Irmos: We magnify thee, the Theotokos, who art more honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim, who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word.
The pernicious command of the malicious one who troubled the nativity of Jesus wrought the slaughter of the innocent babes; but with faith we honor Him Who hath been born.
The irmos is repeated, followed by a prostration.
The cruel Herod, flouting the laws of nature and casting aside the divine commandments, iniquitously deprived mothers of their infants, and slaughtered the innocent babes in place of the Life of all.
The gates of Eden were opened to the nations when the Deliverer was born in the cave; and the Lord of glory poureth forth a wellspring of immortality upon those who thirst. Him do we magnify.
The angels surrounded the manger as though it were the throne of the cherubim, for they saw the cave to be as heaven when the Master lay therein; and they cried out: Glory to God in the highest!
Translated by Isaac Lambertsen. Edition menaion.en.lambertsen.