PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS CXXXIII — ECCE NVNC

Behold Now Bless Ye the Lord

Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum is the final psalm of the Gradual collection, a night hymn calling upon those who minister in the Temple to bless the Lord. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Compline. The image of lifted hands in the sanctuary models the proper posture of night prayer before sleep.

LATINE
Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum, omnes servi Domini:
Qui statis in domo Domini, in atriis domus Dei nostri.
In noctibus extollite manus vestras in sancta, et benedicite Dominum.
Benedicat te Dominus ex Sion, qui fecit caelum et terram.
ENGLISH
Behold now bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord:
Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.
In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless ye the Lord.
May the Lord out of Sion bless thee, he that made heaven and earth.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Compline, Night prayer
CONTEXT
Psalm 134 in Hebrew numbering. Fifteenth and final Song of Ascents. The night prayer of Levites who kept vigil in the temple.