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Canticle 42 (Wisdom
3:16)
The souls of the just are in the hand
of God
and no torment will touch them.
In the view of all the foolish, they
seemed to have died,
and their passing away was thought an
affliction.
Their leaving us was seen as
disaster,
but now they are in peace.
Though in the eyes of mortals a
punishment is theirs,
their hope of immortality is sure.
Great will be their blessings,
for God has tested them and found
them worthy to be his.
Like gold within the crucible, he put
them to the test.
Like sacrificial offerings, he took
them to himself.
Canticle 46 (Sirach 36:15, 1013)
Come to our aid, O God of the
universe,
put all the nations in dread of you!
Raise your hand against the heathen,
that they may realize your power.
As you have used us to show them your
holiness,
so now use them to show us your
glory.
Thus they will know, as we know,
that there is no God but you.
Give new signs and work new wonders;
show forth the splendor of your right
hand and arm.
Gather all the tribes of Jacob,
that they may inherit the land as of
old.
Show forth mercy to the people who
called on
your name;
on Israel whom you have treated as
your firstborn.
Take pity on your holy city,
Jerusalem, your dwelling place.
Fill Zion with your majesty,
your temple with your glory.
Canticle 48 (Isaiah 66:1013)
Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad
because of her,
all you who love her;
Exult, exult with her,
all you who were mourning over her!
Oh, that you may suck fully of the
milk of her comfort,
that you may nurse with delight at
her abundant breasts!
For thus says the Lord:
I will spread prosperity over her
like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an
overflowing torrent.
As nurslings, you shall be carried in
her arms,
and fondled in her lap;
as a mother comforts her son, so will
I comfort you;
in Jerusalem you shall find your
comfort.
Canticle 49 (Sirach 39:1316)
Listen, my children, and open up your
petals
like roses planted near running
waters.
Send up the sweet odor of incense,
break forth in blossoms like the
lily.
Send up the sweet odor of your hymn
of praise;
bless the Lord for all that he has
done!
Proclaim the greatness of his name,
loudly sing his praise.
With music on the harp and all
stringed instruments
sing out with joy as you proclaim:
"The works of God are all of
them good;
every need is supplied in its own
time."
Canticle 50 (Isaiah 40:1017)
Here is the Lord God coming with
power
his arm subduing all things to
himself.
The prize of his victory is with him,
his trophies all go before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
holding them against his breast
and leading the ewes with care.
Who has cupped in his hand the waters
of the sea
and marked off the heavens with a
span?
Who has held in a measure the dust of
the earth,
weighed the mountains in scales and
the hills in a
balance?
Who has directed the spirit of the
Lord
or instructed him as his counselor?
Whom did he consult to gain
knowledge?
Who taught him the path of judgment
or showed him the way of
understanding?
The nations count as a drop in the
bucket,
as rust on the scales;
the coastlands weigh no more than
dust.
Lebanon is not enough for the fires,
nor its beasts for the holocaust.
All the nations are as naught in his
presence,
for him they count as nothingness and
emptiness.
Canticle 51 (Isaiah 42:1014)
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth.
Let the sea and what fills it
resound,
the coastlands, and those who dwell
in them.
Let the steppe and its cities cry
out,
the villages where Keder dwells.
Let the inhabitants of Sela exult
and shout from the top of the
mountains.
Let them give glory to the Lord
and utter his praise in the
coastlands.
The Lord goes forth like a hero,
like a warrior he stirs up his ardor;
he shouts out his battle cry,
against his enemies he shows his
might.
I have looked away and kept silence,
I have said nothing, holding myself
in;
but now I cry out as a woman in
labor,
gasping and panting.
Canticle 52 (Jeremiah 14:1721)
Let my eyes stream with tears
day and night unceasingly.
A crushing blow, a most grievous
injury,
has fallen on the virgin daughter of
my people.
If I walk out into the field,
look, those slain by the sword;
If I enter the city,
look, those consumed by hunger.
Even the prophet and the priest
forage in a land they know not.
Have you cast Judah off completely?
Is Zion loathsome to you?
Why have you struck us a blow
that cannot be healed?
We wait for peace, to no avail;
for a time of healing, but terror
comes instead.
We recognize, O Lord, our wickedness,
the guilt of our fathers;
that we have sinned against you.
For your name's sake spurn us not,
disgrace not the throne of your
glory;
remember your covenant with us, and
break it not.
Canticle 53 (Isaiah 45:1524)
Truly you are a God who hides
himself,
O God and Savior of Israel.
All the makers of idols will be put
to shame.
They will go off into disgrace
together.
But Israel will be saved by the Lord
with an
everlasting salvation.
For this is what the Lord says,
he who created the heavens, he is
God.
He who fashioned and made the earth
and
founded it,
he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited.
He says: "I am the Lord and
there is no other.
I have not spoken in secret in some
darkness.
I have not said to Jacob's
descendants, 'Seek
me in vain.'
I the Lord speak the truth and
declare what
is right.
"Gather together and come;
assemble, you fugitives from the
nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about
idols of wood,
who pray to gods that cannot save.
"Turn to me and be saved, all
you ends of the earth,
for I am God and there is no other.
Before me every knee shall bow.
By me every tongue will swear."
Canticle 54
Here comes with power the Lord God,
who rules by his strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.
Who has cupped in his hand the waters
of the sea
and marked off the heavens with a
span?
Who has held in a measure the dust of
the earth,
weighed the mountains in scales and
the hills in a
balance?
Who has directed the spirit of the
Lord
or instructed him as his counselor?
Whom did he consult to gain
knowledge?
Who taught him the path of judgment
or showed him the way of
understanding?
The nations count as a drop in the
bucket,
as rust on the scales;
the coastlands weigh no more than
dust.
Lebanon would not suffice for fuel
nor its animals be enough for
holocausts.
Before him all the nations are as
naught,
as nothing and void he accounts them.
Canticle 55 (Isaiah 33:1316)
Hear this, you who are far off, what
I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge my
might.
On Zion sinners are in dread,
trembling grips the impious;
"Who of us can live with the
consuming fire?
Who of us can live with the
everlasting flames?"
Those who practice virtue and speak
honestly,
who spurn what is gained by
oppression,
brushing their hands free of contact
with a bribe,
stopping their ears lest they hear of
bloodshed,
closing their eyes lest they look on
evil.
They will dwell on the heights,
their stronghold will be a rocky
fortress,
their food and drink in steady
supply.
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