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.

Epistle — Theotokos

Hebrews 2.11-18

Read in context

11For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

12Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

13And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

14Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

15And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

16For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

17Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

18For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Gospel — Theotokos

Luke 1.24-38

Read in context

24And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

25Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

26And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Thursday, April 8, 2055