8Thus says the Lord, As a grape-stone shall be found in the cluster, and they shall say, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for the sake of him that serves me, for his sake I will not destroy them all.
9And I will lead forth the seed that came of Jacob and of Juda, and they shall inherit my holy mountain: and my elect and my servants shall inherit it, and shall dwell there.
10And there shall be in the forest folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor shall be for a resting-place of herds for my people, who have sought me.
11But you⌃ are they that have left me, and forget my holy mountain, and prepare a table for the devil, and fill up the drink-offering to Fortune.
12I will deliver you up to the sword, you⌃ shall all fall by slaughter: for I called you, and you⌃ listened not; I spoke, and you⌃ refused to hear; and you⌃ did evil in my sight, and chose the things wherein I delighted not.
13Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, my servants shall eat, but you⌃ shall hunger: behold, my servants shall drink, but you⌃ shall thirst: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you⌃ shall be ashamed:
14behold, my servants shall exult with joy, but you⌃ shall cry for the sorrow of your heart, and shall howl for the vexation of your spirit.
15For you⌃ shall leave your name for a loathing to my chosen, and the Lord shall destroy you: but my servants shall be called by a new name,
16which shall be blessed on the earth; for they shall bless the true God: and they that swear upon the earth shall swear by the true God; for they shall forget the former affliction, it shall not come into their mind.
Genesis 46.1-7 (Vespers)
1And Israel departed, he and all that he had, and came to the well of the oath; and he offered sacrifice to the God of his father Isaac.
2And God spoke to Israel in a night vision, saying, Jacob, Jacob; and he said, What is it?
3And he says to him, I am the God of your fathers; fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will make you there a great nation.
4And I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will bring you up at the end; and Joseph shall put his hands on your eyes.
5And Jacob rose up from the well of the oath; and the sons of Israel took up their father, and the baggage, and their wives on the wagons, which Joseph sent to take them.
6And they took up their goods, and all their property, which they had gotten in the land of Chanaan; they came into the land of Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him.
7The sons, and the sons of his sons with him; his daughters, and the daughters of his daughters; and he brought all his seed into Egypt.
Proverbs 23.15-24.5 (Vespers)
15Son, if your heart be wise, you shall also gladden my heart;
16and your lips shall converse with my lips, if they be right.
17Let not your heart envy sinners: but be you in the fear of the Lord all the day.
18For if you should keep these things, you shall have posterity; and your hope shall not be removed.
19Hear, my son, and be wise, and rightly direct the thoughts of your heart.
20Be not a wine-bibber, neither continue long at feasts, and purchases of flesh:
21for every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; and every sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
22Listen, my son, to your father which begot you, and despise not your mother because she is grown old.
24A righteous father brings up his children well; and his soul rejoices over a wise son.
25Let your father and your mother rejoice over you, and let her that bore you be glad.
26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; and a strange well is narrow.
28For such a one shall perish suddenly; and every transgressor shall be cut off.
29Who has woe? who trouble? who has quarrels? and who vexations and disputes? who has bruises without a cause? whose eyes are livid?
30Are not those of them that stay long at wine? are not those of them that haunt the places where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, and converse with them openly.
31For if you should set your eyes on bowls and cups, you shall afterwards go more naked than a pestle.
32But at last such a one stretches himself out as one struck by a serpent, and venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.
33Whenever your eyes shall behold a strange woman, then your mouth shall speak perverse things.
34And you shall lie as in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a great storm.
35And you shall say, They struck me, and I was not pained; and they mocked me, and I knew it not: when will it be morning, that I may go and seek those with whom I may go in company?
1My son, envy not bad men, nor desire to be with them.
2For their heart meditates falsehoods, and their lips speak mischiefs.
3A house is built by wisdom, and is set up by understanding.
4By discretion the chambers are filled with all precious and excellent wealth.
5A wise man is better than a strong man; and a man who has prudence than a large estate.
Wisdom of Solomon 3.1-9
(Vespers, St Tikhon)
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, St Tikhon)
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.
Wisdom of Solomon 4.7-15
(Vespers, St Tikhon)
7But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest.
8For honorable age is not that which stands in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years.
9But wisdom is the gray hair to men, and an unspotted life is old age.
10He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated.
11Yes speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit decieve his soul.
12For the bewitching of naughtiness does obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence does undermine the simple mind.
13He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time:
14For his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked.
15This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he has respect to his chosen.
Commemorations
St Eutychius, patriarch of Constantinople (582)
He was born to devout and noble parents in Phrygia. Though his father was a prominent officer, he entered monastic life when young, and became abbot of a monastery in Amasea at the age of thirty. In 553 he was sent to the Fifth Ecumenical Council as the representative of the Metropolitan of Amasea. At the Council, he was one of those who argued, successfully, that heretics could be anathematized after their deaths. The most prominent case in point was Origen, the brilliant Christian philosopher who had written that all will eventually be saved. Eutychius’ position thus earned him the enmity of the Origenists, who still made up an influential group in the Church. Saint Eutychius became a trusted confidante of the Emperor Justinian, and when Menas, Patriarch of Constantinople, reposed, Eutychius was chosen to replace him. Eutychius ruled in peace for twelve years, but was then cast into controversy when he boldly opposed one of the most hard-to-pronounce heresies in the history of the Church: Aphthartodocetism, the belief that Christ, before his resurrection, possessed an incorruptible body, not subject to hunger, thirst or pain (though the scriptures plainly speak of Christ being weary, hungry, thirsty, weeping). The Emperor Justinian for a time fell into this variant of the Monophysite heresy, and exiled Eutychius to his monastery for twelve years. During these years Eutychius showed himself to be a wonder-worker, healing many of their diseases through his prayers. Justinian repented shortly before his death, and his successor, Justin II, called Eutychius back to the Patriarchal throne, where he served the Church in peace until his repose at the age of seventy.