6And he said to me, It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel: behold, I have given you for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the end of the earth.
7Thus says the Lord that delivered you, the God of Israel, Sanctify him that despises his life, him that is abhorred by the nations that are the servants of princes: kings shall behold him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him, for the Lord's sake: for the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you.
8Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I succored you: and I have formed you, and given you for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit the desert heritages:
9saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth; and bidding them that are in darkness show themselves. They shall be fed in all the ways, and in all the paths shall be their pasture.
10They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them; but he that has mercy on them shall comfort them, and by fountains of waters shall he lead them.
Genesis 31.3-16 (Vespers)
3And the Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land of your father, and to your family, and I will be with you.
4And Jacob sent and called Lea and Rachel to the plain where the flocks were.
5And he said to them, I see the face of your father, that it is not toward me as before, but the God of my father was with me.
6And you⌃ too know that with all my might I have served your father.
7But your father deceived me, and changed my wages for the ten lambs, yet God gave him not power to hurt me.
8If he should say thus, The speckled shall be your reward, then all the cattle would bear speckled; and if he should say, The white shall be your reward, then would all the cattle bear white.
9So God has taken away all the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
10And it came to pass when the cattle conceived and were with young, that I saw with my eyes in sleep, and behold the he-goats and the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-colored spots.
11And the angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob; and I said, What is it?
12And he said, Look up with your eyes, and behold the he-goats and the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-colored spots; for I have seen all things that Laban does to you.
13I am God that appeared to you in the place of God where you anointed a pillar to me, and vowed to me there a vow; now then arise and depart out of this land, depart into the land of your nativity, and I will be with you.
14And Rachel and Lea answered and said to him, Have we yet a part or inheritance in the house of our father?
15Are we not considered strangers by him? for he has sold us, and quite devoured our money.
16All the wealth and the glory which God has taken from our father, it shall be our's and our children's; now then do whatever God has said to you.
Proverbs 21.3-21 (Vespers)
3To do justly and to speak truth, are more pleasing to God than the blood of sacrifices.
4A high-minded man is stout-hearted in his pride; and the lamp of the wicked is sin.
6He that gathers treasures with a lying tongue pursues vanity on to the snares of death.
7Destruction shall lodge with the ungodly; for they refuse to do justly.
8To the froward God sends froward ways; for his works are pure and right.
9It is better to dwell in a corner on the house-top, than in plastered rooms with unrighteousness, and in an open house.
10The soul of the ungodly shall not be pitied by any man.
11When an intemperate man is punished the simple becomes wiser: and a wise man understanding will receive knowledge.
12A righteous man understands the hearts of the ungodly: and despises the ungodly for their wickedness.
13He that stops his ears from hearing the poor, himself also shall cry, and there shall be none to hear him.
14A secret gift calms anger: but he that forbears to give stirs up strong wrath.
15It is the joy of the righteous to do judgment: but a holy man is abominable with evil-doers.
16A man that wanders out of the way of righteousness, shall rest in the congregation of giants.
17A poor man loves mirth, loving wine and oil in abundance;
18and a transgressor is the abomination of a righteous man.
19It is better to dwell in a wilderness than with a quarrelsome and talkative and passionate woman.
20A desirable treasure will rest on the mouth of the wise; but foolish men will swallow it up.
21The way of righteousness and mercy will find life and glory.
Isaiah 43.9-14
(Vespers, St George)
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, St George)
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 4.7-15
(Vespers, St George)
7But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest.
8For honorable age is not that which stands in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years.
9But wisdom is the gray hair to men, and an unspotted life is old age.
10He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated.
11Yes speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit decieve his soul.
12For the bewitching of naughtiness does obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence does undermine the simple mind.
13He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time:
14For his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked.
15This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he has respect to his chosen.
Commemorations
St Theodore the Sykeote
He was born in Sykeon in Galatia in Asia Minor. (The Great Horologion says that he was born out of wedlock; the Prologue that his mother, Maria, was a rich widow; in either case, he was reared by his mother alone). At the age of ten, Theodore took up a life of strict asceticism, devoting himself to prayer, fasting and vigils. His mother planned for him to enter the military; but St George appeared to her in a dream, telling her that Theodore was to serve the King of Heaven rather than any earthly king. After this, Saint George appeared to Theodore many times, sometimes instructing him, sometimes saving him from danger. After a trip to the Holy Land, Theodore became a monk in Galatia — we should say “officially became a monk,” since he had been living as a monk from the age of ten. Once he had taken monastic vows, Theodore redoubled his ascetical labors, which exceeded those of any other monk of his time: for his asceticism, he was sometimes called the “Iron-eater.” Around 584 was ordained Bishop of Anastasiopolis in Galatia, much against his will. He served his flock faithfully for ten years, then begged to be relieved of his episcopal duties so that he might return to his beloved monastic life. Even during his lifetime, he was famed for his miracles and his authority to cast out demons. He departed this life in peace in 613.
Holy Martyr Leonidas (202)
He was the father of Origen, the great early Christian writer. For his constant faith in Christ, he was first deprived of all his property, then condemned to death. Origen wrote to his father in prison: “Father, do not worry about us, and do not flee from martyrdom on our account.”