13And the Lord has said, This people draw near to me with their mouth, and they honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.
14Therefore behold I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them: and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding of the prudent.
15Woe to them that deepen their counsel, and not by the Lord. Woe to them that take secret counsel, and whose works are in darkness, and they say, Who has seen us? and who shall know us, or what we do?
16Shall you⌃ not be counted as clay of the potter? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, You did not form me? or the work to the maker, You have not made me wisely?
17Is it not yet a little while, and Libanus shall be changed as the mountains of Chermel, and Chermel shall be reckoned as a forest?
18And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and they that are in darkness, and they that are in mist: the eyes of the blind shall see,
19and the poor shall rejoice with joy because of the Lord, and they that had no hope among men shall be filled with joy.
20The lawless man has come to nothing, and the proud man has perished, and they that transgress mischievously have been utterly destroyed:
21and they that cause men to sin by a word: and men shall make all that reprove in the gates an offense, because they have unjustly turned aside the righteous.
22Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the house of Jacob, whom he set apart from Abraam, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall he now change countenance.
23But when their children shall have seen my works, they shall sanctify my name for my sake, and they sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
Genesis 12.1-7 (Vespers)
1And the Lord said to Abram, Go forth out of your land and out of your kindred, and out of the house of your father, and come into the land which I will show you.
2And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and magnify your name, and you shall be blessed.
3And I will bless those that bless you, and curse those that curse you, and in you shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.
4And Abram went as the Lord spoke to him, and Lot departed with him, and Abram was seventy-five years old, when he went out of Charrhan.
5And Abram took Sara his wife, and Lot the son of his brother, and all their possessions, as many as they had got, and every soul which they had got in Charrhan, and they went forth to go into the land of Chanaan.
6And Abram traversed the land lengthwise as far as the place Sychem, to the high oak, and the Chananites then inhabited the land.
7And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, I will give this land to your seed. And Abram built an altar there to the Lord who appeared to him.
Proverbs 14.15-26 (Vespers)
15The simple believes every word: but the prudent man betakes himself to afterthought.
16A wise man fears, and departs from evil; but the fool trusts in himself, and joins himself with the transgressor.
17A passionate man acts inconsiderately; but a sensible man bears up under many things.
18Fools shall have mischief for their portion; but the prudent shall take fast hold of understanding.
19Evil men shall fall before the good; and the ungodly shall attend at the gates of the righteous.
20Friends will hate poor friends; but the friends of the rich are many.
21He that dishonors the needy sins: but he that has pity on the poor is most blessed.
22They that go astray devise evils: but the good devise mercy and truth. The framers of evil do not understand mercy and truth: but compassion and faithfulness are with the framers of good.
23With every one who is careful there is abundance: but the pleasure-taking and indolent shall be in lack.
24A prudent man is the crown of the wise: but the occupation of fools is evil.
25A faithful witness shall deliver a soul from evil: but a deceitful man kindles falsehoods.
26In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and he leaves his children a support.
Hebrews 2.11-18
(Epistle, Theotokos)
11For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
12saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the congregation I will sing your praise.”
13Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.”
14Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring of Abraham.
17Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
18For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
Luke 1.24-38
(Gospel, Theotokos)
24After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying,
25“Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”
26Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”
29But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be.
30The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’
32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”
34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”
35The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.
36Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”
38Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Commemorations
Leavetaking of Annunciation
Each of the Great Feasts of the Church is followed by a commemoration of some holy one who figures in the events of the Feast. So, today we commemorate the Holy Archangel Gabriel, who brought the glad news of the conception of Christ to Mary, the Theotokos. The Prologue gives the following teaching:
“The herald of the incarnation of the Son of God, he is one of the seven great angels who stand before the throne of God. He revealed to Zacharias the birth of the Forerunner, and said of himself: ‘I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God’ (Lk. 1:19). His name, Gabriel, signifies ‘man of God’. Speaking about the Annunciation, the holy Fathers comment that an angel with such a name was sent to signify who He was, and of what nature He was, who would be born of the most pure Virgin. He would be the Man of God, the Man-God, the strong and mighty God. Others have found that it was this same Gabriel who announced the conception of the Virgin Mary to Joachim and Anna, and that it was he who taught Moses in the wilderness to write the Book of Genesis. The holy Fathers consider that Gabriel belongs to the foremost and highest order of the heavenly powers, the seraphim, since the seraphim stand closest to God. And so he is one of the seven seraphim closest to God. The names of these seven are: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selathiel, Jegudiel and Barachiel. Some would add Jeremiel to this number. Each has his own particular service, but all are equal in honour. Why did God not send Michael? For the reason that Michael’s service is the suppression of the enemies of God’s truth, while Gabriel’s is the annunciation of the salvation of the human race.”
Synaxis of Archangel Gabriel
On this day all the many visitations and miracles of the holy Archangel, recorded in Holy Scripture and ever since, are commemorated. This feast duplicates the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel that is celebrated on March 26, the day after Annunciation; it is thought that it was added to the calendar here some time in the ninth century, so that it could be celebrated more festively outside of Great Lent.