Isaiah 40.18-31 (6th Hour)

18To whom have you⌃ compared the Lord? and with what likeness have you⌃ compared him? 19Has not the artificer made an image, or the goldsmith having melted gold, gilt it over, and made it a similitude? 20For the artificer chooses out a wood that will not rot, and will wisely enquire how he shall set up his image, and that so that it should not be moved. 21Will you⌃ not know? will you⌃ not hear? has it not been told you of old? Have you⌃ not known the foundations of the earth? 22It is he that comprehends the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants in it are as grasshoppers; he that set up the heaven as a chamber, and stretched it out as a tent to dwell in: 23he that appoints princes to rule as nothing, and has made the earth as nothing. 24For they shall not plant, neither shall they sow, neither shall their root be fixed in the ground: he has blown upon them, and they are withered, and a storm shall carry them away like sticks. 25Now then to whom have you⌃ compared me, that I may be exalted? says the Holy One. 26Lift up your eyes on high, and see, who has displayed all these things? even he that brings forth his host by number: he shall call them all by name by means of his great glory, and by the power of his might: nothing has escaped you. 27For say not you, O Jacob, and why have you spoken, Israel, saying, My way is hid from God, and my God has taken away my judgement, and has departed? 28And now, have you not known? have you not heard? the eternal God, the God that formed the ends of the earth, shall not hunger, nor be weary, and there is no searching of his understanding. 29He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to them that are not suffering. 30For the young men shall hunger, and the youths shall be weary, and the choice men shall be powerless: 31but they that wait on God shall renew their strength; they shall put forth new feathers like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not hunger.

Genesis 15.1-15 (Vespers)

1And after these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I shield you, your reward shall be very great. 2And Abram said, Master and Lord, what will you give me? whereas I am departing without a child, but the son of Masek my home-born female slave, this Eliezer of Damascus is my heir. 3And Abram said, I am grieved since you have given me no seed, but my home-born servant shall succeed me. 4And immediately there was a voice of the Lord to him, saying, This shall not be your heir; but he that shall come out of you shall be your heir. 5And he brought him out and said to him, Look up now to heaven, and count the stars, if you shall be able to number them fully, and he said, Thus shall your seed be. 6And Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. 7And he said to him, I am God that brought you out of the land of the Chaldeans, so as to give you this land to inherit. 8And he said, Master and Lord, how shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9And he said to him, Take for me an heifer in her third year, and a she-goat in her third year, and a ram in his third year, and a dove and a pigeon. 10So he took to him all these, and divided them in the midst, and set them opposite to each other, but the birds he did not divide. 11And birds came down upon the bodies, even upon the divided parts of them, and Abram sat down by them. 12And about sunset a trance fell upon Abram, and behold! a great gloomy terror falls upon him. 13And it was said to Abram, You shall surely know that your seed shall be a sojourner in a land not their own, and they shall enslave them, and afflict them, and humble them four hundred years. 14And the nation whoever they shall serve I will judge; and after this, they shall come forth hither with much property. 15But you shall depart to your fathers in peace, nourished in a good old age.

Proverbs 15.7-19 (Vespers)

7The lips of the wise are bound by discretion: but the hearts of the foolish are not safe. 8The sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord; but the prayers of them that walk honestly are acceptable with him. 9The ways of an ungodly man are an abomination to the Lord; but he loves those that follow after righteousness. 10The instruction of the simple is known by them that pass by; but they that hate reproofs die disgracefully. 11Hell and destruction are manifest to the Lord; how shall not also be the hearts of men? 12An uninstructed person will not love those that reprove him; neither will he associate with the wise. 13When the heart rejoices the countenance is cheerful; but when it is in sorrow, the countenance is sad. 14An upright heart seeks discretion; but the mouth of the uninstructed will experience evils. 15The eyes of the wicked are always looking for evil things; but the good are always quiet. 16Better is a small portion with the fear of the Lord, than great treasures without the fear of the Lord. 17Better is an entertainment of herbs with friendliness and kindness, than a feast of calves, with enmity. 18A passionate man stirs up strife; but he that is slow to anger appeases even a rising one. A man slow to anger will extinguish quarrels; but an ungodly man rather stirs them up. 19The ways of sluggards are strewn with thorns; but those of the diligent are made smooth.

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.