ܒܥܘܬܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܝ̈ܐ
The Supplication
of the Ninevites
Selections in English Translation and Transliteration
Surath Translation by Mar Sarhad Yawsip Jammo
English Translation by Fr. Andrew Younan
Monday
The Begging of Ba’utha
In pain and tears and fervent prayer,
we cry to you, good Lord above!
Be our healer and our wise guide:
deep are our wounds; bitter our pain.
We have no right to plead to you:
our faults abound, our malice soars.
The sea and land, and all therein
have quaked and raged due to our sin.
In our own time, as Scripture says,
the end of days has come upon us.
In mercy, save us from distress,
for height and depth have been confused.
O Good Shepherd, come tend your flock,
for whose sake you endured the cross.
Make peace for us in Church and world,
that we may live a tranquil life.
May we be yours, as is your will:
Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost.
From age to age, amen, amen. |
Nonetha d-Ba’utha
b-hash-sha w-dim’e wib-nonetha,
k-qarukh illukh Mara tawa.
hwy lan hakkym m-basmana
d-mer-e hash-shan w’siqlih kewan.
d-leban kene tad mar-dha-lukh
‘awlan ‘shin-leh wzid-lay gnahan.
w-yama w-yawsha wkul biryatha
zi’lay sh-ghish-lay ‘al by-sha-than.
bzaw-nan kmil-lah haya kthyw-ta
dhar-theh d-‘alma ‘illan mte-la.
b-rah-mukh mkha-lis-lan m-balaye
dim-bul-bil-lay rawma w-‘umqa.
Ra’ya Tawa, mar`y l-`irwukh
mbeyd talibay hash-sha t`in-nukh.
wmat-wy l-kul-lan b-‘edta w-‘alma
d-khay-ukh ‘umran bshe-na-yutha.
w-hawukh diy-yukh mikh ‘ij-bonukh
Baba wBrona wRuha d-Qudh-sha
l-‘alam ‘almyn, amen w-amen. |
First Madrasha/Meditation
Come, let us repent now, while we have time,
lest we repent then, without benefit.
Who is patient enough to speak of your patience with our sins?
If we sin, we become filled with wickedness,
if we do good, we become filled with pride;
and toward one another, we are cruel and merciless:
we are jealous of one who succeeds, we rejoice over one who falls.
And though our life is short, the list of our sins is long.
You limited our lifespan to seventy years at best,
but with these seventy, we have sinned seventy times seven over.
You limited our life that our sins may not lengthen.
I marvel at your Mercies, which overcame your Justice:
even an impure man despises one impure like himself,
yet you, who are holy, have not despised us.
I am humbled by your Justice which does not despise us,
as well as by your Grace, which is patient in teaching us,
and how you dawn your sun upon those who upset you.
You give without limit; we lose without measure.
You taught us order; we act against it.
We have put on mere names, and have taken off good works.
Second Madrasha/Meditation
Plead, O pleaders, and do not cease while there is time for pleading,
before the Giver shuts the door, and closes up his treasury.
Were you to call in groaning, he would answer you sweetly,
and were you to ask in repentance, you would receive abundantly.
The Rich One who is full of mercies does not become poor when he gives:
his treasure is one of mercy, a chasm filled with pity.
Approach, you repentant, and ask for mercies
while there is time for repentance.
Let each one leave off all bitterness of heart and ask for mercies and pity.
Let us heal and be healed, my brethren, that we may be healthy for work.
This is the time for repentance! Let us work hard in pleading!
Wrath now runs upon the earth: cut off his course, O repenter!
Let us be plowmen in fasting, that our seed bring forth a hundredfold.
Let us be workers in prayer, for it is a vine of comfort.
Let us be builders of our hearts, that they may be fitting temples of God.
Blessings
O Good One who showed his great love through the creature of man:
[Yes, Lord!] [kneel]
Pacify the world that is troubled and disturbed by the sins of man.
[Amen.] [stand]
O Lover of man, sow harmony among the sons of men,
that one man may not be troubled or injured by another.
