Isaiah 8.13-9.7 (6th Hour)

13Sanctify you⌃ the Lord himself; and he shall be your fear. 14And if you shall trust in him, he shall be to you for a sanctuary; and you⌃ shall not come against him as against a stumbling-stone, neither as against the falling of a rock: but the houses of Jacob are in a snare, and the dwellers in Jerusalem in a pit. 15Therefore many among them shall be weak, and fall, and be crushed; and they shall draw near, and men shall be taken securely. 16Then shall those who seal themselves that they may not learn the law be made manifest. 17And one shall say, I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him. 18Behold I and the children which God has given me: and they shall be for signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in mount Sion. 19And if they should say to you, Seek those who have in them a divining spirit, and them that speak out of the earth, them that speak vain words, who speak out of their belly: shall not a nation diligently seek to their God? why do they seek to the dead concerning the living? 20For he has given the law for a help, that they should not speak according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to give for it. 21And famine shall come sorely upon you, and it shall come to pass, that when you⌃ shall be hungry, you⌃ shall be grieved, and you⌃ shall speak ill of the prince and your fathers' ordinances: and they shall look up to heaven above, 22and they shall look on the earth below, and behold severe distress, and darkness, affliction, and anguish, and darkness so that one can’t see; and he that is in anguish shall not be distressed only for a time.

1Drink this first. Act quickly, O land of Zabulon, land of Nephthalim, and the rest inhabiting the sea-coast, and the land beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. 2O people walking in darkness, behold a great light: you⌃ that dwell in the region and shadow of death, a light shall shine upon you. 3The multitude of the people which you have brought down in your joy, they shall even rejoice before you as they that rejoice in harvest, and as they that divide the spoil. 4Because the yoke that was laid upon them has been taken away, and the rod that was on their neck: for he has broken the rod of the exactors, as in the day of Madiam. 5For they shall compensate for every garment that has been acquired by deceit, and all raiment with restitution; and they shall be willing, even if they were burnt with fire. 6For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder: and his name is called the Messenger of great counsel: for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to him. 7His government shall be great, and of his peace there is no end: it shall be upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to support it with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth and forever. The seal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.

Genesis 6.9-22 (Vespers)

9And these are the generations of Noe. Noe was a just man; being perfect in his generation, Noe was well-pleasing to God. 10And Noe begot three sons, Sem, Cham, Japheth. 11But the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with iniquity. 12And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was corrupted; because all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. 13And the Lord God said to Noe, A period of all men is come before me; because the earth has been filled with iniquity by them, and, behold, I destroy them and the earth. 14Make therefore for yourself an ark of square timber; you shall make the ark in compartments, and you shall pitch it within and without with pitch. 15And thus shall you make the ark; three hundred cubits the length of the ark, and fifty cubits the breadth, and thirty cubits the height of it. 16You shall narrow the ark in making it, and in a cubit above you shall finish it, and the door of the ark you shall make on the side; with lower, second, and third stories you shall make it. 17And behold I bring a flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven, and whatever things are upon the earth shall die. 18And I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall enter into the ark, and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19And of all cattle and of all reptiles and of all wild beasts, even of all flesh, you shall bring by pairs of all, into the ark, that you may feed them with yourself: male and female they shall be. 20Of all winged birds after their kind, and of all cattle after their kind, and of all reptiles creeping upon the earth after their kind, pairs of all shall come in to you, male and female to be fed with you. 21And you shall take to yourself of all kinds of food which you⌃ eat, and you shall gather them to yourself, and it shall be for you and them to eat. 22And Noe did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him, so did he.

Proverbs 8.1-21 (Vespers)

1You shall proclaim wisdom, that understanding may be obedient to you. 2For she is on lofty eminences, and stands in the midst of the ways. 3For she sits by the gates of princes, and sings in the entrances, saying, 4You, O men, I exhort; and utter my voice to the sons of men. 5O you⌃ simple, understand subtlety, and you⌃ that are untaught, imbibe knowledge. 6Listen to me; for I will speak solemn truths; and will produce right sayings from my lips. 7For my throat shall meditate truth; and false lips are an abomination before me. 8All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing in them wrong or perverse. 9They are all evident to those that understand, and right to those that find knowledge. 10Receive instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than tried gold. 11For wisdom is better than precious stones; and no valuable substance is of equal worth with it. 12I wisdom have lived with counsel and knowledge, and I have called upon understanding. 13The fear of the Lord hates unrighteousness, and insolence, and pride, and the ways of wicked men; and I hate the perverse ways of bad men. 14Counsel and safety are mine; prudence is mine, and strength is mine. 15By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. 16By me nobles become great, and monarchs by me rule over the earth. 17I love those that love me; and they that seek me shall find me. 18Wealth and glory belong to me; yes, abundant possessions and righteousness. 19It is better to have my fruit than to have gold and precious stones; and my produce is better than choice silver. 20I walk in ways of righteousness, and am conversant with the paths of judgment; 21that I may divide substance to them that love me, and may fill their treasures with good things. If I declare to you the things that daily happen, I will remember also to recount the things of old.

