1The vision which Esaias the son of Amos saw, which he saw against Juda, and against Jerusalem, in the reign of Ozias, and Joatham, and Achaz, and Ezekias, who reigned over Judea.
2Hear, O heaven, and listen, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, saying, I have begotten and reared up children, but they have rebelled against me.
3The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel does not know me, and the people has not regarded me.
4Ah sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, lawless children: you⌃ have forsaken the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
5Why should you⌃ be struck any more, transgressing more and more? the whole head is pained, and the whole heart sad.
6From the feet to the head, there is no soundness in them; neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering ulcer are healed: it is not possible to apply a plaister, nor oil, nor bandages.
7Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is made desolate, overthrown by strange nations.
8The daughter of Sion shall be deserted as a tent in a vineyard, and as a storehouse of fruits in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9And if the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been made like Gomorrha.
10Hear the word of the Lord, you⌃ rulers of Sodoma; attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrha.
11Of what value to me is the abundance of your sacrifices? says the Lord: I am full of whole burnt offerings of rams; and I delight not in the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats:
12neither shall you⌃ come with these to appear before me; for who has required these things at your hands? You⌃ shall no more tread my court.
13Though you⌃ bring fine flour, it is vain; incense is an abomination to me; I can’t bear your new moons, and your sabbaths, and the great day;
14your fasting, and rest from work, your new moons also, and your feasts my soul hates: you⌃ have become loathsome to me; I will no more pardon your sins.
15When you⌃ stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and though you⌃ make many supplications, I will not listen to you; for your hands are full of blood.
16Wash you, be clean; remove your iniquities from your souls before my eyes; cease from your iniquities;
17learn to do well; diligently seek judgment, deliver him that is suffering wrong, plead for the orphan, and obtain justice for the widow.
18And come, let us reason together, says the Lord: and though your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow; and though they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool.
19And if you⌃ be willing, and listen to me, you⌃ shall eat the good of the land:
20but if you⌃ be not willing, nor listen to me, a sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.
Genesis 1.1-13 (Vespers)
1In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.
2But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water.
3And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.
4And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness.
5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so.
7And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament.
8And God called the firmament Heaven, and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9And God said, Let the water which is under the heaven be collected into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And the water which was under the heaven was collected into its places, and the dry land appeared.
10And God called the dry land Earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called Seas, and God saw that it was good.
11And God said, Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and it was so.
12And the earth brought forth the herb of grass bearing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and the fruit tree bearing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind on the earth, and God saw that it was good.
13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
Proverbs 1.1-20 (Vespers)
1The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, who reigned in Israel;
2to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive words of understanding;
3to receive also hard saying, and to understand true justice, and how to direct judgment;
4that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.
5For by the hearing of these a wise man will be wiser, and man of understanding will gain direction;
6and will understand a parable, and a dark speech; the saying of the wise also, and riddles.
7The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and there is good understanding to all that practise it: and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment; but the ungodly will set at nothing wisdom and instruction.
8Hear, my son, the instruction of your father, and reject not the rules of your mother.
9For you shall receive for your head a crown of graces, and a chain of gold round your neck.
10My son, let not ungodly men lead you astray, neither consent you to them.
11If they should exhort you, saying, Come with us, partake in blood, and let us unjustly hide the just man in the earth:
12and let us swallow him alive, as Hades would, and remove the memorial of him from the earth:
13let us seize on his valuable property, and let us fill our houses with spoils:
14but do you cast in your lot with us, and let us all provide a common purse, and let us have one pouch:
15go not in the way with them, but turn aside your foot from their paths:
16For their feet run to do evil, and are swift to shed blood.
17for nets are not without cause spread for birds.
18For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil.
19These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life.
20Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly.
1Thus says the Lord: Comfort, comfort my people, says God. Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem. Comfort her, because her humiliation has been completed; for her has sin has been abolished, because she has received from the Lord’s hand double for her sins. A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley will be filled and every mountain and hill made low; what is crooked will become straight, and the rough ways will be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Sion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift it up, do not be afraid. I the Lord God, I, the God of Israel, will hearken and will not forsake them; but I will open rivers from the mountains and springs in the middle of plains. I will turn the wilderness into water meadows and the thirsty earth with water courses. Let the heavens rejoice from on high and let the clouds rain justice. Let the earth sprout and blossom with mercy and justice. Announce a voice of gladness to the end of the earth and let this be heard: Say that the Lord has delivered his servant Jacob. And if they thirst through deserts, he will bring water for them from a rock. Rejoice you barren who have never given birth, break out and shout, you who have never known birth pangs, for the children of the deserted are more than those of her who has a husband.
Composite 9 - Malachi 3, 4
(Vespers, Forerunner)
1Thus says the Lord Almighty: See, I am sending my Angel, my messenger, before your face, who will prepare your way before you. And the Lord whom you seek will come to his temple. And who will endure the day of his entrance? And who will withstand at his appearing? Because he will enter like fire in a smelting furnace and like the lye of launderers. And he will come to you in judgement; and he will be a swift witness against the wicked and against adulteresses and against those swear falsely in his name and those who do not fear him, says the Lord Almighty. Because I am the Lord your God, and I have not changed and you, children of Jacob, have perverted the laws and not kept them. Therefore turn back to me and I will turn back to you, says the Lord Almighty. And all the nations will call you blessed and you will know that I am the Lord who discern between just and lawless on the day on which I make a peculiar possession of those who love me. Know then and remember the law of Moses my servant, as I gave him commandment on Horeb, to all Israel ordinances and judgements. And see, I will send you Elias the Thesbite, before the great and manifest day of the Lord comes; he will turn again the heart of father to son and of a man to his neighbour, lest when I come I smite the earth grievously, says the Lord Almighty, God the Holy One of Israel.
