a great pestilence began among them. 30 And Phinehas arose and propitiated Him, and the slaughter ceased, 31 and it was credited to him as righteousness for generations and generations forever. 32 And the quarrels made him angry at the waters, and Moses suffered because of them, 33 for they grieved his spirit, and he divided himself in two with his mouth. 34 They did not destroy the nations about which the Lord spoke to them, 35 but mixed with the pagans and learned their deeds. 36 And they served their idols, and they became a stumbling block to them, 37 and they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, 38 and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land perished from their blood, 39 and was defiled by their deeds, and they fell into fornication in their customs. 40 And the Lord was angry with His people and hated His inheritance, 41 and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and those who hated them took possession of them, 42 and their enemies oppressed them, and they humbled themselves under their hands. 43 Many times He delivered them, but they provoked Him with their evil advice and suffered humiliation in their iniquities. 44 And the Lord saw when they were oppressed, when He heard their prayer, 45 and He remembered His covenant, and repented according to the abundance of His mercy, 46 and aroused compassion for them among all those who took them captive. 47 Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, to glorify Your holy name, to glory in Your praise. 48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And all the people will say: “Let it be, let it be!”
Glory:
Psalm 106
1 Alleluia.
“Glorify the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever,” 2 let the redeemed of the Lord say, whom He delivered from the hand of the enemy, 3 and gathered them from the countries, from the east, and the west, and the north, and the sea. 4 They got lost in the waterless desert, they could not find the way to an inhabited city, 5 they suffered hunger and thirst, their souls fainted within them. 6 And they cried to the Lord in their affliction, and He delivered them from their troubles, 7 and guided them on the straight path to come to an inhabited city. 8 Let the sons of men confess His mercies to the Lord and His wonders! 9 For He nourished the weary soul and filled the hungry soul with good things - 10 those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, bound by poverty and iron, 11 for they murmured at the words of God and provoked the will of the Most High. 12 And their hearts were humbled in their labors, and they became weak, and there was no helper. 13 And they cried out to the Lord in their affliction, and He saved them from their troubles, 14 and brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds. 15 Let the sons of men confess His mercies to the Lord and His wonders! 16 For He has broken in pieces the gates of brass and broken the bars of iron; 17 He has taken them out of the way of their iniquity, because they were humiliated for their iniquities. 18 Their souls detested all food, and they drew near to the gates of death, 19 and they cried out to the Lord in their sorrow, and He saved them from their troubles: 20 He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from their corruptions. 21 Let the sons of men confess his mercies to the Lord and his wonders! 22 And let them offer Him a sacrifice of praise, and let them proclaim His deeds with joy. 23 Those who go to sea in ships, doing work on many waters, 24 they have seen the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. 25 He said, and a stormy wind began, and the waves rose high from it: 26 ascending to the heavens and descending to the abysses; their souls languished in distress. 27 They were confused, they staggered like a drunken man, and all their wisdom was lost. 28 And they cried to the Lord in their sorrow, and He brought them out of their troubles, 29 and commanded the storm, and there was silence, and its waves were silent; 30 And they rejoiced that they had calmed down, and He showed them the way to the harbor they desired. 31 Let the sons of men confess His mercies to the Lord and His wonders! 32 Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people, and let them praise Him in the seat of the elders. 33 He turned the rivers into deserts and the springs of water into a thirsty land; 34 The fruitful land has become a salt marsh, because of the malice of those who live on it. 35 He turned the desert into lakes of water and the dry land into fountains of water, 36 and settled the hungry there, and they built cities to live in, 37 and sowed fields and planted vineyards, and received fruit from what was planted. 38 And He blessed them, and they multiplied greatly, and the cattle did not diminish them. 39 And they diminished and suffered from oppression, distress and torment. 40 Contempt was poured out on their princes, and He left them to wander in the wilderness and not in the way. 41 And he helped the poor out of poverty, and raised families like sheep. 42 The righteous will see and rejoice, and all iniquity will stop their mouth. 43 Who is wise and will keep it? And they will understand the mercies of the Lord.
