The Wisest among the Wise

O Lord God, wise one of the wise, hidden one, from eternity, who is not spoken of. The uprightness of mind, your servant, and the fear of the heart are not hidden. For to you, O Lord, I pray the prayer of salvation. Save me and make me wise from every slayer. O creator of the worlds by the power of thought and prophecy, from the beginning of the first day until the evening of the sixth day, the Lord God is mighty, the Lord God is wise. They sanctified your throne; then the vigilant ones of heaven and the cherubim, for without a father you found yourself a father. O one who expelled the devil by his pride, and with Michael you exalted the spirit of Gabriel by his humility. Lord God, from all, for humility breaks. Teach me the law of humility, which comes from you; as for pride, it is from Satan. O one who burned them with the sound of weeping and wailing for the fallen angels, while you cast them down from the heights. Lord God, establisher for eternity in the abyss. Cast down my enemies and confound them with confusion, so that in this they may know your hidden power.

O you who created the earth of the earth for Adam, while you molded him with the flesh and set him upright with the bone, you breathed the spirit of life upon him, O Lord God, perfect one. Create me in your likeness in a new world, that I may forget my existence which is of flesh and blood. O you who said, "Let us do to him," to the son of the living mother, a measure as if he were not alone, O Lord God, leader and ruler of the world according to its order. Order me to where you willed from the two wills of the commandment; the third deed, however, is from Satan. O you who saved man from the sin of his own head, for the woman believed the man, and she also through the counsel of the deceiver. In your salvation, this O Lord God, the protector, forgive me, set me free, O Lord, from the envy of the sinful flesh, for I am a wanderer and a seeker of deeds. O you who lightened the burden of Adam, our firstborn, from his envy and from the garden while you added him to Gehenna, O Lord God, lighten the sorrow which you have confined me to. The burden of the world, however, became according to its measures; only for my sorrow I have sinned and determined.

O you who accepted Abel’s offering, until a man of jealousy killed him while he was tending the flock, O Lord God, judge me from the drunkenness of jealousy, for a blind heart is the jealous one, and he does not see the light, and over his brother, the gentle one, he sharpens the tooth. O founder of Seth, in place of Abel who slept, and who caused Enos to call upon your name first, O Lord God, cover me with the mantle of blessing, and curse my enemies as Cain was cursed when he killed the soul of the righteous and covered the blood. O you who preserved your people with the pure ones when the children of Seth went down to the women of Cain in the month of their food, O Lord God, for Jared on the mountain of archives, the mountain of his dwelling, preserve me in your mercy, and do not consume me in the flame of the fire of hell, the storehouse of darkness. O you who hid your prophet Enoch, and in the land of the living you hid him from the face of death, the hidden one, O Lord God, living one, immortal God, hide me in your shadow from men of falsehood and vanity, for I have trusted in your power, blessed creator.

O you who gave the days of Noah to Methuselah, and to the father of the people all those who are within the end and the consummation, O Lord God, wine of the light of my heart, cupbearer of the cup, make me drunk with your taste, all my days, and with your drink, the joyful one, make me gain delight. O you who hid within the belly of the ark for Noah the sons of Cain and Seth when they were baptized in wine, O Lord God, merciful and without vengeance, gentle, to the sinner your servant, O Lord, judge me with justice, for from sin there is no man pure. O you who dwelt in the house of the righteous Shem while you were removing him from the filth and the lees, for the new sanctuary of my soul, O Jerusalem, O Lord God, dwell upon her in the beauty of the union, the forbidden one, as the speaker of the soul dwells in blood. O you who marked the grave of Adam our father for the form of the pure righteous one while you were anointing him priest, O Lord God, be for me a savior of my posterity, against me the men of speech, if they rise up against me, and like the serpent of the curse, consume their tongue.

