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.
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!”
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.”
Commemorations
Ven. Simeon the Stylite
He was born in Antioch in 522. His father, John, died in an earthquake, leaving him to be raised by his mother Martha. From his earliest childhood he lived a very ascetic life and was under special protection and guidance of St John the Baptist, who often appeared to him. He became a monk as a young man and, after a vision of the Lord, who appeared to him as a handsome youth and filled his heart to overflowing with love for Christ, he ascended onto a pillar, where he stayed for eighteen years, praying and singing psalms. He then went to the mountain called ‘Wonderful’, where he lived alone in a barren place for ten years; he then ascended another pillar, where he remained in extreme hardship for forty-five years. During this time he became known as a wonder-worker and visionary: the Prologue says ‘The measure of his love for God was such that rare grace was given him, by the help of which he was able to heal every sort of illness, tame wild beasts and perceive the most distant regions of the earth and the hearts of men. He was taken out of the body and saw the heavens, conversed with angels, harried the demons, prophesied, spent thirty days at a time without sleep and even longer without food, receiving nourishment at the hands of angels.’ He reposed at the age of 85; seventy-nine years of his life had been spent in asceticism.
Ven. Nikita the Stylite
As a youth, he was heedless and corrupt; but one day he entered a church and heard the words of Isaiah, ‘Wash you, make you clean’ (Is. 1:16). His life changed completely: he left his family and property to enter a monastery near Pereyaslavl, where he took on a life of severe asceticism. He wore chains and (in the words of the Prologue) ‘shut himself up in a pillar’, for which he was called the Stylite. He was granted the gift of healing and by his prayers restored many who came to him, including Michael, Prince of Chernigov, whom he healed of palsy. Some thieves, seeing his chains and thinking that they were made of silver, killed him one night and made off with the chains. Soon afterward, Saint Nikita appeared to an elder named Simeon and told him to put the chains with him in his grave when they were found.
St Vincent of Lerins (445)
He was born in Toul in Gaul (modern-day France); he was the brother of St Lupus, Bishop of Troyes. He served as a soldier, but eventually became a monk at the monastery of Lerins. There he lived out the remainder of his life, and wrote his Commonitorium, an exposition of the true Orthodox faith; it contains the well-know statement that Christians must hold to the Faith that has been believed “everywhere, always, and by all.” He reposed in peace.