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.

Isaiah 43.9-14 (Vespers, Martyrs)

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, Martyrs)

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 5.15-6.3 (Vespers, Martyrs)

15But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. 16Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them. 17He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armor, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies. 18He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet. 19He shall take holiness for an invincible shield. 20His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise. 21Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark. 22And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them. 23Yes, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.

1Hear therefore, O you⌃ kings, and understand; learn, you⌃ that be judges of the ends of the earth. 2Give ear, you⌃ that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations. 3For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.

St Theophylactus, Bishop of Nicomedia

“Theophylact was from the east; his native city is unknown. In Constantinople he became a close friend of Tarasius, who afterwards became Patriarch of Constantinople (see Feb. 25). Theophylact was made Bishop of Nicomedia. After the death of Saint Tarasius, his successor Nicephorus (see June 2) called together a number of Bishops to help him in fighting the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo the Armenian, who reigned from 813 to 820. Among them was Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis (celebrated Dec. 26), who had attended the holy Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 — he was exiled three times for the sake of the holy icons, and for defying the Emperor Theophilus’ command to renounce the veneration of the icons, was scourged from head to foot until his whole body was one great wound, from which he died eight days later, about the year 830; Joseph of Thessalonica (see July 14); Michael of Synnada (see May 23); Emilian, Bishop of Cyzicus (see Aug. 8); and Saint Theophylact, who boldly rebuked Leo to his face, telling him that because he despised the long-suffering of God, utter destruction was about to overtake him, and there would be none to deliver him. For this, Theophylact was exiled to the fortress of Strobilus in Karia of Asia Minor, where after 30 years of imprisonment and hardship, he gave up his holy soul about the year 845. Leo the Armenian, according to the Saint’s prophecy, was slain in church on the eve of our Lord’s Nativity, in 820.” (Great Horologion)

Hieromartyr Theodoretus (362)

The priest Theodoretus was custodian of a great cathedral in Antioch, built by the Emperor Constantine and known in its time as ‘the golden church’ for the beauty and luxury of its appointments. When Julian the Apostate came to the throne, he denied Christ and launched a persecution of Christians. The Emperor’s uncle, also named Julian, came to Antioch to prosecute the persecution there. After plundering the church he brought Theodoretus to trial and demanded that he deny Christ. Instead, the faithful priest confessed Christ fervently and rebuked the Emperor for having denied the faith and returned to idol-worship ‘as a dog returns to its vomit.’ In spite, the judge urinated in the golden church, for which Theodoretus prophesied that he would die a terrible death. Theodoretus was beheaded, and Julian his judge was seized with terrible abdominal pain from the moment he defiled the church until he died in torment.

Note: Theodoretus is commemorated on March 3 in the Greek Calendar.