1And it came to pass in the year in which king Ozias died, that I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and the house was full of his glory.
2And seraphs stood round about him: each one had six wings: and with two they covered their face, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
3And one cried to the other, and they said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4And the lintel shook at the voice they uttered, and the house was filled with smoke.
5And I said, Woe is me, for I am pricked to the heart; for being a man, and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips; and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts.
6And there was sent to me one of the seraphs, and he had in his hand a coal, which he had taken off the altar with the tongs:
7and he touched my mouth, and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, and will take away your iniquities, and will purge off your sins.
8And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said, behold, I am here, send me. And he said, Go, and say to this people,
9You⌃ shall hear indeed, but you⌃ shall not understand; and you⌃ shall see indeed, but you⌃ shall not perceive.
10For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
11And I said, How long, O Lord? And he said, Until cities be deserted by reason of their not being inhabited, and the houses by reason of there being no men, and the land shall be left desolate.
12And after this God shall remove the men far off, and they that are left upon the land shall be multiplied.
Genesis 5.1-24 (Vespers)
1This is the genealogy of men in the day in which God made Adam; in the image of God he made him:
2male and female he made them, and blessed them; and he called his name Adam, in the day in which he made them.
3And Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and begot a son after his own form, and after his own image, and he called his name Seth.
4And the days of Adam, which he lived after his begetting Seth, were seven hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters.
5And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.
6Now Seth lived two hundred and five years, and begot Enos.
7And Seth lived after his begetting Enos, seven hundred and seven years, and he begot sons and daughters.
8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.
9And Enos lived one hundred and ninety years, and begot Cainan.
10And Enos lived after his begetting Cainan, seven hundred and fifteen years, and he begot sons and daughters.
11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.
12And Cainan lived one hundred and seventy years, and he begot Maleleel.
13And Cainan lived after his begetting Maleleel, seven hundred and forty years, and he begot sons and daughters.
14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
15And Maleleel lived one hundred and sixty and five years, and he begot Jared.
16And Maleleel lived after his begetting Jared, seven hundred and thirty years, and he begot sons and daughters.
17And all the days of Maleleel were eight hundred and ninety and five years, and he died.
18And Jared lived one hundred and sixty and two years, and begot Enoch:
19and Jared lived after his begetting Enoch, eight hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters.
20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty and two years, and he died.
21And Enoch lived one hundred and sixty and five years, and became the father of Mathusala.
22And Enoch was well-pleasing to God after his begetting Mathusala, two hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters.
23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty and five years.
24And Enoch was well-pleasing to God, and was not found, because God translated him.
Proverbs 6.3-20 (Vespers)
3My son, do what I command you, and deliver yourself; for on your friend's account you are come into the power of evil men: faint not, but stir up even your friend for whom you are become surety.
4Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber with your eyelids;
5that you may deliver yourself as a doe out of the toils, and as a bird out of a snare.
6Go to the ant, O sluggard; and see, and emulate his ways, and become wiser than he.
7For whereas he has no husbandry, nor any one to compel him, and is under no master,
8he prepares food for himself in the summer, and lays by abundant store in harvest. Or go to the bee, and learn how diligent she is, and how earnestly she is engaged in her work; whose labors kings and private men use for health, and she is desired and respected by all: though weak in body, she is advanced by honouring wisdom.
9How long will you lie, O sluggard? and when will you awake out of sleep?
10You sleep a little, and you rest a little, and you slumber a short time, and you fold your arms over your breast a little.
11Then poverty comes upon you as an evil traveller, and lack as a swift courier: but if you be diligent, your harvest shall arrive as a fountain, and poverty shall flee away as a bad courier.
12A foolish man and a transgressor goes in ways that are not good.
13And the same winks with the eye, and makes a sign with his foot, and teaches with the beckonings of his fingers.
14His perverse heart devises evils: at all times such a one causes troubles to a city.
15Therefore his destruction shall come suddenly; overthrow and irretrievable ruin.
16For he rejoices in all things which God hates, and he is ruined by reason of impurity of soul.
17The eye of the haughty, a tongue unjust, hands shedding the blood of the just;
18and a heart devising evil thoughts, and feet hastening to do evil, —are hateful to God.
19An unjust witness kindles falsehoods, and brings on quarrels between brethren.
20My son, keep the laws of your father, and reject not the ordinances of your mother:
Commemorations
St Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch
Our holy father Meletios, an Armenian by birth, became archbishop of Antioch at the height of the Arian controversy. Though he was appointed by influential Arians who thought that he shared their views, as soon as he was raised to the throne he began to preach the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father. “At this, the archdeacon, an Arian, put his hand over the bishop’s mouth; Meletios then extended three fingers towards the people, closed them, and extended one only, showing by signs the equality and unity of the Trinity. The embarrassed archdeacon then seized his hand, but released his mouth, and Meletios spoke out even more forcibly in defense of the Council of Nicea” (Great Horologion). It was St Meletios who ordained St John Chrysostom reader and deacon in Antioch. He presided at the Second Ecumenical Council in 381. At his repose, St Gregory of Nyssa gave his funeral oration, lamenting: “Our Elijah has been caught up, and no Elisha is left behind in his place.”
St Aleksy, Metr. of All Russia
He was born early in the 14th century to a family of court dignitaries in Moscow. Despite a fine education, he was not drawn to worldly success and became a monk at the age of twenty. In time Alexis was consecrated Bishop of Vladimir, then Metropolitan of Moscow, at that time the highest rank in the Russian church (which was still under the Patriarchate of Constantinople). Russia was then under the cruel domination of the Tatars. Saint Alexis traveled twice to the Golden Horde, where the Tatar Khan kept court. On his first visit (1359), he healed the Khan’s wife of a blindness which had afflicted her for three years — a miracle that did much to soften the Tatars’ treatment of their Russian vassals, and to preserve the liberty of the Church.
His ceaseless labors in the world did not deprive the Saint of his love for monasticism: he conferred with holy monks at every opportunity, and founded many new monasteries. As he neared the end of his life he tried without success to persuade his friend St Sergius of Radonezh (September 25) to succeed him. He reposed in peace in 1378. His incorrupt relics are venerated in the Cathedral of the Theophany in Moscow.