Isaiah 14.24-32 (6th Hour)

24Thus says the Lord of hosts, As I have said, so it shall be: and as I have purposed, so the matter shall remain: 25even to destroy the Assyrians upon my land, and upon my mountains: and they shall be for trampling; and their yoke shall be taken away from them, and their glory shall be taken away from their shoulders. 26This is the purpose which the Lord has purposed upon the whole earth: and this the hand that is uplifted against all the nations. 27For what the Holy God has purposed, who shall frustrate? and who shall turn back his uplifted hand? 28In the year in which king Achaz died this word came. 29Rejoice not, all you⌃ Philistines, because the yoke of him that struck you is broken: for out of the seed of the serpent shall come forth the young asps, and their young shall come forth flying serpents, 30And the poor shall be fed by him, and poor men shall rest in peace: but he shall destroy your seed with hunger, and shall destroy your remnant. 31Howl, you⌃ gates of cities; let the cities be troubled and cry, even all the Philistines: for smoke is coming from the north, and there is no possibility of living. 32And what shall the kings of the nations answer? That the Lord has founded Sion, and by him the poor of the people shall be saved.

Genesis 8.21-9.7 (Vespers)

21And the Lord God smelled a smell of sweetness, and the Lord God having considered, said, I will not any more curse the earth, because of the works of men, because the imagination of man is intently bent upon evil things from his youth, I will not therefore any more strike all living flesh as I have done. 22All the days of the earth, seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer and spring, shall not cease by day or night.

1And God blessed Noe and his sons, and said to them, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth and have dominion over it. 2And the dread and the fear of you shall be upon all the wild beasts of the earth, on all the birds of the sky, and on all things moving upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea, I have placed them under your power. 3And every reptile which is living shall be to you for meat, I have given all things to you as the green herbs. 4But flesh with blood of life you⌃ shall not eat. 5For your blood of your lives will I require at the hand of all wild beasts, and I will require the life of man at the hand of his brother man. 6He that sheds man's blood, instead of that blood shall his own be shed, for in the image of God I made man. 7But do you⌃ increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it.

Proverbs 11.19-12.6 (Vespers)

19A righteous son is born for life: but the persecution of the ungodly ends in death. 20Perverse ways are an abomination to the Lord: but all they that are blameless in their ways are acceptable to him. 21He that unjustly strikes hands shall not be unpunished: but he that sows righteousness he shall receive a faithful reward. 22As an ornament in a swine's snout, so is beauty to an ill-minded woman. 23All the desire of the righteous is good: but the hope of the ungodly shall perish. 24There are some who scatter their own, and make it more: and there are some also who gather, yet have less. 25Every sincere soul is blessed: but a passionate man is not graceful. 26May he that hoards corn leave it to the nation: but blessing be on the head of him that gives it. 27He that devises good counsels seeks good favor: but as for him that seeks after evil, evil shall overtake him. 28He that trusts in wealth shall fall; but he that helps righteous men shall rise. 29He that deals not graciously with his own house shall inherit the wind; and the fool shall be servant to the wise man. 30Out of the fruit of righteousness grows a tree of life; but the souls of transgressors are cut off before their time. 31If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

1He that loves instruction loves sense, but he that hates reproofs is a fool. 2He that has found favor with the Lord is made better; but a transgressor shall be passed over in silence. 3A man shall not prosper by wickedness; but the roots of the righteous shall not be taken up. 4A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband; but as a worm in wood, so a bad woman destroys her husband. 5The thoughts of the righteous are true judgments; but ungodly men devise deceits. 6The words of ungodly men are crafty; but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.

Isaiah 43.9-14 (Vespers, Martyrs)

9All the nations are gathered together, and princes shall be gathered out of them: who will declare these things? or who will declare to you things from the beginning? let them bring forth their witnesses, and be justified; and let them hear, and declare the truth. 10Be you⌃ my witnesses, and I too am a witness, says the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you⌃ may know, and believe, and understand that I am he: before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none. 11I am God; and beside me there is no Saviour. 12I have declared, and have saved; I have reproached, and there was no strange god among you: you⌃ are my witnesses, and I am the Lord God, 13even from the beginning; and there is none that can deliver out of my hands: I will work, and who shall turn it back? 14Thus says the Lord God that redeems you, the Holy One of Israel; for your sakes I will send to Babylon, and I will stir up all that flee, and the Chaldeans shall be bound in ships.

Wisdom of Solomon 3.1-9 (Vespers, Martyrs)

1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. 2In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, 3And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. 4For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality. 5And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself. 6As gold in the furnace has he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering. 7And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. 8They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. 9They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he has care for his elect.

Wisdom of Solomon 5.15-6.3 (Vespers, Martyrs)

15But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. 16Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them. 17He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armor, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies. 18He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet. 19He shall take holiness for an invincible shield. 20His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise. 21Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark. 22And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them. 23Yes, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.

1Hear therefore, O you⌃ kings, and understand; learn, you⌃ that be judges of the ends of the earth. 2Give ear, you⌃ that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations. 3For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.

St Theophylactus, Bishop of Nicomedia

“Theophylact was from the east; his native city is unknown. In Constantinople he became a close friend of Tarasius, who afterwards became Patriarch of Constantinople (see Feb. 25). Theophylact was made Bishop of Nicomedia. After the death of Saint Tarasius, his successor Nicephorus (see June 2) called together a number of Bishops to help him in fighting the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo the Armenian, who reigned from 813 to 820. Among them was Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis (celebrated Dec. 26), who had attended the holy Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 — he was exiled three times for the sake of the holy icons, and for defying the Emperor Theophilus’ command to renounce the veneration of the icons, was scourged from head to foot until his whole body was one great wound, from which he died eight days later, about the year 830; Joseph of Thessalonica (see July 14); Michael of Synnada (see May 23); Emilian, Bishop of Cyzicus (see Aug. 8); and Saint Theophylact, who boldly rebuked Leo to his face, telling him that because he despised the long-suffering of God, utter destruction was about to overtake him, and there would be none to deliver him. For this, Theophylact was exiled to the fortress of Strobilus in Karia of Asia Minor, where after 30 years of imprisonment and hardship, he gave up his holy soul about the year 845. Leo the Armenian, according to the Saint’s prophecy, was slain in church on the eve of our Lord’s Nativity, in 820.” (Great Horologion)

Hieromartyr Theodoretus (362)

The priest Theodoretus was custodian of a great cathedral in Antioch, built by the Emperor Constantine and known in its time as ‘the golden church’ for the beauty and luxury of its appointments. When Julian the Apostate came to the throne, he denied Christ and launched a persecution of Christians. The Emperor’s uncle, also named Julian, came to Antioch to prosecute the persecution there. After plundering the church he brought Theodoretus to trial and demanded that he deny Christ. Instead, the faithful priest confessed Christ fervently and rebuked the Emperor for having denied the faith and returned to idol-worship ‘as a dog returns to its vomit.’ In spite, the judge urinated in the golden church, for which Theodoretus prophesied that he would die a terrible death. Theodoretus was beheaded, and Julian his judge was seized with terrible abdominal pain from the moment he defiled the church until he died in torment.

Note: Theodoretus is commemorated on March 3 in the Greek Calendar.