O King of kings, who gives kings authority over man,
soften the hearts of kings in regard to the sons of men.
Abolish wars and end conflicts between men,
that those who hate men may not dare to disturb them.
Uphold your Church, which always knocks upon the door of your mercy,
that she may not be defeated by the rebel, the hater of man.
Bind her children together in perfect love toward mankind,
and uproot jealousy, deceit and hatred from among them.
Protect her shepherd, and increase peace in his days,
that he may be an advocate and draw your mercies to men.
Aid and sustain bishops, who stand as a symbol of the Shepherd of men,
that they may care for mankind with joyfulness.
May you shelter this parish, in which your holy Name is glorified,
from the agitator, the hater of men.
O God of all, whose love overflows upon mankind,
protect our pastor, and give him strength to stand as leader.
Adorn the priests, that they may be pure in body and soul,
and accept the Sacrifices that they offer to you on behalf of mankind.
Sanctify the deacons who serve you in the sanctuary,
that they may be without fault or defilement.
Perfect good teachers in understanding and pure intentions,
and instruct learners in meditation and discipline.
Bless the faithful, sealed and signed in your holy sign,
and let your holy Name be hallowed in them.
Visit the singers who cry out to you every day;
in your mercy, do not abandon them to the evil one.
Encourage the weak and the weary,
and give victory and confidence to the oppressed.
Show your way to all the lost on the path of wickedness,
the path leading to life everlasting.
Give security to all travelers on land and sea,
rescue them from all straying and weariness.
Hear, in your mercies, this prayer offered to you,
and accept, in your love, this supplication presented to you.
May your power be a great fortress for this gathering,
that our mouth may resound praise to your Name, now and at all times.
Tuesday
The Begging of Ba’utha
In pain and tears and fervent prayer,
we cry to you, good Lord above!
Be our healer and our wise guide:
deep are our wounds; bitter our pain.
We have no right to plead to you:
our faults abound, our malice soars.
The sea and land, and all therein
have quaked and raged due to our sin.
In our own time, as Scripture says,
the end of days has come upon us.
In mercy, save us from distress,
for height and depth have been confused.
O Good Shepherd, come tend your flock,
for whose sake you endured the cross.
Make peace for us in Church and world,
that we may live a tranquil life.
May we be yours, as is your will:
Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost.
From age to age, amen, amen. |
Nonetha d-Ba’utha
b-hash-sha w-dim’e wib-nonetha,
k-qarukh illukh Mara tawa.
hwy lan hakkym m-basmana
d-mer-e hash-shan w’siqlih kewan.
d-leban kene tad mar-dha-lukh
‘awlan ‘shin-leh wzid-lay gnahan.
w-yama w-yawsha wkul biryatha
zi’lay sh-ghish-lay ‘al by-sha-than.
bzaw-nan kmil-lah haya kthyw-ta
dhar-theh d-‘alma ‘illan mte-la.
b-rah-mukh mkha-lis-lan m-balaye
dim-bul-bil-lay rawma w-‘umqa.
Ra’ya Tawa, mar`y l-`irwukh
mbeyd talibay hash-sha t`in-nukh.
wmat-wy l-kul-lan b-‘edta w-‘alma
d-khay-ukh ‘umran bshe-na-yutha.
w-hawukh diy-yukh mikh ‘ij-bonukh
Baba wBrona wRuha d-Qudh-sha
l-‘alam ‘almyn, amen w-amen. |
First Madrasha/Meditation
O our Creator from nothing, do not reject us like nothingness;
for if our faults are many, your grace is overflowing.
To the support of your mercy do we beg, All-Merciful One:
open the door to our pleading which knocks at the door of your grace.
Hold back your Justice, O Kind One, lest you be embittered by our malice.
Let your Will’s Love pacify you – as you are accustomed to do.
Let your Knowledge not seek after our faults diligently,
nor enter us into examination of the all-searching judgment.
Because the words of our pleading are so short,
and cannot reach the heights above,
extend the hand of your mercy
and through it let our words meet forgiveness.
