Orthodox Daily Readings

Old Testament: Isaiah 43:9-14

Vespers, 1st reading

9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear and say, “It is truth.”

10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me.

11 I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.

12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; therefore you are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.

13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”

14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives – the Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.

Old Testament: Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9

Vespers, 2nd reading

1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.

2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be affliction,

3 and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.

4 For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is full of immortality.

5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;

6 like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.

7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble.

8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever.

9 Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect, and he watches over his holy ones.

Old Testament: Wisdom of Solomon 5:15-6:3

Vespers, 3rd reading

15 But the righteous live for ever, and their reward is with the Lord; the Most High takes care of them.

16 Therefore they will receive a glorious crown and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord, because with his right hand he will cover them, and with his arm he will shield them.

17 The Lord will take his zeal as his whole armor, and will arm all creation to repel his enemies;

18 he will put on righteousness as a breastplate, and wear impartial justice as a helmet;

19 he will take holiness as a invincible shield,

20 and sharpen stern wrath for a sword, and creation will join with him to fight against the madmen.

21 Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim, and will leap to the target as from a well-drawn bow of clouds,

22 and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult; the water of the sea will rage against them, and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them;

23 a mighty wind will rise against them, and like a tempest it will winnow them away. Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth, and evil-doing will overturn the thrones of rulers.

1 Listen therefore, O kings, and understand; learn, O judges of the ends of the earth.

2 Give ear, you that rule over multitudes, and boast of many nations.

3 For your dominion was given you from the Lord, and your sovereignty from the Most High, who will search out your works and inquire into your plans.

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 4:9-16

Epistle, Apostles

9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.

10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!

11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.

12 And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;

13 being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.

15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.

Epistle: Romans 14:9-18

9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

11 For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

16 Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;

17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

Gospel: Mark 3:13-19

Gospel, Apostles

13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him.

14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,

15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:

16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter;

17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;

18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;

19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

Gospel: Matthew 12:14-16, 22-30

14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known,

22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

Commemorated on this day

Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-praised Twelve Apostles: Peter, Andrew, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, the son of Alphæus, Jude, the brother of James, Simon the Zealot, and Matthias (1st c.). St. Peter, Prince of Ordinsk (Rostov—1290). Translation of the Relics of St. Sophróny, Bishop of Irkutsk (1918).