You caused the tongue of every people to be confused at the count of seventy-two from the Hebrew language alone, when after the tower they began to build the high foundation. Scatter my enemies like chaff from the threshing-floor, and as a strong wind scatters dust. O you who brought me out of Chaldea to the land of his inheritance, and called me from Ur of the Chaldees from between the two rivers, O Lord God, one for Abraham his faith, call me to where there is faith from the worship of vain idols, for the inhabitants of the land of all the idols are they. O you who rained fire upon the five cities, and saved the righteous Lot by the hands of the two angels, my salvation is a chain, O Lord God, this God, and a refuge from my enemies who hate me in vain, from the one who kindles against me the fire of his wrath. O you who gave after the bed of the sterile women a son to the wife of Abraham, Sarah, and the son of blessing, the fullness of the gift, O Lord God, give me what I have asked of you, the abundance of grace, before me in your hand, Creator of all, the vessel, without my asking, you gave me flesh.

O you who saved Isaac from the slaughter, when Abraham placed him upon the wood of the altar while he was binding him. Lord, perfect in goodness, and you had mercy on him. Save me and protect me from every evil that I fear. Scatter my enemies like chaff, and destroy them. O you who saved him from the murder of Esau, his brother, and when Sarah hid him from between her two sons, for the son of Rebecca, Jacob, the Lord was his guardian. Save me by your mercy and guard me like him, for my enemies are many and numerous. O tester of Job, with disease, leprosy, and boils, for you tested the faith of this righteous one against Satan. Lord, you are the knower of what is in the heart, a deep sea. Test me with suffering and with the strength of affliction, for I am a man of broken strength and a fragile man. O you who exalted Joseph in the land of Egypt, after his brothers sold him for a paltry price out of jealousy. And you who appointed for Moses two tablets of the law. Exalt me over my flesh from the direction of the enemy, and appoint me in another form.

O you who sent from the land of Midian for Moses, forty years after he had been a fugitive, to deliver the people of Israel from the servitude of Pharaoh, king of Ramses. Send me one like them who will deliver me, a man, from the affliction of a fierce and strong, cruel and severe disease. O you who heard the cry of your people Israel, and in the land of Egypt you descended to save them by force, as you spoke to Moses from the midst of fire and shadow. Like them, hear my cry and save me from the abyss, with a strong hand and a high arm. O you who saved the youths Ephraim and Manasseh when the Egyptians were punished with the ten plagues of Moses, for you are wonderful and do not hasten to destroy. For me, O Lord, protect me until I become a penitent, on your path which is full of holiness. O you who divided the Red Sea, the great, and made a path there for the people of Israel in the wilderness, until you drowned Pharaoh with his entire army. Make for me a sea of fire while you build a dam. O Lord, who judges the world in righteousness.

O you who were praised by the craftsmen of Pharaoh within the deep sea of the Red Sea, whose measure is unsearchable, for the thousands of Moses, your people, while you saved them there. Be praised over my enemy, for he is my equal. The Lord is one, and not two. O you who shaded them from the heat of the day with a cloud, and by a pillar of fire by night, who led them on the path for those of Moses, your people, the Lord, God of Sinai. Shade me with your mercy, that I may not see ruin. And when I hunger like them, feed me manna. O you who fed the people of Israel for forty years with heavenly manna, bread from the spring of the rock of Horeb, water, while you gave them drink to satiety. The Lord, Lord of grace, without withholding anything from me. Grant me the sustenance of flesh and soul, you. O you who sanctified the priesthood for Aaron and chose for yourself from the house of Jacob his house. The Lord, sanctify my mind as your messenger. And over me, a zealot, if he speaks the truth, consume him with the fire of Qore and erase his life.

