Isaiah 3.1-14
(6th Hour)
1Behold now, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judea the mighty man and mighty woman, the strength of bread, and the strength of water,
2the great and mighty man, the warrior and the judge, and the prophet, and the counsellor, and the elder,
3the captain of fifty also, and the honorable counsellor, and the wise artificer, and the intelligent hearer.
4And I will make youths their princes, and mockers shall have dominion over them.
5And the people shall fall, man upon man, and every man upon his neighbor: the child shall insult the elder man, and the base the honorable.
6For a man shall lay hold of his brother, as one of his father's household, saying, You have raiment, be you our ruler, and let my meat be under you.
7And he shall answer in that day, and say, I will not be your ruler; for I have no bread in my house, nor raiment: I will not be the ruler of this people.
8For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judea has fallen, and their tongues have spoken with iniquity, disobedient as they are towards the Lord.
9Therefore now their glory has been brought low, and the shame of their countenance has withstood them, and they have proclaimed their sin as Sodom, and made it manifest.
10Woe to their soul, for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying against themselves, Let us bind the just, for he is burdensome to us: therefore shall they eat the fruits of their works.
11Woe to the transgressor! evils shall happen to him according to the works of his hands.
12O my people, your exactors strip you, and extortioners rule over you: O my people, they that pronounce you blessed lead you astray, and pervert the path of your feet.
13But now the Lord will stand up for judgment, and will enter into judgment with his people.
14The Lord himself shall enter into judgment with the elders of the people, and with their rulers: but why have youpl set my vineyard on fire, and why is the spoil of the poor in your houses?
Genesis 2.20-3.20
(Vespers)
20And Adam gave names to all the cattle and to all the birds of the sky, and to all the wild beasts of the field, but for Adam there was not found a help like to himself.
21And God brought a trance upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs, and filled up the flesh instead thereof.
22And God formed the rib which he took from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam.
23And Adam said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of her husband.
24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
1And the two were naked, both Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now the serpent was the most crafty of all the brutes on the earth, which the Lord God made, and the serpent said to the woman, Therefore has God said, Eat not of every tree of the garden?
2And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden,
3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, Youpl shall not eat of it, neither shall youpl touch it, lest youpl die.
4And the serpent said to the woman, Youpl shall not surely die.
5For God knew that in whatever day youpl should eat of it your eyes would be opened, and youpl would be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes to look upon and beautiful to contemplate, and having taken of its fruit she ate, and she gave to her husband also with her, and they ate.
7And the eyes of both were opened, and they perceived that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons to go round them.
8And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the afternoon; and both Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden.
9And the Lord God called Adam and said to him, Adam, where are you?
10And he said to him, I heard your voice as you walked in the garden, and I feared because I was naked and I hid myself.
11And God said to him, Who told you that you were naked, unless you have eaten of the tree concerning which I charged you of it alone not to eat?
12And Adam said, The woman whom you gave to be with me—she gave me of the tree and I ate.
13And the Lord God said to the woman, Why have you done this? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me and I ate.
14And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this you are cursed above all cattle and all the brutes of the earth, on your breast and belly you shall go, and you shall eat earth all the days of your life.
15And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed, he shall watch against your head, and you shall watch against his heel.
16And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pains and your groanings; in pain you shall bring forth children, and your submission shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.
17And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and eaten of the tree concerning which I charged you of it only not to eat—of that you have eaten, cursed is the ground in your labors, in pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life.
18Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
19In the sweat of your face shall you eat your bread until you return to the earth out of which you were taken, for earth you are and to earth you shall return.
20And Adam called the name of his wife Life, because she was the mother of all living.
Proverbs 3.19-34
(Vespers)
19God by wisdom founded the earth, and by prudence he prepared the heavens.
20By understanding were the depths broken up, and the clouds dropped water.
21My son, let them not pass from you, but keep my counsel and understanding:
22that your soul may live, and that there may be grace round your neck; and it shall be health to your flesh, and safety to your bones:
23that you may go confidently in peace in all your ways, and that your foot may not stumble.
24For if you rest, you shall be undismayed; and if you sleep, you shall slumber sweetly.
25And you shall not be afraid of alarm coming upon you, neither of approaching attacks of ungodly men.
26For the Lord shall be over all your ways, and shall establish your foot that you be not moved.
27Forbear not to do good to the poor, whenever your hand may have power to help him.
28Say not, Come back another time, to-morrow I will give; while you are able to do him good: for you know not what the next day will bring forth.
29Devise not evil against your friend, living near you and trusting in you.
30Be not ready to quarrel with a man without a cause, lest he do you some harm.
31Procure not the reproaches of bad men, neither do you covet their ways.
32For every transgressor is unclean before the Lord; neither does he sit among the righteous.
33The curse of God is in the houses of the ungodly; but the habitations of the just are blessed.
34The Lord resists the proud; but he gives grace to the humble.
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 youpl 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.
Exodus 3.1-8
(Vespers, Annunciation)
1And Moses was feeding the flock of Jothor his father-in-law, the priest of Madiam; and he brought the sheep near to the wilderness, and came to the mount of Choreb.
2And an angel of the Lord appeared to him in flaming fire out of the bush, and he sees that the bush burns with fire, —but the bush was not consumed.
3And Moses said, I will go near and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed.
4And when the Lord saw that he drew near to see, the Lord called him out of the bush, saying, Moses, Moses; and he said, What is it?
5And he said, Draw not near hither: loose your sandals from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground.
6And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraam, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and Moses turned away his face, for he was afraid to gaze at God.
7And the Lord said to Moses, I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and I have heard their cry caused by their taskmasters; for I know their affliction.
8And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land, and to bring them into a good and wide land, into a land flowing with milk and honey, into the place of the Chananites, and the Chettites, and Amorites, and Pherezites, and Gergesites, and Evites, and Jebusites.
Proverbs 8.22-30
(Vespers, Annunciation)
22The Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works.
23He established me before time was in the beginning, before he made the earth:
24even before he made the depths; before the fountains of water came forth:
25before the mountains were settled, and before all hills, he begets me.
26The Lord made countries and uninhabited tracks, and the highest inhabited parts of the world.
27When he prepared the heaven, I was present with him; and when he prepared his throne upon the winds:
28and when he strengthened the clouds above; and when he secured the fountains of the earth:
29decree. and when he strengthened the foundations of the earth:
30I was by him, suiting myself to him, I was that wherein he took delight; and daily I rejoiced in his presence continually.