Genesis 28.10-17 (Vespers, Annunciation)

10And Jacob went forth from the well of the oath, and departed into Charrhan. 11And came to a certain place and slept there, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it at his head, and lay down to sleep in that place, 12and dreamed, and behold a ladder fixed on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascended and descended on it. 13And the Lord stood upon it, and said, I am the God of your father Abraam, and the God of Isaac; fear not, the land on which you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. 14And your seed shall be as the sand of the earth; and it shall spread abroad to the sea, and the south, and the north, and to the east; and in you and in your seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed. 15And behold I am with you to preserve you continually in all the way wherein you shall go; and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not desert you, until I have done all that I have said to you. 16And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and said, The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. 17And he was afraid, and said, How fearful is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Ezekiel 43.27-44.4 (Vespers, Annunciation)

27And it shall come to pass from the eighth day and onward, that the priests shall offer your whole burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace-offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord.

1Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that looks eastward; and it was shut. 2And the Lord said to me, This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it; for the Lord God of Israel shall enter by it, and it shall be shut. 3For the prince, he shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord; he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go forth by the way of the same. 4And he brought me in by the way of the gate that looks northward, in front of the house: and I looked, and, behold, the house was full of the glory of the Lord: and I fell upon my face.

Proverbs 9.1-11 (Vespers, Annunciation)

1Wisdom has built a house for herself, and set up seven pillars. 2She has killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine in a bowl, and prepared her table. 3She has sent forth her servants, calling with a loud proclamation to the feast, saying, 4Whoso is foolish, let him turn aside to me: and to them that lack understanding she says, 5Come, eat of my bread, and drink wine which I have mingled for you. 6Leave folly, that you⌃ may reign for ever; and seek wisdom, and improve understanding by knowledge. 7He that reproves evil men shall get dishonor to himself; and he that rebukes an ungodly man shall disgrace himself. 8Rebuke not evil men, lest they should hate you: rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. 9Give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser: instruct a just man, and he will receive more instruction. 10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the counsel of saints is understanding: for to know the law is the character of a sound mind. 11For in this way you shall live long, and years of your life shall be added to you.

Ven. Zachariah the Recluse

His father, Carion the Egyptian, forsook his family to become a monk, taking Zacharias with him. Though very young, Zacharias manifested gifts of grace rarely seen among the elders of Sketis. Abba Moses once asked him, ‘What does it mean to be a monk?’, to which Zacharias replied by taking off his hat and treading it underfoot, saying ‘If a man be not so broken, he cannot be a monk.’ After shining as a great light among the holy monks of Scetis, he reposed at a young age.

Commemoration of the Miracle at the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev (?)

“Two friends, John and Sergius, swore brotherhood before the icon of the holy Mother of God in this monastery. John was a rich man, with a five-year-old son, Zachariah. John fell ill, and at his death commended his son to the care of Sergius, and left in Sergius’ keeping a large sum of silver and gold for him to hand over to Zachariah when he had grown up. When Zachariah came of age, however, Sergius denied receiving anything from the deceased John. Then Zachariah said: ‘Let him swear before the same icon of the most holy Mother of God, in front of which he accepted brotherhood with my late father, that he received nothing from John, and then I will seek nothing more from him.’ Sergius agreed, but when he had sworn this and went up to kiss the icon, some force held him back and would not allow him to come near. Then, tormented all at once by a demon, he began to cry out: ‘Holy fathers Antony and Theodosius, do not let this merciless angel destroy me!’ The demon had attacked him by God’s permission. He then told them of all the money which John had left. But when they opened the box, they found double the amount. Taking it, Zachariah gave it to the monastery and was himself tonsured as a monk. He lived a long time and was worthy of God’s great gifts, entering peacefully into eternity.” (Prologue)