Rejoice O Bethany / افرحي يا بيت عنيا (Koinonikon for Lazarus Saturday)

I. ARABIC




II. ENGLISH TRANSLATION:





I. ARABIC TEXT

افرحي يابيت عنيا …. نحوك وافى الإله

من به الأموات تحيا …. كيف لا وهو الحياه

إن مارثا استقبلته …. ببكاء وعويل

وشكت لما رأته …. شدة الحزن الطويل

صرخت بالحالة ربي … أنت عوناً للرفيق

فا أعني إن قلبي …. ذاب من فقد الشقيق

قال كفي عن بكاكي …. ودعي هذا النحيب

واعلمي أن آخاك … سوف يحيا عن قريب

ثم نحو اللحد بادر …. ذلك الفادي الأمين

حينما نادى لعازر …. انهض ياذاك الدفين

أيها الأختان هيا …. انظرا الأمر العجيب

قام من في اللحد حيا …. واشكرا الفادي الحبيب

لك يارب البرايا …. لك نسجد بخشوع

إننا موت الخطايا …. بك نحيا يا يسوع


II. ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Rejoice, rejoice, O Bethany!
On this day God came to thee,
And in Him the dead are made alive,
As it is right for He is the Life.

When Martha went to receive Him,
Grieving loudly with bitter tears,
She poured out the sorrow of her heart to Him
With great sadness, wailing her lament.

She at once cried out unto Him:
“My most compassionate Lord, my Lord,
At the great loss of my brother Lazarus
My heart is broken, help me.”

Jesus said to her, “Cease your weeping,
Cease your grieving and sad lament;
For your brother, My most beloved friend, Lazarus,
Very soon will live again.”

Then He, the faithful Redeemer,
Made His way unto the tomb,
Where he cried unto him who was buried four days,
Calling him forth, saying “Lazarus, arise.”

Come with haste, ye two sisters,
And behold a wondrous thing,
For your brother from the tomb has returned to life.
To the beloved Redeemer now give thanks.

To Thee, O Lord of creation,
We kneel down in reverence profound,
For all we who are dead in sin,
In Thee, O Jesus, are made alive.

A Koinonikon for Lazarus Saturday,
Original Arabic text افرحي يا بيت عنيا composed by the Thrice-Blessed Athanasius (Atallah), Metropolitan of Homs. Transcribed in English & Western Notation by Bishop +Basil Essey (1986).