Glory:
Psalm 107
1 Song-psalm of David.
2 My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready, I will sing and make melody to my glory. 3 Awake, my glory, awaken, psalter and harp. I'll wake up at dawn! 4 I will praise You among the nations, O Lord, I will sing praises to You among the nations, 5 for Your mercy is great, above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds. 6 Ascend into heaven, O God, and throughout all the earth is Your glory. 7 So that Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand and hear me. 8 God said in His sanctuary: “I will be exalted and will divide Shechem, and will measure the valley of tents. 9 Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine, and Ephraim is the defense of my head, Judah is my king; 10 Moab is the font of my hope; I will stretch out my sandals on Idumea; the foreigners have submitted to me.” 11 Who will take me to the fenced city, or who will bring me to Idumea? 12 Is it not you, O God, who has rejected us? And you, O God, will not go out among our armies. 13 Give us help in distress, and human salvation is in vain. 14 In God we will show strength, and He will count our enemies as nothing.
Psalm 108
1 For execution. Psalm of David.
God, do not remain silent in response to my praise! 2 For the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful one were opened against me, they spoke against me with a deceitful tongue, 3 and surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without cause. 4 Instead of loving me, they slandered me, but I prayed; 5 And they repaid me with evil for good and hatred for my love. 6 Set a sinner over him, and let the slanderer stand at his right hand; 7 when he is judged, let him come out condemned, and let his prayer become sin. 8 Let his days be short, and let another take his office; 9 Let his sons be orphans, and his wife a widow; 10 Let his sons wander and wander and beg and be driven out of their ruins. 11 Let the lender demand all that he has, and let others plunder his labors; 12 Let him have no intercessor, and let him not have mercy on his orphans; 13 Let his children be born to destruction; in one generation let his name be blotted out. 14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out; 15 May they always be before the Lord, and may the memory of them be destroyed from the earth 16 because he did not think to show mercy and pursued a poor, needy, and broken-hearted man in order to kill him. 17 And he loved the curse, and it would come to him, and he did not desire the blessing, and it would be removed from him. 18 And he clothed himself with the curse as with a garment, and it went into his bowels like water, and into his bones like oil; 19 Let it be to him like a garment that he puts on, and like a girdle with which he always girds himself. 20 This is the fate of those who slander me from the Lord and speak evil against my soul. 21 And Thou, O Lord, Lord, do unto me for Thy name's sake, for Thy mercy is good. 22 Deliver me, for I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled within me. 23 Like a shadow when it turns away, I disappeared; they shook me off like a locust; 24 My knees are weak from fasting, and my flesh is changed, for there is no oil. 25 And I became a reproach to them: when they saw me, they shook their heads. 26 Help me, O Lord my God, save me according to Your mercy, 27 and let them know that it is Your hand and You, O Lord, have done this. 28 They will curse, but You will bless; Let those who rise up against me be ashamed, but let Your servant rejoice. 29 Let those who slander me be clothed with shame, and let them clothe themselves with their shame as with a garment. 30 I will earnestly glorify the Lord with my mouth and in the midst of many I will praise Him, 31 for He appeared at the right hand of the poor to save my soul from the persecutors.
Glory:
AFTER KATHISMA 15
Trisagion. Glory, and now: Most Holy Trinity: Lord, have mercy (3) . Glory, and now: Our Father:
Troparion, tone 1
How great is the abyss of my sins, Savior, / and I sank miserably from my sins! / Give me your hand, like Peter, / and save me, O God, / and have mercy on me.
Glory: For evil thoughts and deeds / I am worthy of condemnation, Savior, / but grant me the thought of conversion, O God, so that I cry: / “Save me, O Good Benefactor, / and have mercy on me!”
And now: Blessed and Immaculate Youth in God, / cleanse me, nasty and unclean, / from obscene deeds and unclean thoughts, / the unfortunate one, / Spotless and Pure, / All-Holy Virgin Mother.
Lord, have mercy (40) and prayer:
Master Lord Jesus Christ, You are my helper, I am in Your hands; help me, do not let me sin before You, for I am lost. Do not leave me to follow the will of my flesh, do not despise me, Lord, for I am weak. You know what is good for me, do not leave me to perish from my sins, do not forsake me, Lord, do not depart from me, for I have fled to You, teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Heal my soul, for I have sinned before You. Save me according to Your mercy, for before You are all those who oppress me, and I have no other refuge but You, Lord. Let all those who rise up against me and seek my soul in order to destroy it be ashamed! For You, Lord, are the Mighty One among all, and Your glory is forever and ever. Amen.
