Irmos: Madly did the Chaldæan tyrant heat the furnace sevenfold for the pious ones; but, beholding them saved by a higher Power, he cried out to the Creator and Deliverer: Ye children, bless; ye priests, hymn; ye people, exalt Him supremely for all ages!
Theotokion: Thy Son and our God, Who freed the three children from the furnace, delivereth all from the furnace of perils by thy mediation, O all-pure one. To Him do we cry aloud: Ye children, bless! Ye priests, hymn! Ye people, exalt Christ supremely forever!
Thou hast been shown to partake of ineffable joy, O hieromartyr, ever abiding in God; and at the hour of thy martyrdom thou didst cry out to the Lord from the depths of thy soul: Ye children, bless! Ye priests, hymn! Ye people, exalt Christ supremely forever!
Irmos: With immaterial flame the God-seeing children caused the flame of the material fire to die out, and they chanted: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Theotokion: The fire of temptations and evil perils hath surrounded me. To thee do I flee, O Virgin Theotokos. Disdain not the supplications of thy servant, O pure one, but deliver me from the cruel ones who beset me, that, uttering blessing, I may bless thee and exalt thy name supremely forever.
When the iniquitous ones led thee to the rampart of the city, emulating Christ, O blessed one, thou didst lift up thine eyes to heaven, and didst pray for those who were mistreating thee: O Lord, remember not this sin against them! And the priests of the city, falling down at thy feet with tears, gave thee the last kiss, for thou didst depart unto the Lord, crying: Ye children, bless! Ye priests, hymn! Ye people, exalt Christ supremely forever!
Thou didst live angelically upon the earth, O Joseph, and since thy repose thou hast made thine abode with the angelic choirs in the mansions of heaven, crying: Ye children, bless! Ye priests, hymn! Ye people, exalt Christ supremely forever!
Continually illumined by the immaterial fire of grace, thou didst receive the rank of priest, O blessed Cyril; and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, thou didst devise an alphabet for the Slavs, that the people, enlightened by the translation of divinely inspired books into their native speech, might chant: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
O most lauded fathers, ye first thundered out the chief heading of our Faith, the unearthly words of the son of thunder: “In the beginning was the Word”, and then the melodious Psalter, wherewith the Holy Church crieth out in gladness: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Ye have enriched us with an immaterial treasure, O right wondrous fathers, for thanks to you the divine liturgy began to be celebrated in the Slavonic language; and partaking of this grace to this day, we bless you, chanting: Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord!
Translated by Isaac Lambertsen. Edition menaion.en.lambertsen.