7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Juda his beloved plant: I expected it to bring forth judgment, and it brought forth iniquity; and not righteousness, but a cry.
8Woe to them that join house to house, and add field to field, that they may take away something of their neighbor's: will you⌃ dwell alone upon the land?
9For these things have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts: for though many houses should be built, many and fair houses shall be desolate, and there shall be no inhabitants in them.
10For where ten yoke of oxen plow the land shall yield one , and he that sows six homers shall produce three measures.
11Woe to them that rise up in the morning, and follow strong drink; who wait at it till evening: for the wine shall inflame them.
12For they drink wine with harp, and lute, and drums, and pipes: but they regard not the works of the Lord, and consider not the works of his hands.
13Therefore my people have been taken captive, because they know not the Lord: and there has been a multitude of dead bodies, because of hunger and of thirst for water.
14Therefore hell has enlarged its desire and opened its mouth without ceasing: and her glorious and great, and her rich and her pestilent men shall go down into it.
15And the mean man shall be brought low, and the great man shall be disgraced, and the lofty eyes shall be brought low.
16But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be glorified in righteousness.
Genesis 4.8-15 (Vespers)
8And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out into the plain; and it came to pass that when they were in the plain Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and killed him.
9And the Lord God said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? and he said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper?
10And the Lord said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to me out of the ground.
11And now you are cursed from the earth which has opened her mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12When you till the earth, then it shall not continue to give its strength to you: you shall be groaning and trembling on the earth.
13And Cain said to the Lord God, My crime is too great for me to be forgiven.
14If you cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from your presence, and I shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth, then it will be that any one that finds me shall kill me.
15And the Lord God said to him, Not so, any one that slays Cain shall suffer sevenfold vengeance; and the Lord God set a mark upon Cain that no one that found him might kill him.
Proverbs 5.1-15 (Vespers)
1My son, attend to my wisdom, and apply your ear to my words;
2that you may keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives you a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman;
3for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases your palate:
4but afterwards you will find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.
5For the feet of folly lead those who deal with her down to the grave with death; and her steps are not established.
6For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known.
7Now then, my son, hear me, and make not my words of none effect.
8Remove your way far from her; draw not near to the doors of her house:
9lest you give away your life to others, and your substance to the merciless:
10lest strangers be filled with your strength, and your labors come into the houses of strangers;
11And you repent at last, when the flesh of your body is consumed,
12and you shall say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart avoided reproofs!
13I heard not the voice of him that instructed me, and taught me, neither did I apply my ear.
14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15Drink waters out of your own vessels, and out of your own springing wells.
Commemorations
Martyr Quadratus and Companions
‘In a time of persecution of Christians, many of the faithful fled to the mountains and caves. The mother of this Codratus did so. She was pregnant at that time, and gave birth to Codratus in a forest, dying almost at once. He was kept safe and fed by the providence of God and his guardian angel. Codratus grew up in solitude with nature. He who gave manna from heaven to the Israelites in the wilderness released a sweet dew from a cloud onto the mouth of the child Codratus. When he was twelve years old, he went down to the town, and there some good people took a fancy to him and educated him. He studied medicine and then began to heal the sick, using both natural medicines and, more importantly, the spiritual power and prayer which had been with him from childhood. When a new persecution arose under Decius, Codratus was taken for trial and thrown into prison. Five of his friends stood beside him and confessed the name of Christ. They were: Cyprian, Dionysius, Anectus, Paul and Crescens. They were all dragged through the streets and struck with sticks and stones by the unbelievers, especially by the children, until they arrived at the scaffold. Here the martyrs prayed to God and were beheaded with the sword. A spring of water gushed out onto the earth at the spot, which to this day is called by Codratus’ name and commemorates the heroic death for Christ of the holy six. They suffered with honour for the truth in Corinth in the year 250, in the time of the Emperor Decius and his governor Jason.’ (Prologue)
Our Holy Mother Anastasia (563)
She was a noble lady at the Imperial court under the Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. But when she was widowed she left Constantinople and all her privileges behind and fled to the Egyptian desert. There Abba Daniel tonsured her and, at her request, presented her to the brethren as the eunuch Anastasius, so that she might avoid discovery by imperial investigators. She closed herself in a small cell, where she spent twenty-eight years in prayer and askesis. Shortly before her death, her elder Daniel saw her face shining like the sun.