As enormous as our fault is, it is small to your mercy,
and though there is no equal to our wickedness,
it is like a shadow to your grace.
Therefore do not shut the door of the great richness of your mercy,
that our pleading may not be stopped by the door of our faults.
Second Madrasha/Meditation
Accept our pleading, O Good One,
and our supplication, O Son of the Good One.
We implore in pain and tears – do not turn your eyes from us.
Hear, O Lord, the pleading of your adorers,
O Good One who withholds not his grace,
and accept the fruits of our lips, which we offer to your Majesty.
Send us, from your treasury, pity, mercies and salvation
to be for the forgiveness of our sins,
lest we be condemned in the judgment.
To you do our souls cry out,
O Good One who is pleased with the repentant.
Open to us, O Lord, the door of your mercies,
for we are knocking, O Pitying One!
Have mercy on, correct and regain,
and abandon not your creature to destruction,
for you are our hope and our glory; turn not away from our pleading.
If our malice testifies against us, O Lord,
forgive us for the sake of your Image.
Let not your construction be ruined,
because of your many mercies.
In the beginning, you constituted us in being
by your good and kind command;
may you appease yourself, O Pitying One,
for we cannot stand with unveiled face.
Blessings
O you who holds height and depth in the palm of his hand,
[Yes, Lord!] [kneel]
look upon your creation with a kind eye, and have mercy on it.
[Amen.] [stand]
O Spring of Life, from whom life flows to mankind,
alleviate the world troubled by its sins by yourself and your mercies.
Bless, O Lord, protect, O Lord, and uphold, O Lord,
the great shepherd, the Patriarch, leader of our people.
May his prayer be a thurible of incense appeasing your Divinity,
and may the requests of his soul be answered, as you promised.
Bless, O Lord, the crown of the year in your grace,
and let the kings of the earth be peaceful in their administration.
Bless, O Lord, this country with all blessings,
and shelter its citizens with the wings of your grace.
Let them succeed in temporal success,
and grant them what they ask of your Greatness.
Protect them in this life at all times,
and let them enjoy all earthly blessings.
Bless, O Lord, those who hold the scepter of leadership,
and strengthen their virtues, that they may lead in constancy.
Bless, O Lord, all monks and nuns,
and grant them reward for their works in the kingdom above.
Bless, O Lord, all priests and deacons,
and elect them, when they stand before you, through their works.
Bless, O Lord, all the elderly,
sustain their old age and gladden them in the life to come.
Grant to young people to advance well in age,
and to children to extend the years of their lives.
Command that clouds rain upon crops,
and let our fields and lands bear fruit through the dew of your mercies.
Bless, O Lord, seeds, vineyards and all the fruit of the earth,
and let your servants eat of your goodness and give you praise.
Bless orphans and provide for widows,
for you are the Father of orphans and the Provider.
Grant, O Lord, in the mercies that sent you to mankind,
that we not be estranged from the delight of your kingdom.
Grant us, O Lord, to sing praise to you at your right hand,
and love you with the just who befriended you.
When the trumpet sounds on the day of resurrection,
make us worthy to see you in that blessed kingdom.
Then may your mercies be advocates for us on our behalf,
and may not our sins estrange us from you, O Lover of mankind!
During that coming, when the splendor of your Divinity will shine,
make us worthy to enter the bedchamber of light with your saints.
May the weak one who lovingly said these blessings
be granted your mercies and not be condemned by your Justice.
Take his side, O Lord who was crucified for our sake,
and let him not be sent to the outer darkness with the wicked.
Let us lift praise to him who raises up his servants at all times,
and may his mercies be upon us from age to age, amen, amen.
Wednesday
The Begging of Ba’utha
In pain and tears and fervent prayer,
we cry to you, good Lord above!
Be our healer and our wise guide:
deep are our wounds; bitter our pain.
We have no right to plead to you:
our faults abound, our malice soars.
The sea and land, and all therein
have quaked and raged due to our sin.
In our own time, as Scripture says,
the end of days has come upon us.
