Daily Scripture

6th Hour

Isaiah 65.8-16

8Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.

9And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

10And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.

11But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.

12Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

13Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:

14Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.

15And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:

16That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.

Vespers

Genesis 46.1-7

Read in context

1And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer–sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

2And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

3And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

4I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

5And Jacob rose up from Beer–sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

6And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

7His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

Vespers

Proverbs 23.15-24.5

Read in context

23:15My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

23:16Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

23:17Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

23:18For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

23:19Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

23:20Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

23:21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

23:22Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

23:23Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

23:24The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

23:25Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

23:26My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

23:27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

23:28She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

23:29Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

23:30They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

23:31Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

23:32At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

23:33Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

23:34Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

23:35They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

24:1Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.

24:2For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

24:3Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:

24:4And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

24:5A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

Vespers — St Tikhon

Wisdom of Solomon 3.1-9

Read in context

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 hath 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 hath care for his elect.

Vespers — St Tikhon

Wisdom of Solomon 5.15-6.3

Read in context

5:15But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High.

5:16Therefore 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.

5:17He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies.

5:18He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet.

5:19He shall take holiness for an invincible shield.

5:20His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise.

5:21Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark.

5:22And 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.

5:23Yea, 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.

6:1Hear therefore, O ye kings, and understand; learn, ye that be judges of the ends of the earth.

6:2Give ear, ye that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations.

6:3For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.

Vespers — St Tikhon

Wisdom of Solomon 4.7-15

Read in context

7But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest.

8For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years.

9But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age.

10He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated.

11Yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.

12For the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence doth 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 hath respect unto his chosen.

Matins Gospel — St Tikhon

John 10.1-9

Read in context

1Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

4And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

5And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

6This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

7Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

8All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Epistle — St Tikhon

Hebrews 7.26-8.2

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7:26For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

7:27Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

7:28For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

8:1Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

8:2A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Gospel — St Tikhon

John 10.9-16

Read in context

9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

12But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

13The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

14I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

15As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Thursday, April 20, 2000