Isaiah 14.24-32 (6th Hour)

24The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: 25That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 26This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? 28In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.

29Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. 30And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. 31Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. 32What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

Genesis 8.21-9.7 (Vespers)

21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 22While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. 7And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

Proverbs 11.19-12.6 (Vespers)

19As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death. 20They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight. 21Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. 22As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. 23The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. 24There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. 25The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. 26He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. 27He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. 28He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. 29He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. 30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. 31Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.

1Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish. 2A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn. 3A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved. 4A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. 5The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit. 6The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.

Holy Martyrs Eutropius, Cleonicus and Basiliscus (308)

They were fellow-soldiers and kinsmen of St Theodore the Tyro (Feb. 17). When St Theodore received his martyrdom, they were kept in prison because the governor of Amasia was unwilling to execute them. But a new and crueler governor, Asclepiodotus, took his place and ordered the three soldiers of Christ to be brought to him. At first, the governor used flattery and bribery to attempt to turn the three from Christ. He invited Eutropius to dine with him, but Eutropius refused, quoting the Psalm ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsels of the ungodly.’ He then offered them a huge amount of silver, which they likewise refused, telling the governor that Judas lost his soul for silver. The governor then turned to torture, subjecting the three to extreme torments. At last, he condemned Eutropius and Cleonicus to crucifixion, for which they joyfully gave thanks that they had been found worthy to die the same death as Christ. Basiliscus was held in prison awhile longer in hopes that the deaths of his companions would weaken his resolve; but when he remained steadfast in the Faith, he was beheaded, on May 22 (on which he is also commemorated) in 308.

An Unknown Girl in Alexandria (?)

“She was from a wealthy house, having a good father who suffered much and had a difficult death, and an evil mother who had an easy life, died in peace and was buried with honour. In uncertainty whether to live by the example of her father or her mother, this maiden had a vision, in which the state of her father and of her mother were shown to her. She saw her father in the Kingdom of God, and her mother in darkness and torment. This determined her to devote her whole life to God, and, like her father, follow the commandments of God without regard to any opposition or misfortune that she might have to endure. And she followed the commandments of God to the end, with His help, and was made worthy of the Kingdom of heaven, in which she was reunited with her beloved father.” (Prologue)