In mercy, save us from distress,
for height and depth have been confused.
O Good Shepherd, come tend your flock,
for whose sake you endured the cross.
Make peace for us in Church and world,
that we may live a tranquil life.
May we be yours, as is your will:
Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost.
From age to age, amen, amen. |
Nonetha d-Ba’utha
b-hash-sha w-dim’e wib-nonetha,
k-qarukh illukh Mara tawa.
hwy lan hakkym m-basmana
d-mer-e hash-shan w’siqlih kewan.
d-leban kene tad mar-dha-lukh
‘awlan ‘shin-leh wzid-lay gnahan.
w-yama w-yawsha wkul biryatha
zi’lay sh-ghish-lay ‘al by-sha-than.
bzaw-nan kmil-lah haya kthyw-ta
dhar-theh d-‘alma ‘illan mte-la.
b-rah-mukh mkha-lis-lan m-balaye
dim-bul-bil-lay rawma w-‘umqa.
Ra’ya Tawa, mar`y l-`irwukh
mbeyd talibay hash-sha t`in-nukh.
wmat-wy l-kul-lan b-‘edta w-‘alma
d-khay-ukh ‘umran bshe-na-yutha.
w-hawukh diy-yukh mikh ‘ij-bonukh
Baba wBrona wRuha d-Qudh-sha
l-‘alam ‘almyn, amen w-amen. |
First Madrasha/Meditation
O God Divine, O heed our pleading heard before you,
and in your mercies, answer the requests of our souls put before you.
O Overflowing in his mercies, show forth your love as is your custom,
lest the hater of man mock your handiwork.
O Richer than all, open your treasury to our neediness,
lest we be impoverished and hire ourselves out to the deceiver.
O Mighty of ages, sustain your order by the force of your power,
for lo, it is shaken by the severity of pains and demons.
O Being of whose Essence heaven and earth are filled,
may your will fill us, that your holy Name may be hallowed in us.
O Hidden in his Nature from physical and spiritual,
reveal your power in us, and show forth the riches of your sweetness.
O Fashioner of all, who created creation from nothing,
pity your product, lest we decay by the cause of our malice.
O Free Sustainer, gracious Life-Giver to rational and irrational,
extend your right hand and fill our souls with your gifts.
O non-Wanting One, of whose Fullness his handiwork is filled,
open the door of your will, which is closed in our face, to our supplication.
O Perfect in his Being, whose constancy has no beginning,
perfect in action the promise of your words toward our race.
Second Madrasha/Meditation
Your servants knock at the door of your mercies, you who delight in us,
open to us, that we may enter and receive alms like the poor.
Poor and lacking is our miserable race of all good things:
sustain this miserable thing with a small crumb of your graciousness.
Far too weak is man to gather temporal sustenance,
nor is he able to till the land with his strength, without your Strength.
As much as he works, his work is filled with great fear,
and there is no security for his sustenance, as much as it multiplies.
Sufferings and griefs accompany his toil summer and winter,
and all perils are constant for him – for him, and for what is his.
Much is his work, and little the reward returned to him;
great is his weariness, and miserable and lacking his life’s sustenance.
He plants so much and harvests little of the much,
he is beaten and crushed, and by the time he enjoys,
he is swallowed by death.
Third Madrasha/Meditation
May your mercies come, O Lord, to the aid of our miserable race,
for its life’s strength is burned away and wearied in the trial of suffering.
Stretch out your hand to the weak-hearted athlete,
for he realizes and admits openly that he cannot enter the match.
Cry out and encourage the mortal warrior,
For the very fingers of his hands are too weak to hit his mark.
Command the intellectual natures to come and help him,
for his hand falls short of even grasping a straw of truth.
Call forth the heavenly legions to assist him,
lest he fall and become a laughingstock to his enemy.
Write and send him an epistle of your almighty Name,
for he will be strengthened to carry his sufferings by hope in your Name.
Lift your hand in writing of his life’s salvation,
and pains and demons will be terrified to look upon him.
