Give ear to my words, O Lord, understand my cry. Attend to the voice of my supplication, my King and my God, for to you I shall pray, O Lord. In the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I shall stand before you, and you will watch over me, because you are not a God who wants iniquity. The evildoer will not dwell with you, nor will the lawless remain before your eyes. You have hated all those who work iniquity; you will destroy all those who speak lies. The Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and deceit. But I in the abundance of your mercy shall enter your house, I shall worship towards your holy temple in fear of you. Guide me, O Lord, in your justice because of my enemies, direct my way before you. Because there is no truth in their mouths; their heart is vain. Their throat is an open tomb, they deceive with their tongues. Judge them, O God. Let them fall through their counsels; according to the multitude of their impieties cast them out, for they have embittered you, O Lord. And may all those who hope in you be glad; they will rejoice for ever, and you will dwell among them, and all those who love your name will boast in you. Because you will bless the righteous; you have crowned him, O Lord, with your good pleasure. ****

¶16

Psalm 44

¶17

My heart has uttered a good Word. I tell my works to the King. My tongue is the pen of ready writer. You are lovely with a beauty beyond the children of men. Grace has poured from your lips, therefore God has blessed you for ever. Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty warrior. In your splendour and beauty, draw your bow and prosper and reign in the cause of truth and meekness and justice, and your right hand will guide you wonderfully. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the sceptre of your Kingdom is a rod of justice. You have loved right and hated wrong, therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your fellows. Your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia, from the ivory palaces which gladden you. Kings’ daughters are in your train. The Queen stood at your right hand arrayed in gold wrought with many colours. Listen my daughter and see, and incline your ear. And forget your people and your father’s house. Then the King will desire your beauty, for he is your God and your shall worship him. And the daughter of Tyre will worship you with gifts. The richest of the people will entreat your favour. All the glory of the King’s daughter is within, though she is arrayed in tasselled gold, wrought with many colours. The virgins in her train will be brought to the King, those near her will be brought to you. They will be brought with joy and gladness, they will be led into the King’s temple. Instead of your fathers, sons are born to you. You shall make them rulers over all the earth. I will remember your name throughout all generations, therefore people will praise and thank you for ever and ever. ****

¶18

Psalm 45

¶19

God is our refuge and our power, a help in the afflictions that beset us greatly. Therefore we shall not be afraid when the earth is troubled, and mountains are removed into the heart of the sea. Their waters roared and were troubled, the mountains were troubled by his might. The surgings of the river delight the City of God; the Most High has sanctified his tabernacle. God is in the midst of her, and she will not be shaken; God will help her towards the morning. Nations were troubled, kingdoms tottered, he uttered his voice, the earth was shaken. The Lord of powers is with us, our helper is the God of Jacob. Come and see the works of God, the wonders he has done upon the earth, putting an end to wars as far as the ends of the earth. He will smash the bow and shatter the weapon, and burn the shields with fire. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The God of powers is with us, our helper is the God of Jacob.

¶20

**x3**), Lord, have mercy (**x3**).

¶21

Mary once with aged Joseph went to be enrolled in Bethlehem, for he was of David’s line; and she bore in her womb fruit unknown; the time for the birth was at hand, and there was no room in the inn; but the Cave proved a fair palace for the Queen. Christ is born, to raise up his image that had fallen.

¶22

What shall we call you, O Full of grace? Heaven? For you made the Sun of justice dawn. Paradise? For you made the flower of incorruption blossom. Virgin? For you remained incorrupt. Pure Mother? For you held in your holy embrace a Son who is the God of all. Implore him that our souls may be saved.

¶23

Tone 8. By Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem.

¶24

Bethlehem make ready; let the Manger be prepared; let the Cave receive. The truth has come, the shadow has passed away, and God has appeared among men from a Virgin, formed as we are and making divine what he has put on. And so Adam is renewed with Eve as they cry, ‘God’s good pleasure has appeared on earth to save our race’. (

¶25

**Twice, without any verse**) ****

¶26

God will come from Theman, and the Holy One from a mountain overshadowed by forest. ****

¶27

Tone 3.