O you who gave to the people of Israel who were sanctified, the land of thirty kings for generation upon generation to inherit. Lord of Moses, Lord of Joshua, bring me into the land of your inheritance, which was inherited by his soul. Righteous Abraham, for the sake of Amen, his head. O you who made the River Jordan stand still first, as Joshua crossed it with the remnant of Joseph and Benjamin. Lord and protector, Lord and finisher, until the multitude of my enemies, the Arameans, is destroyed. For the sun, stand at Gibeon. O you who commanded from the edge of their camp until the ascent, thousands of Israel to circle the height of Jericho. Lord, accept my small offering. Satan, my accuser, who cuts me off from mercy, may the strict commandments destroy and cut off the stalk. O you who saved the one woman of the land when the wicked were destroyed by your rod, that one. The word of two-eyed men, for she was accused. By your mercy, like her, when the dead rise. Lord, save this soul of mine.

O you who gave to the people of Israel who were sanctified, the land of thirty kings for generation upon generation to inherit. Lord of Moses, Lord of Joshua, bring me into the land of your inheritance, which was inherited by the soul of the righteous; grant me a portion. Today, O Lord, by the one who lived, ordain me. Bring me, for I am bound in flesh; deliver me. O you who saved them by the hand of Phinehas the Zealot, for the people of Israel from plague and from the mouth of the sword of the enemy. Lord of their strength and their savior, whose face is hidden. Like them, arise and save me, for I am your servant. When the enemy rises against me. O savior of Israel, who killed Sisera by the hand of Jael, the woman, at the time of the battle of Barak and Deborah. Lord, the hidden one, whose hiding place is not revealed. Save me from the hands of the sons of the foreigner, who seek to diminish the honor of my soul. O God of Gideon and of the judge Jephthah, and the strength of Samson son of Manoah. Lord, help me when I call upon you in every place. If they come to me with a thousand and provoke me with a hundred, I will trust in your strength, O opener.

O you who saved Israel by the hand of Samuel after Eli, and by the hand of King Saul, whom you delivered from the Philistines. Lord, ever my helper and preserver, save me by your grace, O mighty one, from the mouth of the sword, the spear, and the arrow of the slayer. O you who saved the Philistine Goliath from the hand of David, and from the arrow of Saul, and from Absalom his son. Lord, for David, whom you kept far from his enemy, save me from my enemies, even if they desire me, for they are thousands and I am one. You who forgave the sin of David the prophet when he mingled the voice of weeping with the death of Uriah the slain, I exalt you likewise, while you conceal the high one. For my soul, forgive my transgression before the word is fulfilled: "Soul, Lord, swiftly go where he says." O you who set a crown upon the kings of the earth for the son of David, Solomon, who uttered all the proverbs. Give me, O Lord, from you wisdom, by which kings rule over the peoples who exist, and the mighty establish justice.

O you who heard them, when they appealed to you, the kings of Israel and Judah who arose in their time. Lord, mighty, helper of all the mighty, likewise hear my plea, incline your merciful ear, and let your salvation always be with me. O you who rebuked the prophets of Israel and Judah, that they might see the reward of the righteous and the penalty of sinners. Those messengers of yours, chosen for reproach and lamentation, grant to me, your servant, who is at the end of your covenant. Lord, rewarder of righteousness and requiter. O you who avenged from the house of Ahab the deceitful, the vengeance of Naboth, unjustly slain in the midst of his vineyard, who died. Lord, punisher, while you inflict punishment, show me my enemies, but do not let me kill them by violence. If you kill them, they will find mercy. O you who said, "Do you see, Elijah, how the heart of the wicked king hardened?" Lord, steadfast and wondrous, see likewise the hardening of the soul of the one who bows to you on knees and head.

O you who saved Elijah from the hand of Jezebel of Samaria, until the land of life, and who blinded the eye of the angel of death that came to see him; and you who girded the prophet Elisha when the men of Syria smote him, gird me with salvation like him from the neck of evil folly. Lord, mighty and wise, Kenya. O you who brought forth from behind the thicket the dove when Jonah called you with the voice of a crying speaker, Lord, vigilant, who does not sleep, Creator, bring me forth by your wisdom from the snare of the sword of the striker, for you are the God of righteousness and the merciful Lord. O Lord, who destroyed the camp of both when Sennacherib the king and his ten were slain, and when Sennacherib ascended in the time of Hezekiah after this, save me as you saved them without armies in vain, God of Moses and Aaron, for you are he. O you who showed to Sennacherib your power by the hidden angel's plague until you scattered his army, for the righteous Hezekiah trusted in your intercession, show my enemy's power like that and show me his fall, for he is a deceiver and loves falsehood.

