Onward soldiers…

A Prayer for Ukraine

O Ukraine,

May the God of heaven and earth

who also is the God of all Ukrainians

defend and keep you safe from

the hands of your mindless aggressors – the Russians

and all of your other enemies –

within and outside the wall of your borders.

And may He guide and preserve you,

your children and their children’s children and your nation

until the time of the end and onto eternity.

O Ukrainians, may the God of Ukraine favour this your venture

as you confront the beasts, the crocodiles,

the hawks and the artic polar bears.

May He keep you and honour your great determination

to square up your aggressors, eyeball to eyeball

in this their unwarranted and unprovoked aggression,

returning fire for fire, missiles for missiles

Artillery for artillery,

Shell for shell,

Bombs for bombs,

Tanks for tanks

and guns for guns!

And may He supply all you will ever need

in accordance with His riches in glory by Christ, the Lord.

And may Jehovah Jireh never, ever let you down

in the provision of bread, victuals, and tools to defend yourselves.

And may He grant you exceptional wisdom and the courage

to discharge in these trying times, your duties as Ukraine expects.

And may He strengthen your hands against your enemies

and cause you to prevail over them!

And may Jehovah Nissi, who fights by the Ten Plagues

confuse your enemies and make them

to turn their swords against one another.

And may He cause you to prevail against them

on the mountains tops, hills tops, caves,

inside the clefts of the rocks and in the valleys,

and by the rivers and the sea sides,

in the seas, inside the ocean,

in and around the Black Sea

and in the wildernesses and on the highways,

in the air, on trees and on lands,

in and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power,

in Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Mariupol, Bucha and on the Eastern flank -

Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk, Donbas and wherever in Ukraine!

May He send your enemies and their Commanders

into a deep and everlasting slumber for you to run through

their camps and make mincemeats of them for a global spectacle.

May God the Almighty, who never slumbers nor sleeps defend thee till the end.

May He who answers by fire raise His standards against and blindfold them.

May Yahweh cause you to overwhelm your enemies,

and make them to run away from your presence

with their tails in between their legs,

and protect you and your children from one generation

to another until the Day of reckoning;

*Protect you in the city as well as in the country;

protect your fruits, crops, and your nation;

your young ones, livestock, and pets —

your cattle and the beasts in your fields and forests;

your basket and your kneading trough He will protect,

He will protect you when you come in and when you go out,

The Lord will ensure that the enemies

who revolt against you will be defeated before you.

They will come at you from one direction,

but flee from you in seven.

The Lord will protect your *okuna

and everything you put your hands to do.

The Lord your God will protect you

in the land He has given you,

And He will make sure neither Russia

nor any nation can confiscate it from you.

Amen!

*A parody of Deuteronomy 28:3-8, written on April 4, 2022, with some words left as exactly as there are in the Bible, and the word “blessed” substituted with “protect.”

Okuna – Yala, for barns.