The Burial Service

The Standard Prayer Book, tr. by Simeon Singer, [1915], at sacred-texts.com

p. 459

THE BURIAL SERVICE

On those days on which Tachanun (p. 70) is not said, Psalm xvi. (p. 460) is read instead of the following:—

The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he. The Rock, perfect in every work, who can say unto him, What workest thou? He ruleth below and above; he killeth and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up again. The Rock, perfect in every deed, who can say unto him, What doest thou? O thou who speakest and doest, of thy grace deal kindly with us, and for the sake of him who was bound like a lamb, O hearken and do. Just in all thy ways art thou, O perfect Rock, slow to anger and full of compassion. Spare and have pity upon parents and children, for thine, Lord, is forgiveness and compassion. Just art thou, O Lord, in killing and in making alive, in whose hand is the charge of all spirits; far be it from thee to blot out our remembrance: O let thine eyes mercifully regard us for thine, Lord, is compassion and forgiveness. If a man live a year or a thousand years, what profiteth it him? He shall be as though he had not been. Blessed be the true Judge, who killeth and maketh alive. Blessed be he, for his judgment is true, and his eye discerneth all things, and he awardeth unto man his reckoning and his sentence, and all must render acknowledgment unto him. We know, O Lord, that thy judgment is righteous: thou art justified when thou speakest, and pure when thou judgest, and it is not for us to murmur at thy method of judging; just art thou, O Lord, and righteous are thy judgments. O true and righteous judge! Blessed be the true judge, all whose judgments are righteous and true. The soul of every living thing is in thy hand; thy right hand is full of righteousness. Have mercy

p. 460

upon the remnant of the flock of thy hand, and say unto the angel, Stay thy hand. Thou art great in counsel and mighty in deed; thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of men, to give unto every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. To declare that the Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. And he, being merciful, forgiveth iniquity and destroyeth not: yea, many a time he turneth his anger away, and doth not stir up all his wrath.

Psalm xvi.

Michtam of David.—Guard me, O God, for in thee do I take refuge. I say unto the Lord, Thou art my lord: I have no good beyond thee. As for the saints that are in the earth, they are the noble ones in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows will be multiplied that have gotten unto themselves another God: their drink offerings of blood will I not pour out, nor take their names upon my lips. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a delightsome heritage. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: yea, my reins admonish me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart rejoiceth and my glory is glad: my flesh also will dwell in safety. For thou will not abandon my soul to the grave: neither wilt thou suffer thy loving one to see the pit. Thou wilt make known to me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures from evermore.

The coffin is borne from the Hall to the Burial Ground, Those who have not visited the Burial Ground for thirty days, say the following:—

Blessed be the Lord our God, King of the universe, who formed you in judgment, who nourished and sustained you in judgment, who brought death on you in judgment, who knoweth the number of you all in judgment, and will hereafter restore you to life in judgment. Blessed art thou. O Lord, who quickenest the dead.

p. 461

Thou, O Lord, art mighty for ever, thou quickenest the dead, thou art mighty to save. Thou sustainest the living with lovingkindness, quickenest the dead with great mercy, supportest the falling, healest the sick, loosest the bound, and keepest thy faith to them that sleep in the dust. Who is like unto thee, Lord of mighty acts, and who resembleth thee, O King, who killest and quickenest, and causest salvation to spring forth? Yea, faithful art thou to quicken the dead.

When the coffin is lowered into the Grave, the following is said, the sentence being varied according to the sex of the departed:—

May he come to his place in peace.

May she come to her place in peace.

On quitting the Burial Ground it is customary to pluck some grass, and to say one of the following sentences:—

And they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth.

He remembereth that we are dust.

All those who have been present at the Interment wash their hands and say:—

He will destroy death for ever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

They then return to the Hall, and say, "And let the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us," to "my salvation," p. 439.

p. 462

The following Kaddish is said by children after the Burial of their Parents. On those days on which Tachanun is not said (p. 70) the Kaddish, p. 94, is substituted.

Mourners.—May his great name be magnified and sanctified in the world that is to be created anew, where he will quicken the dead, and raise them up into life eternal; will rebuild the city of Jerusalem, and establish his temple in the midst thereof; and will up, root all alien worship from the earth and restore the worship of the true God. O may the Holy One, blessed be he, reign in his sovereignty and glory during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, even speedily and at a near time, and say ye, Amen.

Cong. and Mourners.—Let his great name be blessed for ever and to all eternity.

Mourners.—Blessed, praised and glorified, exalted, extolled and honored, magnified and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be he; though he be high above all blessings and hymns, praises and consolations, which are uttered in the world; and say ye, Amen.

Cong.—Let the name of the Lord be blessed from this time forth and for evermore.

Mourners.—May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life for us and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen.

Cong.—My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Mourners.—He who maketh peace in his high places, may he make peace for us and for all Israeli and say ye, Amen.