O you who loosened the foot and hand of Micah, when Manasseh prayed while recalling your many wonders: O Lord, loose me from the bond of my sin, from the hardness of my heart, and do not let me die a sudden death, as did Amoz and his son, without my having confessed to you in the time of your sharp decree. O you who saved Hezekiah from the leprosy, while you sealed his mouth with a coal of fire in the furnace: O Lord, command your angels, the guards, to strike my enemy from between the eyes and the face, until they pierce him with a wooden stake. O you who accepted Josiah at Pascha, when he brought you a sacrifice of will in zeal: O Lord, accept the offering of my prayer, while you sanctify it, and drive away my enemies from the face of the one lion, as thousands of animals flee. O you who brought out Jeremiah from the pit of the dungeon, whom Pashhur and King Zedekiah had cast down: O Lord of flesh, O Lord of spirit, bring me out by your grace from the pit of forgetfulness and evil, as you, the first, brought me out from the womb.

O you who loosed the foot and hand of your people within the furnace, for the sake of the land of the children of the covenant you brought them down to the land of Debela; for your house Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar believed. Loose me from the turmoil within the worlds of division. O Lord, who is zealous and whose name is praised, and the heart. O you who saved the souls of the three children when, because of you, they were in the midst of the deep furnace, while you covered them with dew in the midst of the fire and heat. Save me from the flame and from the lightning of the air. O Lord, merciful and God of the righteous. O you who punished Nebuchadnezzar with his command, until the wild beast of the desert you appointed, while from the possession of man you restrained him. Sad among the sad, your servant, I call you with wonder. O Lord, my soul is weary, and for the living, my body, as you will to cast it. You gave to Nebuchadnezzar a heart, for seven years after he was humbled by the wild beast, and you brought him to your sanctuary in the land of his kingdom, Nineveh. Grant me your wisdom, which is above all creation. O Lord, who exists in a single existence.

O you who saved the two daughters of the priests, Susanna, from the hands of the elders, for Daniel at the time of his captivity, while you justified her through the judgment of your prophet this: O Lord, save me from my enemies, the sixty, without repentance of their souls, but only kill. O you who saved your prophet Daniel from the mouths of the hungry lions, when they cast him into the pit of lions, Darius the judge: O Lord, savior, rescue me from the wild beasts, that they may not gore me with the horn, and that they may not bite me with the two tusks. O you who hastened the meal of Daniel, his kinsman, until from Jerusalem to Babylon the land of his birth he went, and you brought quickly Habakkuk into his enclosure: bring my mind from the wild beasts, the savage, to the place of your wisdom, the creator, the one. O God of Ezekiel, the raiser of the bones of those who died, and who showed in a dream the existence of your four living creatures: O Lord, show me your face at every hour; set me up on a throne that is higher than the sea of blood, the great, whose path is twofold.

O you who raised up Enoch to the height of the heavens, to your servant Ezra, when he pleased you in his time: O Lord, lift me up on the wings of the garden of Eden, for you are the lord of grace, which is fitting for all; and the measure of your divine gift, creatures cannot comprehend. O you who freed Jeconiah from imprisonment, when in Babylon King Evil-merodach reigned in his time, for Nebuchadnezzar had died and fallen from his glory: free my mind from the imprisonment of hand and foot, O Lord, who is good, to your beloved David. O you who cut off the head of Belshazzar the prince, when you brought out the Hebrew exiles a second time from the land of affliction, Babylon, which was likened to Egypt: O Lord, cut off from my heart the fleeting love of the world, as a tree is cut and pruned with an axe. O you who gathered together the assembly of Israel and its crown, through the hand of the king of Persia, Cyrus, the end of captivity and oath, when they were scattered before the times of Hosea son of Elah: gather together to where your love of the ascetic is present, and gather my heart from the mountains and valleys.

