Numbers 11.16-17, 24-29 (Vespers)

16And the Lord said to Moses, Gather me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you yourself know that they are the elders of the people, and their scribes; and you shall bring them to the tabernacle of witness, and they shall stand there with you. 17And I will go down, and speak there with you; and I will take of the spirit that is upon you, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear together with you the burden of the people, and you shall not bear them alone. 24And Moses went out, and spoke the words of the Lord to the people; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and he set them round about the tabernacle. 25And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy men that were elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and ceased. 26And there were two men left in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Modad; and the spirit rested upon them, and these were of the number of them that were enrolled, but they did not come to the tabernacle; and they prophesied in the camp. 27And a young man ran and told Moses, and spoke, saying, Eldad and Modad prophesy in the camp. 28And Joshua the son of Naue, who attended on Moses, the chosen one, said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 29And Moses said to him, Are you jealous on my account? and would that all the Lord's people were prophets; whenever the Lord shall put his spirit upon them.

Joel 2.23-32 (Vespers)

23Rejoice then and be glad, you⌃ children of Sion, in the Lord your God: for he has given you food fully, and he will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before. 24And the floors shall be filled with corn, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil. 25And I will recompense you for the years which the locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm have eaten, even my great army, which I sent against you. 26And you⌃ shall eat abundantly, and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God for the things which he has wrought wonderfully with you: and my people shall not be ashamed for ever. 27And you⌃ shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and that there is none else beside me; and my people shall no more be ashamed for ever. 28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29And on my servants and on my handmaids in those days will I pour out of my Spirit. 30And I will show wonders in heaven, and upon the earth, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord come. 32And it shall come to pass that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved: for in mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall the saved one be as the Lord has said, and they that have glad tidings preached to them, whom the Lord has called.

Ezekiel 36.24-28 (Vespers)

24And I will take you out from the nations, and will gather you out of all the lands, and will bring you into your own land: 25and I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you⌃ shall be purged from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, and I will cleanse you. 26And I will give you a new heart, and will put a new spirit in you: and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit in you, and will cause you to walk in my ordinances, and to keep my judgments, and do them. 28And you⌃ shall dwell upon the land which I gave to your fathers; and you⌃ shall be to me a people, and I will be to you a God.

3[1] Kings 8.22-23, 27-30 (Vespers)

22And Solomon stood up in front of the altar before all the congregation of Israel; and he spread out his hands toward heaven: 23and he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above and on the earth beneath, keeping covenant and mercy with your servant who walks before you with all his heart; 27But will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and heaven of heavens will not suffice you, how much less even this house which I have built to your name? 28Yet, O Lord God of Israel, you shall look upon my petition, to hear the prayer which your servant prays to you in your presence this day, 29that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place which you said, My name shall be there, to hear the prayer which your servant prays at this place day and night. 30And you shall listen to the prayer of your servant, and of your people Israel, which they shall pray toward this place; and you shall hear in your dwelling-place in heaven, and you shall do and be gracious.

Isaiah 61.10-62.5 (Vespers)

10and they shall greatly rejoice in the Lord. Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with the robe of salvation, and the garment of joy: he has put a mitre on me as on a bridegroom, and adorned me with ornaments as a bride. 11And as the earth putting forth her flowers, and as a garden its seed; so shall the Lord, even the Lord, cause righteousness to spring forth, and exultation before all nations.

1For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as light, and my salvation burn as a torch. 2And the Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and kings your glory: and one shall call you by a new name, which the Lord shall name. 3And you shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4And you shall no more be called Forsaken; and your land shall no more be called Desert: for you shall be called My Pleasure, and your land Inhabited: for the Lord has taken pleasure in you, and your land shall be inhabited. 5And as a young man lives with a virgin, so shall your sons dwell in you: and it shall come to pass that as a bridegroom will rejoice over a bride, so will the Lord rejoice over you.

Isaiah 60.1-16 (Vespers)

1Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. 2Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and there shall be gross darkness on the nations: but the Lord shall appear upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you. 3And kings shall walk in your light, and nations in your brightness. 4Lift up your eyes round about, and behold your children gathered: all your sons have come from far, and your daughters shall be borne on men's shoulders. 5Then shall you see, and fear, and be amazed in your heart; for the wealth of the sea shall come round to you, and of nations and peoples; and herds of camels shall come to you, 6and the camels of Madiam and Gaepha shall cover you: all from Saba shall come bearing gold, and shall bring frankincense, and they shall publish the salvation of the Lord. 7And all the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered, and the rams of Nabaeoth shall come; and acceptable sacrifices shall be offered on my altar, and my house of prayer shall be glorified. 8Who are these that fly as clouds, and as doves with young ones to me? 9The isles have waited for me, and the ships of Tharsis among the first, to bring your children from afar, and their silver and their gold with them, and that for the sake of the holy name of the Lord, and because the Holy One of Israel is glorified. 10And strangers shall build your walls, and their kings shall wait upon you: for by reason of my wrath I struck you, and by reason of mercy I loved you. 11And your gates shall be opened continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; to bring in to you the power of the Gentiles, and their kings as captives. 12For the nations and the kings which will not serve you shall perish; and those nations shall be made utterly desolate. 13And the glory of Libanus shall come to you, with the cypress, and pine, and cedar together, to glorify my holy place. 14And the sons of them that afflicted you, and of them that provoked you, shall come to you in fear; and you shall be called Sion, the city of the Holy One of Israel. 15Because you have become desolate and hated, and there was no helper, therefore I will make you a perpetual gladness, a joy of many generations. 16And you shall suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shall eat the wealth of kings: and shall know that I am the Lord that saves you and delivers you, the Holy One of Israel.

John 20.19-23 (Matins Gospel)

19When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle and said to them, “Peace be to you.”

20When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! 23If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been retained.”

Acts 2.1-11 (Epistle)

1Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. 4They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.

5Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky. 6When this sound was heard, the multitude came together and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language. 7They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, aren’t all these who speak Galileans? 8How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabians—we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!”

Acts 26.1-5, 12-20 (Epistle, Saints)

1Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense. 2“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you today concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews, 3especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

4“Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem; 5having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

12“Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, 13at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me. 14When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15“I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will reveal to you; 17delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, 18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

19“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

John 7.37-52, 8.12 (Gospel)

37Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 38He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.” 39But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified.

40Many of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, “This is truly the prophet.” 41Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “What, does the Christ come out of Galilee? 42Hasn’t the Scripture said that the Christ comes of the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43So a division arose in the multitude because of him. 44Some of them would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him. 45The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”

46The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!”

47The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You aren’t also led astray, are you? 48Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him? 49But this multitude that doesn’t know the law is cursed.”

50Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them, 51“Does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?”

52They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

12Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 10.1-9 (Gospel, Saints)

1“Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.

7Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.

Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine (337) and Helen, his mother (327)

Saint Constantine was born in 272, the son of Constantius Chlorus, ruler of the western part of the Roman Empire, and St Helen. When his father died in 306 he was proclaimed successor to the throne. The empire was ruled at that time by several Caesars, each with his own territory. When Constantine learned that the Caesars Maxentius and Maximinus had joined against him, he marched on Italy. It was there that, on the eve of a decisive battle outside Rome, he saw in the sky a radiant Cross with the words “In this sign conquer.” He ordered that a battle-standard be made bearing the image of a cross and inscribed with the Name of Jesus Christ. The following day he and his forces attacked and won a spectacular victory. He entered Rome in triumph and in 312 was proclaimed “Emperor of the West” by the Senate. (His brother-in-law Licinius ruled in the East.) Soon thereafter he issued his “Edict of Milan,” whereby Christianity was officially tolerated for the first time, and persecution of Christians ceased. (Many believe, mistakenly, that the Edict made Christianity the only legal religion; in fact, it proclaimed freedom of religion throughout the Empire).

Licinius, though he pretended to accept the Edict, soon began persecuting Christians in his domain. In response, Constantine fought and defeated him in 324, becoming sole Emperor of the entire Roman Empire. In 324 he laid the foundations of a new capital in the town of Byzantium; in 330 he inaugurated the new capital city, naming it “New Rome” and “Constantinople.” In 325 he called the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea, attending its sessions himself. Shortly before his repose in 337, he received Holy Baptism; he died on Holy Pentecost, at the age of sixty-five, and was interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

St Constantine’s holy mother Helen, in her role as “Augusta” of the Empire, founded countless churches. She traveled to Jerusalem and found the True Cross on which the Lord was crucified. In the Holy Land she established churches at the sites of Christ’s Nativity and burial, which still stand today in much-modified form. She died at about eighty years of age.

Holy New Martyr Pachomius (1730)

Born in a village of Little Russia (now Belarus), he was kidnapped as a boy and sold to a Turkish tanner as a slave. He spent the next twenty-seven years in Usaki in Asia Minor, where he was forced to embrace Islam. After long years of servitude he escaped and, reclaiming his Christianity, went to the Holy Mountain, became a monk and lived for twelve years. Tormented by his former apostasy, he determined to suffer martyrdom for Christ. With the permission of his elder, Joseph, he returned to Usaki and showed himself to his former owner wearing his monastic habit. He was tortured, thrown into prison, and finally beheaded on on Ascension Day of 1730. His relics are buried on the island of Patmos in the Church of St John the Theologian, where they work many miracles.