8Thus says the Lord, As a grape-stone shall be found in the cluster, and they shall say, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for the sake of him that serves me, for his sake I will not destroy them all.
9And I will lead forth the seed that came of Jacob and of Juda, and they shall inherit my holy mountain: and my elect and my servants shall inherit it, and shall dwell there.
10And there shall be in the forest folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor shall be for a resting-place of herds for my people, who have sought me.
11But you⌃ are they that have left me, and forget my holy mountain, and prepare a table for the devil, and fill up the drink-offering to Fortune.
12I will deliver you up to the sword, you⌃ shall all fall by slaughter: for I called you, and you⌃ listened not; I spoke, and you⌃ refused to hear; and you⌃ did evil in my sight, and chose the things wherein I delighted not.
13Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, my servants shall eat, but you⌃ shall hunger: behold, my servants shall drink, but you⌃ shall thirst: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you⌃ shall be ashamed:
14behold, my servants shall exult with joy, but you⌃ shall cry for the sorrow of your heart, and shall howl for the vexation of your spirit.
15For you⌃ shall leave your name for a loathing to my chosen, and the Lord shall destroy you: but my servants shall be called by a new name,
16which shall be blessed on the earth; for they shall bless the true God: and they that swear upon the earth shall swear by the true God; for they shall forget the former affliction, it shall not come into their mind.
Genesis 46.1-7 (Vespers)
1And Israel departed, he and all that he had, and came to the well of the oath; and he offered sacrifice to the God of his father Isaac.
2And God spoke to Israel in a night vision, saying, Jacob, Jacob; and he said, What is it?
3And he says to him, I am the God of your fathers; fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will make you there a great nation.
4And I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will bring you up at the end; and Joseph shall put his hands on your eyes.
5And Jacob rose up from the well of the oath; and the sons of Israel took up their father, and the baggage, and their wives on the wagons, which Joseph sent to take them.
6And they took up their goods, and all their property, which they had gotten in the land of Chanaan; they came into the land of Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him.
7The sons, and the sons of his sons with him; his daughters, and the daughters of his daughters; and he brought all his seed into Egypt.
Proverbs 23.15-24.5 (Vespers)
15Son, if your heart be wise, you shall also gladden my heart;
16and your lips shall converse with my lips, if they be right.
17Let not your heart envy sinners: but be you in the fear of the Lord all the day.
18For if you should keep these things, you shall have posterity; and your hope shall not be removed.
19Hear, my son, and be wise, and rightly direct the thoughts of your heart.
20Be not a wine-bibber, neither continue long at feasts, and purchases of flesh:
21for every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; and every sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
22Listen, my son, to your father which begot you, and despise not your mother because she is grown old.
24A righteous father brings up his children well; and his soul rejoices over a wise son.
25Let your father and your mother rejoice over you, and let her that bore you be glad.
26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; and a strange well is narrow.
28For such a one shall perish suddenly; and every transgressor shall be cut off.
29Who has woe? who trouble? who has quarrels? and who vexations and disputes? who has bruises without a cause? whose eyes are livid?
30Are not those of them that stay long at wine? are not those of them that haunt the places where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, and converse with them openly.
31For if you should set your eyes on bowls and cups, you shall afterwards go more naked than a pestle.
32But at last such a one stretches himself out as one struck by a serpent, and venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.
33Whenever your eyes shall behold a strange woman, then your mouth shall speak perverse things.
34And you shall lie as in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a great storm.
35And you shall say, They struck me, and I was not pained; and they mocked me, and I knew it not: when will it be morning, that I may go and seek those with whom I may go in company?
1My son, envy not bad men, nor desire to be with them.
2For their heart meditates falsehoods, and their lips speak mischiefs.
3A house is built by wisdom, and is set up by understanding.
4By discretion the chambers are filled with all precious and excellent wealth.
5A wise man is better than a strong man; and a man who has prudence than a large estate.
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.
Commemorations
Martyr Sabbas Stratelates
He came from a noble Gothic family. Like St George, he was an officer in the imperial army. He lived a life of great purity, fasted greatly, and often visited imprisoned Christians. Because of this his Christian faith became known, and when he was summoned before the Emperor, he boldly confessed his faith. He was tortured in many ways, but emerged unharmed. Seeing this miracle, seventy of his fellow-soldiers confessed Christ and were beheaded at the Emperor’s command. Sabbas himself was condemned to death by drowning, and gave his soul to God in 272.