O you who melted the people of Judah from the furnace, at the end of seventy years, with Zerubbabel the commander: O Lord, my refuge from the captivity of Babylon, to the heart of my people: for your prophet Jonah, in his preaching, as Nineveh was overturned: until the scourge, salvation, and life from disease. You gave your teaching to the wicked men of Gog, to Zerubbabel and Joshua, the wise elders, the good, the righteous: as your mysteries they might build in the temple of the house of the law: grant me the abundance of your grace which is not exhausted, O Lord, gentle, from evil, and pure. O you who killed Holofernes, the man of blood, by the hand of Judith, the woman, the destroyer of the enemy and the bone: O Lord, help me in the killing of Satan the accursed: for it is not a marvel to overcome the mighty and glorious: a marvel it is if the weak overcomes by strength. O you who saved them by the killing of their enemies, the father-in-law, for the tribes of Israel and for Mordecai the companion of blood: O Lord, for Esther, when you saw the suffering: crucify my enemies on the cross of suffering and torment: for the voice of my soul, Rachel, was heard in Ramah.

You saved them from the angel of Samr, the seventy weeks; from those of Ezra and the ones who built the wall of ruins, the chosen ones, while you led them with the power of the son of Esther, the appointed one. O Lord, save me, the one who seeks repentance, the penitent, from the slaughter of the living, from the face and the fear within. O you who terrified by the sight of the angel, the sword-bearer, for the King of Kings, Alexander, and the noble Jonathan; for your high priest, let him bow down with abundant thanks. Terrify my enemies and scatter them like chaff with the divine lightning that spews from the mouth. O you who strengthened from the time of Ptolemy and John until the birth of the virgin for Simeon, the faithful. O Lord, shorten the span of my repentance; do not say to me many times, as Cain gave me, "Is it not the corruption of the righteous that the grave conceals?" O you who saved the children of the cave, the Maccabees, from Antiochus the enemy, who resembled a small horn. On my behalf, tell your good angels, "They shall judge, they shall judge, they shall judge judgment." From this trial of the time, for this wretched one.

O you who bound them on account of your name, for Eleazar and for Makkabayu and for their seven sons, by the strong proclamation of the decree of Antiochus in the time of his reign; you bound my mind and made it dwell within it, the abomination of this world whose path is foul. O you who chose from among the women of the world one who was a mother, that your word might be a dwelling place, for her ways were straight; for your daughter Maryam, the Lord God is her father; sanctify my soul, O Lord, by that which you sanctified; and purify my body by the purity of her body. O you who sent, that he might put on the flesh of man in the womb of a virgin, the mystery of the Spirit and the seed, for your first word, Christ, and your right hand is firm; send me your help, O Lord God, by which your sinful servant may be saved. O you who showed them many visions, the glory of the birth of Christ in the great city of David, while the night shone like the midday sun; show me your divinity in the pure mirror of Amen; O Lord God, broad and subtle in nature.

O you who commanded that the Law be fulfilled, and that the Jews be circumcised on the eighth day of birth, for the sake of the body of your word, Christ, when you clothed yourself in humanity, while you were circumcised by your own hand, the circumcision of the foreskin; O Lord, accept me into your house. O you who led them by the star of the new birth, the Magi ascending to the field of the house of Bethlehem from Persia, to offer gold to the one who was born, Christ; lead me and raise me up to your holy mountain, O Lord, speaker of the Spirit. O you who commanded Joseph to be patient of face, to hide the infant from the wrath of the cruel Herod; O Lord, mighty in the mystery of your word, drive out the demons from the land of my heart, Egypt, and shatter the heads of their idols with your staff of wood. O you who saved John the Baptist, so that Herod the slayer of infant children would not kill him, when he found Christ, the pearl of the son of Mary; I have been sprinkled with the blood of the righteous Zechariah, who was slain; save me from the demon and the abyss.

