1And it came to pass in the year in which king Ozias died, that I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and the house was full of his glory.
2And seraphs stood round about him: each one had six wings: and with two they covered their face, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
3And one cried to the other, and they said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4And the lintel shook at the voice they uttered, and the house was filled with smoke.
5And I said, Woe is me, for I am pricked to the heart; for being a man, and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips; and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts.
6And there was sent to me one of the seraphs, and he had in his hand a coal, which he had taken off the altar with the tongs:
7and he touched my mouth, and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, and will take away your iniquities, and will purge off your sins.
8And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said, behold, I am here, send me. And he said, Go, and say to this people,
9You⌃ shall hear indeed, but you⌃ shall not understand; and you⌃ shall see indeed, but you⌃ shall not perceive.
10For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
11And I said, How long, O Lord? And he said, Until cities be deserted by reason of their not being inhabited, and the houses by reason of there being no men, and the land shall be left desolate.
12And after this God shall remove the men far off, and they that are left upon the land shall be multiplied.
Genesis 5.1-24 (Vespers)
1This is the genealogy of men in the day in which God made Adam; in the image of God he made him:
2male and female he made them, and blessed them; and he called his name Adam, in the day in which he made them.
3And Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and begot a son after his own form, and after his own image, and he called his name Seth.
4And the days of Adam, which he lived after his begetting Seth, were seven hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters.
5And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.
6Now Seth lived two hundred and five years, and begot Enos.
7And Seth lived after his begetting Enos, seven hundred and seven years, and he begot sons and daughters.
8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.
9And Enos lived one hundred and ninety years, and begot Cainan.
10And Enos lived after his begetting Cainan, seven hundred and fifteen years, and he begot sons and daughters.
11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.
12And Cainan lived one hundred and seventy years, and he begot Maleleel.
13And Cainan lived after his begetting Maleleel, seven hundred and forty years, and he begot sons and daughters.
14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
15And Maleleel lived one hundred and sixty and five years, and he begot Jared.
16And Maleleel lived after his begetting Jared, seven hundred and thirty years, and he begot sons and daughters.
17And all the days of Maleleel were eight hundred and ninety and five years, and he died.
18And Jared lived one hundred and sixty and two years, and begot Enoch:
19and Jared lived after his begetting Enoch, eight hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters.
20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty and two years, and he died.
21And Enoch lived one hundred and sixty and five years, and became the father of Mathusala.
22And Enoch was well-pleasing to God after his begetting Mathusala, two hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters.
23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty and five years.
24And Enoch was well-pleasing to God, and was not found, because God translated him.
Proverbs 6.3-20 (Vespers)
3My son, do what I command you, and deliver yourself; for on your friend's account you are come into the power of evil men: faint not, but stir up even your friend for whom you are become surety.
4Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber with your eyelids;
5that you may deliver yourself as a doe out of the toils, and as a bird out of a snare.
6Go to the ant, O sluggard; and see, and emulate his ways, and become wiser than he.
7For whereas he has no husbandry, nor any one to compel him, and is under no master,
8he prepares food for himself in the summer, and lays by abundant store in harvest. Or go to the bee, and learn how diligent she is, and how earnestly she is engaged in her work; whose labors kings and private men use for health, and she is desired and respected by all: though weak in body, she is advanced by honouring wisdom.
9How long will you lie, O sluggard? and when will you awake out of sleep?
10You sleep a little, and you rest a little, and you slumber a short time, and you fold your arms over your breast a little.
11Then poverty comes upon you as an evil traveller, and lack as a swift courier: but if you be diligent, your harvest shall arrive as a fountain, and poverty shall flee away as a bad courier.
12A foolish man and a transgressor goes in ways that are not good.
13And the same winks with the eye, and makes a sign with his foot, and teaches with the beckonings of his fingers.
14His perverse heart devises evils: at all times such a one causes troubles to a city.
15Therefore his destruction shall come suddenly; overthrow and irretrievable ruin.
16For he rejoices in all things which God hates, and he is ruined by reason of impurity of soul.
17The eye of the haughty, a tongue unjust, hands shedding the blood of the just;
18and a heart devising evil thoughts, and feet hastening to do evil, —are hateful to God.
19An unjust witness kindles falsehoods, and brings on quarrels between brethren.
20My son, keep the laws of your father, and reject not the ordinances of your mother:
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.
Commemorations
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.