5Thus says the Lord God, who made the heaven, and established it; who settled the earth, and the things in it, and gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to them that tread on it:
6I the Lord God have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will strengthen you: and I have given you for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles:
7to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the bound and them that sit in darkness out of bonds and the prison-house.
8I am the Lord God: that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images.
9Behold, the ancient things have come to pass, and so will the new things which I tell you: yes, before I tell them they are made known to you.
10Sing a new hymn to the Lord: you⌃ who are his dominion, glorify his name from the end of the earth: you⌃ that go down to the sea, and sail upon it; the islands, and they that dwell in them.
11Rejoice, you wilderness, and the villages thereof, the hamlets, and the dwellers in Kedar: the inhabitants of the rock shall rejoice, they shall shout from the top of the mountains.
12They shall give glory to God, and shall proclaim his praises in the islands.
13The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and crush the war: he shall stir up jealousy, and shall shout mightily against his enemies.
14I have been silent: shall I also always be silent and forbear: I have endured like a travailing woman: I will now amaze and wither at once.
15I will make desolate mountains and hills, and will dry up all their grass; and I will make the rivers islands, and dry up the pools.
16And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, and I will cause them to tread paths which they have not known: I will turn darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight. These things will I do, and will not forsake them.
Genesis 18.20-33 (Vespers)
20And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha has been increased towards me, and their sins are very great.
21I will therefore go down and see, if they completely correspond with the cry which comes to me, and if not, that I may know.
22And the men having departed thence, came to Sodom; and Abraam was still standing before the Lord.
23And Abraam drew near and said, Wouldest you destroy the righteous with the wicked, and shall the righteous be as the wicked?
24Should there be fifty righteous in the city, will you destroy them? will you not spare the whole place for the sake of the fifty righteous, if they be in it?
25By no means shall you do as this thing is so as to destroy the righteous with the wicked, so the righteous shall be as the wicked: by no means. You that judge the whole earth, shall you not do right?
26And the Lord said, If there should be in Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole city, and the whole place for their sakes.
27And Abraam answered and said, Now I have begun to speak to my Lord, and I am earth and ashes.
28But if the fifty righteous should be diminished to forty-five, will you destroy the whole city because of the five lacking? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there forty-five.
29And he continued to speak to him still, and said, But if there should be found there forty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the forty's sake.
30And he said, Will there be anything against me, Lord, if I shall speak? but if there be found there thirty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the thirty's sake.
31And he said, Since I am able to speak to the Lord, what if there should be found there twenty? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there twenty.
32And he said, Will there be anything against me, Lord, if I speak yet once? but if there should be found there ten? And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake.
33And the Lord departed, when he left off speaking to Abraam, and Abraam returned to his place.
Proverbs 16.17-17.17 (Vespers)
17The paths of life turn aside from evil; and the ways of righteousness are length of life. He that receives instruction shall be in prosperity; and he that regards reproofs shall be made wise. He that keeps his ways, preserves his own soul; and he that loves his life will spare his mouth.
18Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall.
19Better is a meek-spirited man with lowliness, than one who divides spoils with the proud.
20He who is skillful in business finds good: but he that trusts in God is most blessed.
21Men call the wise and understanding evil: but they that are pleasing in speech shall hear more.
22Understanding is a fountain of life to its possessors; but the instruction of fools is evil.
23The heart of the wise will discern the things which proceed from his own mouth; and on his lips he will wear knowledge.
24Good words are honeycombs, and the sweetness thereof is a healing of the soul.
25There are ways that seem to be right to a man, but the end of them looks to the depth of hell.
26A man who labors, labors for himself, and drives from him his own ruin.
27But the perverse bears destruction upon his own mouth: a foolish man digs up evil for himself, and treasures fire on his own lips.
28A perverse man spreads mischief, and will kindle a torch of deceit with mischiefs; and he separates friends.
29A transgressor tries to ensnare friends, and leads them in ways that are not good.
30And the man that fixes his eyes devises perverse things, and marks out with his lips all evil: he is a furnace of wickedness.
31Old age is a crown of honor, but it is found in the ways of righteousness.
32A man slow to anger is better than a strong man; and he that governs his temper better than he that takes a city.
33All evils come upon the ungodly into their bosoms; but all righteous things come of the Lord.
1Better is a morsel with pleasure in peace, than a house full of many good things and unjust sacrifices, with strife.
2A wise servant shall have rule over foolish masters, and shall divide portions among brethren.
