Isaiah 48.17-49.4
(6th Hour)
17Thus says the Lord that delivered you, the Holy One of Israel; I am your God, I have shown you how you should find the way wherein you should walk.
18And if you had listened to my commandments, then would your peace have been like a river, and your righteousness as a wave of the sea.
19Your seed also would have been as the sand, and the offspring of your belly as the dust of the ground: neither now shall you by any means be utterly destroyed, neither shall your name perish before me.
20Go forth of Babylon, you that flee from the Chaldeans: utter aloud a voice of joy, and let this be made known, proclaim it to the end of the earth; say youpl, The Lord has delivered his servant Jacob.
21And if they shall thirst, he shall lead them through the desert; he shall bring forth water to them out of the rock: the rock shall be cloven, and the water shall flow forth, and my people shall drink.
22There is no joy, says the Lord, to the ungodly.
1Listen to me, youpl islands; and attend, youpl Gentiles; after a long time it shall come to pass, says the Lord: from my mother's womb he has called my name:
2and he has made my mouth as a sharp sword, and he has hid me under the shadow of his hand; he has made me as a choice shaft, and he has hid me in his quiver;
3and said to me, You are my servant, O Israel, and in you I will be glorified.
4Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have given my strength for vanity and for nothing: therefore is my judgment with the Lord, and my labor before my God.
Genesis 27.1-41
(Vespers)
1And it came to pass after Isaac was old, that his eyes were dimmed so that he could not see; and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him, My son; and he said, Behold, I am here.
2And he said, Behold, I am grown old, and know not the day of my death.
3Now then take the weapons, both your quiver and your bow, and go into the plain, and get me venison,
4and make me meats, as I like them, and bring them to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you, before I die.
5And Rebecca heard Isaac speaking to Esau his son; and Esau went to the plain to procure venison for his father.
6And Rebecca said to Jacob her younger son, Behold, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying,
7Bring me venison, and prepare me meats, that I may eat and bless you before the Lord before I die.
8Now then, my son, listen to me, as I command you.
9And go to the cattle and take for me thence two kids, tender and good, and I will make them meats for your father, as he likes.
10And you shall bring them in to your father, and he shall eat, that your father may bless you before he dies.
11And Jacob said to his mother Rebecca, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I a smooth man.
12Peradventure my father may feel me, and I shall be before him as one ill-intentioned, and I shall bring upon me a curse, and not a blessing.
13And his mother said to him, On me be your curse, son; only listen to my voice, and go and bring them me.
14So he went and took and brought them to his mother; and his mother made meats, as his father liked them.
15And Rebecca having taken the fine raiment of her elder son Esau which was with her in the house, put it on Jacob her younger son.
16And she put on his arms the skins of the kids, and on the bare parts of his neck.
17And she gave the meats, and the loaves which she had prepared, into the hands of Jacob her son.
18And he brought them to his father, and said, Father; and he said, Behold I am here; who are you, son?
19And Jacob said to his father, I, Esau your firstborn, have done as you told me; rise, sit, and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.
20And Isaac said to his son, What is this which you have quickly found? And he said, That which the Lord your God presented before me.
21And Isaac said to Jacob, Draw near to me, and I will feel you, son, if you are my son Esau or not.
22And Jacob drew near to his father Isaac, and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
23And he knew him not, for his hands were as the hands of his brother Esau, hairy; and he blessed him,
24and he said, Are you my son Esau? and he said, I am.
25And he said, Bring hither, and I will eat of your venison, son, that my soul may bless you; and he brought it near to him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank.
26And Isaac his father said to him, Draw near to me, and kiss me, son.
27And he drew near and kissed him, and smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of an abundant field, which the Lord has blessed.
28And may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of corn and wine.
29And let nations serve you, and princes bow down to you, and be you lord of your brother, and the sons of your father shall do you reverence; accursed is he that curses you, and blessed is he that blesses you.
30And it came to pass after Isaac had ceased blessing his son Jacob, it even came to pass, just when Jacob had gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
31And he also had made meats and brought them to his father; and he said to his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me.
32And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your firstborn son Esau.
33And Isaac was amazed with very great amazement, and said, Who then is it that has procured venison for me and brought it to me? and I have eaten of all before you came, and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.
34And it came to pass when Esau heard the words of his father Isaac, he cried out with a great and very bitter cry, and said, Bless, I pray you, me also, father.
35And he said to him, Your brother has come with subtlety, and taken your blessing.
36And he said, Rightly was his name called Jacob, for behold! this second time has he supplanted me; he has both taken my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing; and Esau said to his father, Have you not left a blessing for me, father?
37And Isaac answered and said to Esau, If I have made him your lord, and have made all his brethren his servants, and have strengthened him with corn and wine, what then shall I do for you, son?
38And Esau said to his father, Have you only one blessing, father? Bless, I pray you, me also, father. And Isaac being troubled, Esau cried aloud and wept.
39And Isaac his father answered and said to him, Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.
40And you shall live by your sword, and shall serve your brother; and there shall be a time when you shall break and loosen his yoke from off your neck.
41And Esau was angry with Jacob because of the blessing, with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his mind, Let the days of my father's mourning draw near, that I may kill my brother Jacob.
Proverbs 19.16-25
(Vespers)
16He that keeps the commandment keeps his own soul; but he that despises his ways shall perish.
17He that has pity on the poor lends to the Lord; and he will recompense to him according to his gift.
18Chasten your son, for so he shall be hopeful; and be not exalted in your soul to haughtiness.
19A malicious man shall be severely punished, and if he commit injury, he shall also lose his life.
20Hear, son, the instruction of your father, that you may be wise at your latter end.
21There are many thoughts in a man's heart; but the counsel of the Lord abides for ever.
22Mercy is a fruit to a man: and a poor man is better than a rich liar.
23The fear of the Lord is life to a man: and he shall lodge without fear in places where knowledge is not seen.
24He that unjustly hides his hands in his bosom, will not even bring them up to his mouth.
25When a pestilent character is scourged, a simple man is made wiser: and if you reprove a wise man, he will understand discretion.
James 1.1-12
(Vespers, St Mark)
1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,
3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.
7For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
8He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;
10and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
11For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.
12Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him.
James 1.13-27
(Vespers, St Mark)
13Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.
15Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.
16Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow.
18Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
19So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
20for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.
21Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror;
24for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
26If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
27Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James 2.1-13
(Vespers, St Mark)
1My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality.
2For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in,
3and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”
4haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
6But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts?
7Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?
8However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
9But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.
10For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
11For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
12So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom.
13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.