O you who praised at the bank of the Jordan, on the mountain, for Christ, your Son, the Lord, from the Baptist John, as he is honored, praise me with your praise above all things, for you are in heaven and you are on earth. O you who gave to humanity Christ the sword, Satan the destruction, with him when he contended, the canon of prayer and fasting after he ordained in the desert, to me also, your servant, until the days of forty, give me fasting and I will not eat. O you who revealed the mystery of the Eucharist, a stranger, on the evening of Thursday to the apostles before Judas went out, by the hand of your Son Christ, the Lord, the completion of the fulfillment, give me to take his flesh without judgment and debt, and his precious blood with pure water. O you who sent to your Son a sign, which the angel prepared until he drinks the cup, the Lord, likewise I say to you, son of the mortal, Father, pass from me the cup of the cross, I implore, only let this be your will.

You praised on the wood of the cross which exists, for Christ, your Son, the foundations of the earth in his incarnation, until Pilate was troubled and the governor of a hundred who resembles him; praise me on the day of judgment and raise me up, raise me up, O Lord, rightly when you judge all. O you who raised the souls of sinners from the abyss, and you did not forget Adam on the mountain of the archives which exists; you will remember him, O Lord, in your mercy, and you will cover him with the sea of your mercies all, in your wrath which is stronger than injustice. O you who raised from the dead on that great Sunday, the first of days, one; O Lord, how for your Son I cry out, in the hiddenness of your wisdom which is not revealed to mortals, the raising of my soul, counsel and caution for it. O you who ascended the souls of the righteous to the place of ascent, and you placed the perfect one in your right hand, the measure of the gift; from the dead for Christ, we will raise him in the flesh; raise me and bring me into the city of the pure, the angels; O Lord, good, my father, by grace.

O you who gave to Paracletus the book, to where the apostles were, while they were making a gathering, at the end of fifty days from when the resurrection occurred; show me this vine of power, the strong one, O Lord who rules over the two worlds. Do not show me, O Lord, the fire of Gehenna, the burning one, and do not send me, the prisoner, to be with the sinners in torment. O Lord, your Son, when he judges the sick, and says to his righteous ones, "Come to me, my blessed ones, to the blessed one, my father." When I remember the coming of your Son, the governor, the servants who fled, by the majesty of the divinity, the fearful and the astonishing in truth. O Lord, the mighty one, the God of Adam and his descendants; hide me in the earth, in the dust, while its mouth is closed, and I will say to the mountains, "Cover me." O Lord, God of the poor people; O Lord, hope of the chosen ones, treasure; O Lord, lightener of the difficult matter; O you who hear with compassion all the scattered; the prayer of the sinner, your servant, do not reject, O Father.

O God of Peter and God of Paul, our God, who strengthened them in their struggle and did not make them saviors like themselves; place the spirit of patience upon us. If with all your salvation it has spread, where is the value of the soul, from where did it come? O you who left them like silver to be tested, for the apostles and martyrs who appeared each in their time, by the measure of suffering for them, in that they pleased you, was it not? As silver is tested by the refining of fire in its crucible, who will give me from their patience? As the pagans say, "Where is their likeness?" From the mouth of lions and fire, I became a savior of the flesh, and there is a crown on the soul, as if it were not sown in them. For the martyrs whom you abandoned to many sufferings, they suffer. Blessed Lord, for the seal of grace. Not in this tongue of flesh am I speaking, nor in this word of construction am I dwelling, but in this word of the Holy Spirit am I abiding. In this world I praise you, Creator, in that which will come to me in the world to come.