3As silver and gold are tried in a furnace, so are choice hearts with the Lord.
4A bad man hearkens to the tongue of transgressors: but a righteous man attends not to false lips.
5He that laughs at the poor provokes him that made him; and he that rejoices at the destruction of another shall not be held guiltless: but he that has compassion shall find mercy.
6Children's children are the crown of old men; and their fathers are the glory of children. The faithful has the whole world full of wealth; but the faithless not even a farthing.
7Faithful lips will not suit a fool; nor lying lips a just man.
8Instruction is to them that use it a gracious reward; and wherever it may turn, it shall prosper.
9He that conceals injuries seeks love; but he that hates to hide them separates friends and kindred.
10A threat breaks down the heart of a wise man; but a fool, though scourged, understands not.
11Every bad man stirs up strifes: but the Lord will send out against him an unmerciful messenger.
12Care may befall a man of understanding; but fools will meditate evils.
13Whoso rewards evil for good, evil shall not be removed from his house.
14Rightful rule gives power to words; but sedition and strife precede poverty.
15He that pronounces the unjust just, and the just unjust, is unclean and abominable with God.
16Why has the fool wealth? for a senseless man will not be able to purchase wisdom. He that exalts his own house seeks ruin; and he that turns aside from instruction shall fall into mischief.
17Have you a friend for every time, and let brethren be useful in distress; for on this account are they born.
Commemorations
Hieromartyr Artemon, Presbyter of Laodicea
At the time of Diocletian’s persecutions, he was a very old man, having served as a reader for sixteen years, then a deacon for twenty-eight years, and finally as a priest for thirty years, for a total of seventy-four years. The pagan judge put him in the Temple of Aesculapius, where large snakes were kept and worshiped as gods. Though the judge meant for Artemon to be attacked by the snakes, the holy priest immobilized them with the sign of the Cross, brought them out of the temple and, in front of the pagan priests, breathed on the snakes, which died instantly. The chief priest, Vitalis, fell to his knees and cried ‘Great is the Christian God!’ Artemon baptised him along with several of his friends.
The unrepentant judge then condemned Artemon to be thrown into burning pitch, but the judge himself was thrown off his horse into the pitch and died. After this, Artemon went free for a time and spent his time teaching the Faith to his people (“accompanied always by two tame deer,” says St Nikolia Velimirovic!). But he was arrested again and beheaded in the year 303.
St Martin the Confessor, pope of Rome (655)
“Martin became Pope on July 5th, 649, at the time of a furious quarrel between the Orthodox and the Monothelite heretics. Constans the Second, Heraclius’ grandson, was on the throne at the time, and Paul was Patriarch of Constantinople. To restore peace in the Church, the Emperor himself wrote a dogmatic decree, the Typos, which leaned heavily towards heresy. Pope Martin summoned a Council of 105 bishops, at which the Emperor’s statement was condemned. At the same time, the Pope wrote a letter to Patriarch Paul, begging him to uphold the purity of the Orthodox faith and to counsel the Emperor to reject the theories of the heretics. This letter infuriated both the Patriarch and the Emperor. The Emperor sent one of his generals, Olympius, to take the Pope to Constantinople in bonds. The general did not dare to bind the Pope with his own hands, but instructed one of his soldiers to kill him with the sword in church. But, when the soldier entered the church with his sword concealed, he was instantly blinded. So, by the providence of God, Martin escaped death. At that time, the Saracens fell upon Sicily, and Olympius went off there, where he died. Then, by the intrigues of the heretic Patriarch Paul, the Emperor sent a second general, Theodore, to bind and take the Pope on the charge that he, the Pope, was in collusion with the Saracens and that he did not reverence the most holy Mother of God. [!!] When the general arrived in Rome and read the accusation against the Pope, he replied that it was a libel; that he had no contact of any sort with the Saracens, the opponents of Christianity, ‘and whoever does not confess the most holy Mother of God and do her reverence, let him be damned in this age and in that which is to come.’ But this did not affect the general’s decision. The Pope was bound and taken to Constantinople, where he lay long in prison in great sickness, tortured by both anxiety and hunger, until he was finally sentenced to exile in Cherson, where he lived for two years before his death. He gave his soul into the hands of the Lord, for whom he had suffered so greatly, in 655. The evil Patriarch, Paul,died two years before him and, when the Emperor visited him on his deathbed, he smote his head against the wall, confessing with tears that he had greatly sinned against Pope Martin and asking the Emperor to set Martin free.’ (Prologue)