Isaiah 13.2-13
(6th Hour)
2Lift up a standard on the mountain of the plain, exalt the voice to them, beckon with the hand, open the gates, you⌃ rulers.
3I give command, and I bring them: giants are coming to fulfil my wrath, rejoicing at the same time and insulting.
4A voice of many nations on the mountains, even like to that of many nations; a voice of kings and nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts has given command to a warlike nation,
5to come from a land afar off, from the utmost foundation of heaven; the Lord and his warriors are coming to destroy all the world.
6Howl you⌃, for the day of the Lord is near, and destruction from God shall arrive.
7Therefore every hand shall become powerless, and every soul of man shall be dismayed.
8The elders shall be troubled, and pangs shall seize them, as of a woman in travail: and they shall mourn one to another, and shall be amazed, and shall change their countenance as a flame.
9For behold! the day of the Lord is coming which can’t be escaped, a day of wrath and anger, to make the world desolate, and to destroy sinners out of it.
10For the stars of heaven, and Orion, and all the host of heaven, shall not give their light; and it shall be dark at sunrise, and the moon shall not give her light.
11And I will command evils for the whole world, and will visit their sins on the ungodly: and I will destroy the pride of transgressors, and will bring low the pride of the haughty.
12And they that are left shall be more precious than gold tried in the fire; and a man shall be more precious than the stone that is in Suphir.
13For the heaven shall be enraged, and the earth shall be shaken from her foundation, because of the fierce anger of the Lord of hosts, in the day in which his wrath shall come on.
Genesis 8.4-21
(Vespers)
4And the water continued to decrease until the tenth month.
5And in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the heads of the mountains were seen.
6And it came to pass after forty days Noe opened the window of the ark which he had made.
7And he sent forth a raven; and it went forth and returned not until the water was dried from off the earth.
8And he sent a dove after it to see if the water had ceased from off the earth.
9And the dove not having found rest for her feet, returned to him into the ark, because the water was on all the face of the earth, and he stretched out his hand and took her, and brought her to himself into the ark.
10And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove from the ark.
11And the dove returned to him in the evening, and had a leaf of olive, a sprig in her mouth; and Noe knew that the water had ceased from off the earth.
12And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him again any more.
13And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year of the life of Noe, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water subsided from off the earth, and Noe opened the covering of the ark which he had made, and he saw that the water had subsided from the face of the earth.
14And in the second month the earth was dried, on the twenty-seventh day of the month.
15And the Lord God spoke to Noe, saying,
16Come out from the ark, you and your wife and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.
17And all the wild beasts as many as are with you, and all flesh both of birds and beasts, and every reptile moving upon the earth, bring forth with you: and increase you⌃ and multiply upon the earth.
18And Noe came forth, and his wife and his sons, and his sons' wives with him.
19And all the wild beasts and all the cattle and every bird, and every reptile creeping upon the earth after their kind, came forth out of the ark.
20And Noe built an altar to the Lord, and took of all clean beasts, and of all clean birds, and offered a whole burnt offering upon the altar.
21And the Lord God smelled a smell of sweetness, and the Lord God having considered, said, I will not any more curse the earth, because of the works of men, because the imagination of man is intently bent upon evil things from his youth, I will not therefore any more strike all living flesh as I have done.
Proverbs 10.31-11.12
(Vespers)
31The mouth of the righteous drops wisdom: but the tongue of the unjust shall perish.
32The lips of just men drop grace: but the mouth of the ungodly is perverse.
1False balances are an abomination before the Lord: but a just weight is acceptable to him.
2Wherever pride enters, there will be also disgrace: but the mouth of the lowly meditates wisdom.
3When a just man dies he leaves regret: but the destruction of the ungodly is speedy, and causes joy.
4Possessions will not profit in a day of wrath, but righteousness will deliver from death.
5Righteousness traces out blameless paths: but ungodliness encounters unjust dealing.
6The righteousness of upright men delivers them: but transgressors are caught in their own destruction.
7At the death of a just man his hope does not perish: but the boast of the ungodly perishes.
8A righteous man escapes from a snare, and the ungodly man is delivered up in his place.
9In the mouth of ungodly men is a snare to citizens: but the understanding of righteous men is prosperous.
10In the prosperity of righteous men a city prospers: but by the mouth of ungodly men it is overthrown.
11At the blessing of the upright a city shall be exalted.
12A man void of understanding sneers at his fellow citizens: but a sensible man is quiet.
Hebrews 2.11-18
(Epistle, Theotokos)
11For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
12saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the congregation I will sing your praise.”
13Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.”
14Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring of Abraham.
17Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
18For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
Luke 1.24-38
(Gospel, Theotokos)
24After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying,
25“Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.”
26Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”
29But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be.
30The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’
32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”
34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”
35The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.
36Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”
38Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.