Isaiah 28.14-22 (6th Hour)

14Therefore hear you⌃ the word of the Lord, you⌃ afflicted men, and you⌃ princes of this people that is in Jerusalem. 15Because you⌃ have said, We have made a covenant with Hades, and agreements with death; if the rushing storm should pass, it shall not come upon us: we have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood shall we be protected: 16Therefore thus says the Lord, even the Lord, Behold, I lay for the foundations of Sion a costly stone, a choice, a corner-stone, a precious stone, for its foundations; and he that believes on him shall by no means be ashamed. 17And I will cause judgment to be for hope, and my compassion shall be for just measures, and you⌃ that trust vainly in falsehood shall fall: for the storm shall by no means pass by you, 18except it also take away your covenant of death, and your trust in Hades shall by no means stand: if the rushing storm should come upon you, you⌃ shall be beaten down by it. 19Whenever it shall pass by, it shall take you; morning by morning it shall pass by in the day, and in the night there shall be an evil hope. Learn to hear, 20you⌃ that are distressed; we can’t fight, but we are ourselves too weak for you to be gathered. 21The Lord shall rise up as a mountain of ungodly men, and shall be in the valley of Gabaon; he shall perform his works with wrath, even a work of bitterness, and his wrath shall deal strangely, and his destruction shall be strange. 22Therefore do not you⌃ rejoice, neither let your bands be made strong; for I have heard of works finished and cut short by the Lord of hosts, which he will execute upon all the earth.

Genesis 10.32-11.9 (Vespers)

32These are the tribes of the sons of Noe, according to their generations, according to their nations: of them were the islands of the Gentiles scattered over the earth after the flood.

1And all the earth was one lip, and there was one language to all. 2And it came to pass as they moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Senaar, and they lived there. 3And a man said to his neighbor, Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire. And the brick was to them for stone, and their mortar was bitumen. 4And they said, Come, let us build to ourselves a city and tower, whose top shall be to heaven, and let us make to ourselves a name, before we are scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth. 5And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men built. 6And the Lord said, Behold, there is one race, and one lip of all, and they have begun to do this, and now nothing shall fail from them of all that they may have undertaken to do. 7Come, and having gone down let us there confound their tongue, that they may not understand each the voice of his neighbor. 8And the Lord scattered them thence over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city and the tower. 9On this account its name was called Confusion, because there the Lord confounded the languages of all the earth, and thence the Lord scattered them upon the face of all the earth.

Proverbs 13.19-14.6 (Vespers)

19The desires of the godly gladden the soul, but the works of the ungodly are far from knowledge. 20If you walk with wise men you shall be wise: but he that walks with fools shall be known. 21Evil shall pursue sinners; but good shall overtake the righteous. 22A good man shall inherit children's children; and the wealth of ungodly men is laid up for the just. 23The righteous shall spend many years in wealth: but the unrighteous shall perish suddenly. 24He that spares the rod hates his son: but he that loves, carefully chastens him. 25A just man eats and satisfies his soul: but the souls of the ungodly are in lack.

1Wise women build houses: but a foolish one digs hers down with her hands. 2He that walks uprightly fears the Lord; but he that is perverse in his ways shall be dishonored. 3Out of the mouth of fools comes a rod of pride; but the lips of the wise preserve them. 4Where no oxen are, the cribs are clean; but where there is abundant produce, the strength of the ox is apparent. 5A faithful witness does not lie; but an unjust witness kindles falsehoods. 6You shall seek wisdom with bad men, and shall not find it; but discretion is easily available with the prudent.

Martyrs Agathopedes, Theodulus and Their Companions

Agathopous was a deacon, very old, and Theodoulos a reader, very young, in the church in Thessalonica. During Diocletian’s persecution the two were summoned to trial. They went joyfully, holding one another by the hand and exclaiming to all, ‘We are Christians!’ After flattery, cajolery, threats, imprisonment and starvation had failed to make them deny Christ, they were condemned to death by drowning. They were bound and a large stone tied to their necks; as they were about to be thrown into the sea, Agathopous cried, ‘Behold, by a second baptism we are washed from our sins, and will go cleansed to Christ Jesus!’ Their drowned bodies were soon washed ashore, and Christians gave them honorable burial. Not long afterward, Theodoulos appeared to his brethren in the form of a shining angel and told them to give all his goods to the poor.

Our Holy Father Mark of Trache (ca. 400)

He is also called ‘Mark the Athenian’ because he was born in Athens. When his parents died, he pondered the transience of all earthly things, gave his goods to the poor, and embarked on a plank in the sea, asking God to lead him wherever He desired. By God’s providence, Mark was cast up on the shores of Libya, where he settled as a hermit on a mountain called Trache. (Some say it was in Ethiopia, but this seems less likely.) There he lived for ninety-five years, never seeing another human being.

Saint Serapion visited him before his death and recorded his life. Serapion asked Mark if there were any Christians whose faith was so great that they could say to a mountain ‘Get up and cast yourself into the sea,’ and it would be so. Immediately the mountain on which they stood began to move like a wave, but Mark raised his hand and stilled it.

On his deathbed, St Mark prayed for the salvation of all men and gave up his soul to God. Saint Serapion saw an angel carrying Mark’s soul, and a hand extended from heaven to receive it. Saint Mark was about 130 years old when he reposed.