¶28

Now the prophetic saying hastens to its fulfilment, which mystically said, ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Juda, are in no way least among the Leaders as you prepare the Cave, for from you will go forth for me in flesh a leader of the Nations, from a Virgin Maiden, Christ God, who will shepherd his people, the new Israel’. Let us all give him great glory.

¶29

Lord, I heard your report and was afraid. ****

¶30

Again the same. Then:

¶31

Joseph spoke thus to the Virgin, ‘Mary, what is this doing that I see in you? I am at a loss and am amazed, and my mind is struck with dismay. Go quickly from me then and secretly. Mary, what is this doing that I see in you? Instead of honour, you have brought me shame; instead of gladness, sorrow; instead of praise, reproof. No longer will I bear men’s reproach; for I you took from the Priests in the Temple as one blameless before the Lord; and what is this sight?’

¶32

**The same.**

¶33

The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son, \* today I have begotten you’.

¶34

Ask of me, and I shall give you the Nations as your inheritance.

¶35

The Reading is from the Prophecy of Micheas.

¶36

Thus says the Lord: And you Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, are not least among the thousands of Juda; for from you there will come forth for me the one who is to be ruler in Israel, and his goings out are from the beginning, from eternity. Because of this he will give them until the moment that she who bears child shall bring to birth; and the remainder of his brethren will return to the children of Israel. And he will stand and will see, and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, and they will abide in the glory of the name of the Lord his God; for now they will be magnified even to the extremities of the earth.

¶37

The Reading is from the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews.

¶38

In many and varied ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the ages. He is the radiance of his glory and the very imprint of his substance, upholding the universe by the word of his power. When he had made purification for our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’? Or again, ‘I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son’? And again, when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’ Of the angels he says, ‘Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers flames of fire.’ But to the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is to age on age, the sceptre of justice is the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your comrades.’ And, ‘You, Lord, founded the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all grow old like a garment, like a mantle you will roll them up, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.’

¶39

The Reading is from the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

¶40

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, but before they had come together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘See, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but he did not know her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

¶41

Direct my steps according to your word, and let no iniquity lord it over me.

¶42

Deliver me from the slander of men, and I shall keep your commandments.

¶43

Let your face shine on your servant, and teach me your statutes.

¶44

Let my mouth be filled with your praise, O Lord, that I may hymn your glory, all day long your splendour.

¶45

Trisagion, All-holy Trinity, Our Father, For yours. ****

¶46

Today the Virgin is coming to the cave to give birth ineffably to the eternal Word. Hearing this, dance, O inhabited world! Glorify, with Angels and with Shepherds, him who willed to be made manifest, a little Child, God before the ages.

¶47

Lord, have mercy (

¶48

At every time and at every hour, in heaven and on earth worshipped and glorified, Christ God, long-suffering, great in mercy, great in compassion, loving the just and merciful to sinners, calling all to salvation by the promise of the good things to come; do you, Lord, yourself accept our entreaties at this hour, and direct our lives to your commandments. Sanctify our souls, purify our bodies, correct our thoughts, cleanse our ideas and deliver us from every distress, evil, and pain. Wall us about with your holy Angels, that protected and guided by their host we may reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of your unapproachable glory; for you are blessed to the ages of ages. Amen.

¶49

Lord, have mercy (

¶50

**x3**). Glory. Both now. Greater in honour than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, without corruption you gave birth to God the Word, truly the Mother of God, we magnify you. In the name of the Lord, bless, Father. ****

¶51

May God be merciful. ****

¶52

Christ, the true light, who enlighten and sanctify everyone who comes into the world, may the light of your countenance be signed upon us, that in it we may see your unapproachable light; and direct our steps to the doing of your commandments; at the intercessions of your all-immaculate Mother and of all your Saints. Amen.

Translated by Ephrem Lash. Edition lash.en.anastasis.