Fourth Madrasha/Meditation
O Lord, do not turn away from the pleading of our poverty,
lest our hope in you be weakened by despair.
Do not, O Lord, turn your face away from us in a time of wrath,
lest tyrannical demons mock us as is their custom.
Do not, O Lord, cast us away from your aid, as you do to the evil,
lest the evil be exalted in our abasement, as before.
Be not, O Lord, unmerciful, for you are the Merciful One,
(mercy no! You cannot be unmerciful; I spoke in weakness!)
Let not, O Lord, the Name of your Greatness be reduced by our malice,
(though it can never be reduced, even if we are wicked ten thousand times!)
Be not, O Lord, lacking in help and poor in enriching,
(oh, what I said of your Being is a lie!)
Be not, O Lord, as a sojourner in your creation,
nor like a guest who turns in to slumber in what is not his.
Fifth Madrasha/Meditation
Yes, Lord, let us be worthy for that kind word to David,
and let us turn back to the place of forgiveness of sin as he did.
Yes, Lord, pass over the faults of your servants as with your servant,
and let them hear the voice of forgiveness as the just one did.
David was just, but the evil one envied him and made him evil;
but he admitted he sinned and erased the name of evil from his heart.
If confession erases evil things and writes good ones,
then there is hope for the evil to become good.
O Good One who forgave adultery and murder with a word,
forgive our disgraceful crimes as you see fit.
It was you who forgave all the crimes against the law:
forgive now also the sins we have committed against love.
It was you who loosened the execution given to murderers,
stop now also the tortures prepared for our injustices.
Sixth Madrasha/Meditation
O Lord, open the door to all our pleading
which we offer you in supplication, and have mercy on us.
May our prayer be a pure thurible filled with reconciliation,
in which your love may be pleased and contented.
May our assembly’s pleading enter before you, O Lover of mankind,
and answer the requests of your servants in your mercies.
O Lover of mankind, who delights in the life of men,
visit your creation by the gentle command of your kindness.
O Absolver of the sins and Forgiver of the faults of those who repent,
forgive our sins and erase our malice, and have mercy on us.
Pity, O Pitying One, the work of your hand, as is proper,
and erase, in your mercies, the list of our sins before it increases.
Scour our impurities, bandage our sores and heal our wounds,
and grant us to fulfill the will of your Love, and have mercy on us.
Blessings
By your prayer, may the Lord grant in all the corners of the earth,
[Yes, Lord!] [kneel]
tranquil peace and calm serenity, by your prayer.
[Amen.] [stand]
By your prayer, may all kings in all territories,
live in love and harmony, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Church saved by the living Blood,
raise her head above all dread, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Patriarch, the high shepherd,
tend his flock with diligence, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord support with a mighty staff
Mar Sarhad Yawsip, our splendid father, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the shepherds in every land
be adorned with every charism, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the priests who serve the adorable Mysteries
have every blessing come upon them, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the deacons who serve the altar
have every aid granted them, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord instruct all monks,
by the study of the Scriptures and understanding, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may this parish be protected
from all harm and malice, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord help all our leaders,
our pastors and elders, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord help all the faithful,
that they may be born as children of justice, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord Jesus bless
all husbands and wives beyond measure, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord exalt orphans and widows,
and provide for and enrich the hungry, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord take away mourning from mourners,
have pity on the needy, and heal the sick, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord give discipline
to children, that in it they may be delivered, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord save all the tempted,
and free them from the yoke of the evil one, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may there be rescue for all captives,
and release for all the imprisoned, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may those who are attacked by pains
be inspired by the Lord and find solace, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may those who travel on roads and seas
be guided to the path of peace, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the right hand of the Lord rest upon you,
and the mercies of Jesus be with us, by your prayer.
By your prayer, be glory to the Lord who protects his servants,
and thanks to the Power who empowers our assembly, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the one saying these blessings be aided,
and its author be made worthy for mercies, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may the Lord make all his blessings overflow,
and cast his mercies upon our souls, by your prayer.
By your prayer, may we all repent and sing praise,
to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, forever, amen.
