2And in that day God shall shine gloriously in counsel on the earth, to exalt and glorify the remnant of Israel.
3And it shall be, that the remnant left in Sion, and the remnant left in Jerusalem, even all that are appointed to life in Jerusalem, shall be called holy.
4For the Lord shall wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Sion, and shall purge out the blood from the midst of them, with the spirit of judgment, and the spirit of burning.
5And he shall come, and it shall be with regard to every place of mount Sion, yes, all the region round about it shall a cloud overshadow by day, and there shall be as it were the smoke and light of fire burning by night: and upon all the glory shall be a defence.
6And it shall be for a shadow from the heat, and as a shelter and a hiding place from inclemency of weather and from rain.
1Now I will sing to my beloved a song of my beloved concerning my vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a high hill in a fertile place.
2And I made a hedge round it, and dug a trench, and planted a choice vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and dug a place for the wine-vat in it: and I waited for it to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth thorns.
3And now, you⌃ dwellers in Jerusalem, and every man of Juda, judge between me and my vineyard.
4What shall I do any more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? Whereas I expected it to bring forth grapes, but it has brought forth thorns.
5And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for a spoil; and I will pull down its walls, and it shall be left to be trodden down.
6And I will forsake my vineyard; and it shall not be pruned, nor dug, and thorns shall come up upon it as on barren land; and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it.
7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Juda his beloved plant: I expected it to bring forth judgment, and it brought forth iniquity; and not righteousness, but a cry.
Genesis 3.21-4.7 (Vespers)
21And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin, and clothed them.
22And God said, Behold, Adam is become as one of us, to know good and evil, and now lest at any time he stretch forth his hand, and take of the tree of life and eat, and so he shall live forever—
23So the Lord God sent him forth out of the garden of Delight to cultivate the ground out of which he was taken.
24And he cast out Adam and caused him to dwell over against the garden of Delight, and stationed the cherubs and the fiery sword that turns about to keep the way of the tree of life.
1And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and brought forth Cain and said, I have gained a man through God.
2And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3And it was so after some time that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to the Lord.
4And Abel also brought of the first born of his sheep and of his fatlings, and God looked upon Abel and his gifts,
5but Cain and his sacrifices he regarded not, and Cain was exceedingly sorrowful and his countenance fell.
6And the Lord God said to Cain, Why are you become very sorrowful and why is your countenance fallen?
7Have you not sinned if you have brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? be still, to you shall be his submission, and you shall rule over him.
Proverbs 3.34-4.22 (Vespers)
34The Lord resists the proud; but he gives grace to the humble.
35The wise shall inherit glory; but the ungodly have exalted their own dishonor.
1Hear, you⌃ children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
2For I give you a good gift; forsake you⌃ not my law.
3For I also was a son obedient to my father, and loved in the sight of my mother:
4who spoke and instructed me, saying, Let our speech be fixed in your heart, keep our commandments, forget them not:
5and do not neglect the speech of my mouth.
6And forsake it not, and it shall cleave to you: love it, and it shall keep you.
8Secure it, and it shall exalt you: honor it, that it may embrace you;
9that it may give to your head a crown of graces, and may cover you with a crown of delight.
10Hear, my son, and receive my words; and the years of your life shall be increased, that the resources of your life may be many.
11For I teach you the ways of wisdom; and I cause you to go in right paths.
12For when you go, your steps shall not be straitened; and when you run, you shall not be distressed.
13Take hold of my instruction; let it not go, —but keep it for yourself for your life.
14Go not in the ways of the ungodly, neither covet the ways of transgressors.
15In whatever place they shall pitch their camp, go not there; but turn from them, and pass away.
16For they can’t sleep, unless they have done evil: their sleep is taken away, and they rest not.
17For these live upon the bread of ungodliness, and are drunken with wine of transgression.
18But the ways of the righteous shine like light; they go on and shine, until the day be fully come.
19But the ways of the ungodly are dark; they know not how they stumble.
20My son, attend to my speech; and apply your ear to my words:
21that your fountains may not fail you; keep them in your heart.
22For they are life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
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.