Isaiah 58.1-11 (6th Hour)

1Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up your voice as with a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities. 2They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that had done righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgment of their God: they now ask of me righteous judgment, and desire to draw near to God, 3saying, Why have we fasted, and you regard not? why have we afflicted our souls, and you did not know it? Nay, in the days of your fasts you⌃ find your pleasures, and all them that are under your power you⌃ wound. 4If you⌃ fast for quarrels and strifes, and strike the lowly with your fists, therefore do you⌃ fast to me as you⌃ do this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying? 5I have not chosen this fast, nor such a day for a man to afflict his soul; neither though you should bend down your neck as a ring, and spread under you sackcloth and ashes, neither thus shall you⌃ call a fast acceptable. 6I have not chosen such a fast, says the Lord; but do you loose every burden of iniquity, do you untie the knots of hard bargains, set the bruised free, and cancel every unjust account. 7Break your bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to your house: if you see one naked, clothe him, and you shall not disregard the relations of your own seed. 8Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall speedily spring forth: and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall compass you. 9Then shall you cry, and God shall listen to you; while you are yet speaking he will say, Behold, I am here. If you remove from you the band, and the stretching forth of the hands, and murmuring speech; 10and if you give bread to the hungry from your heart, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light spring up in darkness, and your darkness shall be as noon-day: 11and your God shall be with you continually, and you shall be satisfied according as your soul desires; and your bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a well-watered garden, and as a fountain from which the water has not failed.

Genesis 43.26-31, 45.1-16 (Vespers)

26And Joseph entered into the house, and they brought him the gifts which they had in their hands, into the house; and they did him reverence with their face to the ground. 27And he asked them, How are you⌃? and he said to them, Is your father, the old man of whom you⌃ spoke, well? Does he yet live? 28And they said, Your servant our father is well; he is yet alive. And he said, Blessed be that man by God; —and they bowed, and did him reverence. 29And Joseph lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, born of the same mother; and he said, Is this your younger brother, whom you⌃ spoke of bringing to me? and he said, God have mercy on you, my son. 30And Joseph was troubled, for his bowels yearned over his brother, and he sought to weep; and he went into his chamber, and wept there. 31And he washed his face and came out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

1And Joseph could not refrain himself when all were standing by him, but said, Dismiss all from me; and no one stood near Joseph, when he made himself known to his brethren. 2And he uttered his voice with weeping; and all the Egyptians heard, and it was reported to the house of Pharao. 3And Joseph said to his brethren, I am Joseph; does my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled. 4And Joseph said to his brethren, Draw near to me; and they drew near; and he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you⌃ sold into Egypt. 5Now then be not grieved, and let it not seem hard to you that you⌃ sold me hither, for God sent me before you for life. 6For this second year there is famine on the earth, and there are yet five years remaining, in which there is to be neither plowing, nor mowing. 7For God sent me before you, that there might be left to you a remnant upon the earth, even to nourish a great remnant of you. 8Now then you⌃ did not send me hither, but God; and he has made me as a father of Pharao, and lord of all his house, and ruler of all the land of Egypt. 9Hasten, therefore, and go up to my father, and say to him, These things says your son Joseph; God has made me lord of all the land of Egypt; come down therefore to me, and wait not. 10And you shall dwell in the land of Gesem of Arabia; and you shall be near me, you and your sons, and your sons' sons, your sheep and your oxen, and whatever things are your. 11And I will nourish you there: for the famine is yet for five years; lest you be consumed, and your sons, and all your possessions. 12Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13Report, therefore, to my father all my glory in Egypt, and all things that you⌃ have seen, and make haste and bring down my father hither. 14And he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept on him; and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15And he kissed all his brethren, and wept on them; and after these things his brethren spoke to him. 16And the report was carried into the house of Pharao, saying, Joseph's brethren are come; and Pharao was glad, and his household.

Proverbs 21.23-22.4 (Vespers)

23He that keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from trouble. 24A bold and self-willed and insolent man is called a pest: and he that remembers injuries is a transgressor. 25Desires kill the sluggard; for his hands do not choose to do anything. 26An ungodly man entertains evil desires all the day: but the righteous is unsparingly merciful and compassionate. 27The sacrifices of the ungodly are abomination to the Lord, for they offer them wickedly. 28A false witness shall perish; but an obedient man will speak cautiously. 29An ungodly man impudently withstands with his face; but the upright man himself understands his ways. 30There is no wisdom, there is no courage, there is no counsel against the ungodly. 31A horse is prepared for the day of battle; but help is of the Lord.

1A fair name is better than much wealth, and good favor is above silver and gold. 2The rich and the poor meet together; but the Lord made them both. 3An intelligent man seeing a bad man severely punished is himself instructed, but fools pass by and are punished. 4The fear of the Lord is the offspring of wisdom, and wealth, and glory, and life.

Hieromartyr Mark, Bishop of Arethusa

“Saint Mark was Bishop of Arethusa in Syria. In the days of Saint Constantine the Great, Saint Mark, moved with divine zeal, destroyed a temple of the idols and raised up a church in its stead. When Julian the Apostate reigned, in 361, as the pagans were now able to avenge the destruction of their temple, Saint Mark, giving way to wrath, hid himself; but when he saw that others were being taken on his account, he gave himself up. Having no regard to his old age, they stripped him and beat his whole body, cast him into filthy sewers, and pulling him out, had children prick him with their iron writing-pens. Then they put him into a basket, smeared him with honey and a kind of relish of pickled fish, and hung him up under the burning sun to be devoured by bees and wasps. But because he bore this so nobly, his enemies repented, and unloosed him.

“Saint Cyril was a deacon from Heliopolis in Phoenecia. During the reign of the Emperor Constantius, son of Saint Constantine, he had also broken the idols in pieces. When Julian came to power, Saint Cyril was seized by the idolators and his belly was ripped open. The other holy Martyrs celebrated today, martyred in Gaza and Ascalon during the reign of Julian, were men of priestly rank and consecrated virgins; they were disemboweled, filled with barley, and set before swine to be eaten. The account of all the above Saints is given in Book III, ch. 3, of Theodoret of Cyrrhus’ Ecclesiastical History. (Great Horologion)

Our Holy Father John the Hermit (4th c.)

“He was the son of Juliana, a Christian woman of Armenia. While still a child, he left his mother and ran off to the desert. He was utterly aflame with love for Christ the Lord. In the beginning he entrusted himself to the guidance of a spiritual father, Pharmutius, who was so pleasing to God that an angel brought him bread every day. John later left him and withdrew into solitude. He let himself down into a dry well and lived there for a full ten years in fasting, prayer and vigils. St Pharmutius used to bring him some of the angel’s bread, for the angel of God did not wish to bring bread to the young John in person, lest he grow proud through this, so sent it through Pharmutius his spiritual father. After ten years of arduous asceticism in his well, St John went to the Lord and his relics revealed wonderworking power. He lived and was glorified by God and men in the 4th century.” (Prologue)