Composite 3 - Wisdom of Solomon 4, 5
(Vespers, Forerunner)
1A just man if he comes to his end will be at rest. A just man who dies will condemn the ungodly who are alive; for they will see the end of a just man and will not understand what they counselled concerning him. For the Lord will break the ungodly, render them voiceless and cast them headlong, and he will shake them from the foundations and they will be utterly worsted in sorrow, and their memory shall perish. They shall come with fear at the accounting of their sins, and their iniquities will convict them to their face. Then the just will stand with much boldness in the face of those who afflicted him and made his toils of no account. When they see this they will be troubled with great fear and will be amazed at the wonder of his salvation. For they will say as they repent and with anguish they will groan and say: Is this he whom we fools once made a laughing stock and a byword of reproach? We reckoned his life folly and his end dishonour. How has he been numbered among the children of God and his lot with the Saints? Therefore we have erred from the way of truth and the light of righteousness has not shone on us and the sun has not dawned on us. We have been filled with paths of lawlessness and destruction and journeyed through trackless paths, but have not known the way of the Lord.
Luke 7.17-30
(Matins Gospel, Forerunner)
17This report went out concerning him in the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.
18The disciples of John told him about all these things.
19John, calling to himself two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for another?”
20When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptizer has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?’”
21In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and to many who were blind he gave sight.
22Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
23Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”
24When John’s messengers had departed, he began to tell the multitudes about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
25But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously dressed and live delicately are in kings’ courts.
26But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
27This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
28“For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in God’s Kingdom is greater than he.”
29When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism.
30But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves.
2 Corinthians 4.6-15
(Epistle, Forerunner)
6seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.
8We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair;
9pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed;
10always carrying in the body the putting to death of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
11For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh.
12So then death works in us, but life in you.
13But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, “I believed, and therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and therefore we also speak,
14knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also through Jesus, and will present us with you.
15For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Matthew 11.2-15
(Gospel, Forerunner)
2Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples
3and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?”
4Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:
5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
6Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”
7As these went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
8But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.
9But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
10For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
11Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.
12From the days of John the Baptizer until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come.
15He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Commemorations
First (4th c.) and Second (9th c.) Findings of the Precious Head of St John the Baptist
After the Forerunner was beheaded at the order of Herod and his illicit wife Herodias, his head was discarded in what the Synaxarion calls “an unseemly location,” presumably a privy. According to some, it was secretly recovered by Joanna, one of the Myrrhbearing women, and given honorable burial near Jerusalem. There it was found, through a revelation of the Forerunner, by two monks who had come to Jerusalem to worship at the tomb of our Savior (the first finding). Putting the head in a bag, the monks returned home. On the way, they met an indigent potter from Emesa. That night the Forerunner appeared to the poor man and instructed him to make off with the relic. He returned with it to Emesa and immediately began to prosper in his business. Just before he died, he put the holy relic in a chest, which he left to his sister with these instructions: never to open it without instructions from the one hidden inside it; and to pass it on to a pious man beloved of God. Thus the Head of the Baptist passed through many generations, eventually being concealed in a cave near a monastery founded during the reign of Marcian (450-457), whose abbot was the godly Marcellus.
The blessed Forerunner appeared several times to Marcellus, embracing him and once even giving him a pot of honey. The Baptist ordered Marcellus to follow a star which led him to the cave and came to rest in front of a niche in the wall. Marcellus dug there and came upon a marble slab, under which was a large jar containing the precious Head. The holy relic was taken with rejoicing to the cathedral in Emesa,where it worked many wonders. In the reign of Michael III (842-867), it was taken to Constantinople. It was at this translation that the present Feast was instituted.
The version given here is that of St Symeon Metaphrastes. Other sources give substantially different accounts.
The Prologue observes: “It is important and interesting to note that, while he was alive, John did not work a single miracle (Jn 10:41), but to his relics was given the blessed power of working miracles.”
Saint Aethelberht (Ethelbert), first Christian King of Kent (616)
In 597, a party of forty missionary monks, led by St Augustine of Canterbury (May 28), was sent to Britain by the holy Pope Gregory the Great, to bring the blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ to the English people. Aethelberht, who had been King of Kent for thirty-six years, received the monks favorably, allowed them to preach in his kingdom, and invited them to establish their headquarters in Canterbury, his capital city, which already contained a small, ruined church dedicated to St Martin of Tours in Roman times.
The king himself was converted and received holy Baptism at the hands of St Augustine; a crowd of his subjects followed his example. When St Augustine was consecrated bishop, Aethelberht allowed him to be made Archbishop of Canterbury and gave his own palace to serve as a monastery. The king worked steadily for the conversion of the neighboring kindoms, and in 604 established an episcopal see in London. Unlike some Christian rulers, he refused to see anyone converted forcibly.
Saint Aethelberht reposed in peace in 616, after reigning for fifty-six years. He was buried in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, which he had established. Many miracles were worked at his tomb, where a lamp was kept lit perpetually until the monastery was disbanded by the Protestants in 1538.