Orthodox Daily Readings

Old Testament: 3 Kingdoms 8:22-23, 27-30

Vespers, 1st reading

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;

23 and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!

28 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today:

29 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.

30 And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.

Old Testament: Proverbs 3:19-34

Vespers, 2nd reading

19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens;

20 by His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew.

21 My son, let them not depart from your eyes – keep sound wisdom and discretion;

22 So they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck.

23 Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble.

24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;

26 For the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.

28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,” when you have it with you.

29 Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he dwells by you for safety’s sake.

30 Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.

31 Do not envy the oppressor, and choose none of his ways;

32 for the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, but His secret counsel is with the upright.

33 The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the just.

34 Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble.

Old Testament: Proverbs 9:1-11

Vespers, 3rd reading

1 Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars;

2 she has slaughtered her meat, she has mixed her wine, she has also furnished her table.

3 She has sent out her maidens, she cries out from the highest places of the city,

4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,

5 “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.

6 Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.

7 He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, and he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.

8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;

9 give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11 For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you.”

Epistle: Hebrews 3:1-4

Epistle, Church

1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,

2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.

3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house.

4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.

Epistle: Galatians 6:11-18

Epistle, Sunday Before

11 See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!

12 As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

13 For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.

16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

17 From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4:6-15

6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed –

10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.

13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,

14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.

15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Gospel: Luke 24:1-12

4th Matins Gospel

1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.

2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.

5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,

7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”

8 And they remembered His words.

9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.

11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.

12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

Gospel: Matthew 16:13-18

Gospel, Church

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Gospel: John 3:13-17

Gospel, Sunday Before

13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Gospel: Matthew 22:35-46

35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,

42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.”

43 He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:

44 ‘The LORD said to my Lord, sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’?

45 If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”

46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

Commemorated on this day

15th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 6. Forefeast of the Elevation of the Cross . Commemoration of the Founding of the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulcher) at Jerusalem (335). Sunday before Elevation. Hieromartyr Cornelius the Centurion (1st c.). Martyrs Chronides, Leontius and Serapion, of Alexandria (237). Martyrs Macrobius and Gordian at Tomi in Romania (4th c.). Hieromartyr Julian of Galatia (4th c.). St. Peter of Atroë (9th c.). Greatmartyr Ketevan, Queen of Georgia (1624). Ven. Hierotheus the Younger of Ivḗron (Mt. Athos—1745).