14And Abram having heard that Lot his nephew had been taken captive, numbered his own home-born servants three hundred and eighteen, and pursued after them to Dan.
15And he came upon them by night, he and his servants, and he struck them and pursued them as far as Choba, which is on the left of Damascus.
16And he recovered all the cavalry of Sodom, and he recovered Lot his nephew, and all his possessions, and the women and the people.
17And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chodollogomor, and the kings with him, to the valley of Saby; this was the plain of the kings.
18And Melchisedec king of Salem brought forth loaves and wine, and he was the priest of the most high God.
19And he blessed Abram, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, who made heaven and earth,
20and blessed be the most high God who delivered your enemies into your power. And Abram gave him the tithe of all.
Deuteronomy 1.8-11, 15-17
(Vespers, Fathers)
8Behold, God has delivered the land before you; go in and inherit the land, which I swore to your fathers, Abraam, and Isaac, and Jacob, to give it to them and to their seed after them.
9And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I shall not be able by myself to bear you.
10The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you⌃ are today as the stars of heaven for multitude.
11The Lord God of your fathers add to you a thousand-fold more than you are, and bless you as he has spoken to you.
15So I took of you wise and understanding and prudent men, and I set them to rule over you as rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, and rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and officers to your judges.
16And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear causes between your brethren, and judge rightly between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17You shall not have respect to persons in judgment, you shall judge small and great equally; you shall not shrink from before the person of a man, for the judgment is God's; and whatever matter shall be too hard for you, you⌃ shall bring it to me, and I will hear it.
Deuteronomy 10.14-21
(Vespers, Fathers)
14Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth and all things that are in it.
15Only the Lord chose your fathers to love them, and he chose out their seed after them, even you, beyond all nations, as at this day.
16Therefore you⌃ shall circumcise the hardness of your heart, and you⌃ shall not harden your neck.
17For the Lord your God, he is God of gods, and the Lord of lords, the great, and strong, and terrible God, who does not accept persons, nor will he by any means accept a bribe:
18executing judgment for the stranger and orphan and widow, and he loves the stranger to give him food and raiment.
19And you⌃ shall love the stranger; for you⌃ were strangers in the land of Egypt.
20You shall fear the Lord your God, and serve him, and shall cleave to him, and shall swear by his name.
21He is your boast, and he is your God, who has wrought in the midst of you these great and glorious things, which your eyes have seen.
Luke 24.36-53
(6th Matins Gospel)
36As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”
37But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”
40When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
42They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.
43He took them, and ate in front of them.
44He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning me must be fulfilled.”
45Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.
46He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48You are witnesses of these things.
49Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”
50He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
51While he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.
52They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Romans 12.6-14 (Epistle)
6having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us: if prophecy, let’s prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;
7or service, let’s give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching;
8or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.
10In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor prefer one another,
11not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord,
12rejoicing in hope, enduring in troubles, continuing steadfastly in prayer,
13contributing to the needs of the saints, and given to hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse.
Hebrews 13.7-16
(Epistle, Fathers)
7Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.
8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
9Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.
10We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat.
11For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.
12Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate.
13Let’s therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach.
14For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come.
15Through him, then, let’s offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.
16But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Matthew 9.1-8 (Gospel)
1He entered into a boat and crossed over, and came into his own city.
2Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you.”
3Behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes.”
4Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
5For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?
6But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—” (then he said to the paralytic), “Get up, and take up your mat, and go to your house.”
7He arose and departed to his house.
8But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
John 17.1-13
(Gospel, Fathers)
1Jesus said these things, then lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
2even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
4I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
5Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
6“I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.
7Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
8for the words which you have given me I have given to them; and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
9I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. I have kept those whom you have given me. None of them is lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
Commemorations
Martyr Emilian of Silistria
He was from the town of Dorostolon in Thrace and during the reign of Julian the Apostate became a servant of the governor in that region. Before the time of his martyrdom he was a secret Christian. An imperial legate arrived in the town with orders to seize all Christians, but failed to find any; to show his pleasure he ordered a great feast for the whole town, complete with sacrifices to the pagan gods. On the night before the appointed feast, Emilian went around the town and smashed all the idols with a hammer. The following day there was an uproar, and an innocent villager was seized and charged with the crime. Emilian, seeing this, said to himself ‘If I conceal my action, what sort of use has it been? Shall I not stand before God as the slayer of an innocent man?’ So he presented himself to the legate and confessed what he had done. When the furious official asked Emilian on whose orders he had acted, Emilian replied ‘God and my soul commanded me to destroy those dead pillars that you call gods.’ As punishment, Emilian was subjected to many tortures and finally burned alive.
St Pambo, hermit of Egypt (374? 386?)
Abba Pambo was a contemporary of St Anthony the Great and one of the greatest of the Desert Fathers. He would only eat bread which he had earned by his own labors, plaiting baskets and mats out of reeds. In his later years, he became in appearance like an angel of God: his face shone so that the monks could not look on it. Through long ascetic labor, he was enabled to control his tongue so that no unnecessary word ever passed his lips. He never gave an immediate answer to even the simplest question, but always prayed and pondered on the question first. Once, when Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, was visiting the monks, they begged Abba Pambo to give the Patriarch a word. He answered: ‘If my silence is no help to him, neither will my words be.’ He reposed in peace, some say in 374, others in 386.