Readings for Wed. 3^rd  of March: Thirty-Eighth Week After Pentecost: Great Fast

Isaiah 10:12-20

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹² When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he^[a] will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride. ¹³ For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
    and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I have removed the boundaries of peoples,
    and have plundered their treasures;
    like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
¹⁴ My hand has found like a nest
    the wealth of the peoples;
and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken
    so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing,
    or opened the mouth, or chirped.”

¹⁵ Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it,
    or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
    or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
    will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
    like the burning of fire.
¹⁷ The light of Israel will become a fire,
    and his Holy One a flame;
and it will burn and devour
    his thorns and briers in one day.
¹⁸ The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
    the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
    and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
    that a child can write them down.

The Repentant Remnant of Israel

²⁰ In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

Genesis 7:6-9

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark, to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹ two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.

Proverbs 9:12-18

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹² If you are wise, you are wise for yourself;
    if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

Folly’s Invitation and Promise

¹³ A foolish woman is noisy;
    she is wanton^[a] and knows no shame.^[b]
14 She sits at the door of her house,
    she takes a seat on the high places of the town,
¹⁵ calling to those who pass by,
    who are going straight on their way,
¹⁶ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
    And to him who is without sense she says,
¹⁷ “Stolen water is sweet,
    and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
¹⁸ But he does not know that the dead^[c] are there,
    that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

 

 

3 The holy martyr Eutropius and his companions, Cleonicus and Basiliscus, at Amasea in Pontus, martyrs in the persecution of Maximius the emperor under the governor Asclepiodatus. (308)

 

 

Isaiah 9:9-10:4

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁹ and all the people will know,
    E′phraim and the inhabitants of Samar′ia,
    who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
¹⁰ “The bricks have fallen,
    but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
    but we will put cedars in their place.”
¹¹ So the Lord raises adversaries^[a] against them,
    and stirs up their enemies.
¹² The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
    devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger is not turned away
    and his hand is stretched out still.

¹³ The people did not turn to him who smote them,
    nor seek the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴ So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
    palm branch and reed in one day—
¹⁵ the elder and honored man is the head,
    and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
¹⁶ for those who lead this people lead them astray,
    and those who are led by them are swallowed up.
¹⁷ Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
    and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for every one is godless and an evildoer,
    and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger is not turned away
    and his hand is stretched out still.

¹⁸ For wickedness burns like a fire,
    it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
    and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹ Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    the land is burned,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
    no man spares his brother.
²⁰ They snatch on the right, but are still hungry,
    and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours his neighbor’s^[b] flesh,
²¹ Manas′seh E′phraim, and E′phraim Manas′seh,
    and together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger is not turned away
    and his hand is stretched out still.

10 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
    and the writers who keep writing oppression,
² to turn aside the needy from justice
    and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
    and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
³ What will you do on the day of punishment,
    in the storm which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
    and where will you leave your wealth?
⁴ Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
    or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger is not turned away
    and his hand is stretched out still.

Genesis 7:1-5

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Great Flood

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate; ³ and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth. ⁴ For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ⁵ And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

Proverbs 8:32-9:11

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

³² And now, my sons, listen to me:
    happy are those who keep my ways.
³³ Hear instruction and be wise,
    and do not neglect it.
³⁴ Happy is the man who listens to me,
    watching daily at my gates,
    waiting beside my doors.
³⁵ For he who finds me finds life
    and obtains favor from the Lord;
³⁶ but he who misses me injures himself;
    all who hate me love death.”

Wisdom’s Feast

9 Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up^[a] her seven pillars.
² She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine,
    she has also set her table.
³ She has sent out her maids to call
    from the highest places in the town,
⁴ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
    To him who is without sense she says,
⁵ “Come, eat of my bread
    and drink of the wine I have mixed.
⁶ Leave simpleness,^[b] and live,
    and walk in the way of insight.”

General Maxims

⁷ He who corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
    and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
⁸ Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
    reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
⁹ Give instruction^[c] to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
    teach a righteous 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 insight.
¹¹ For by me your days will be multiplied,
    and years will be added to your life.

 

 

2 The holy martyr Theodotus, bishop of Cyrene. (302)

Isaiah 8:13-9:7

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹³ But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And many shall stumble thereon; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

Disciples of Isaiah

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. ¹⁷ I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ¹⁸ Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. ¹⁹ And when they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰ To the teaching and to the testimony! Surely for this word which they speak there is no dawn. ²¹ They will pass through the land,^[a] greatly distressed and hungry; and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse^[b] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward; ²² and they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.

The Righteous Reign of the Coming King

9 ^[c] But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zeb′ulun and the land of Naph′tali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

^2 [d] The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shined.
³ Thou hast multiplied the nation,
    thou hast increased its joy;
they rejoice before thee
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
⁴ For the yoke of his burden,
    and the staff for his shoulder,
    the rod of his oppressor,
    thou hast broken as on the day of Mid′ian.
⁵ For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
    and every garment rolled in blood
    will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulder,
    and his name will be called
“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”^[e]
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom,
    to establish it, and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and for evermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Genesis 6:9-22

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Noah Pleases God

⁹ These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. ¹⁰ And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

^11 [a]Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. ¹³ And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ Make a roof^[b] for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and set the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷ For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive. ²¹ Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.” ²² Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Proverbs 8:1-21

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Gifts of Wisdom

8 Does not wisdom call,
does not understanding raise her voice?
² On the heights beside the way,
    in the paths she takes her stand;
³ beside the gates in front of the town,
    at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
⁴ “To you, O men, I call,
    and my cry is to the sons of men.
⁵ O simple ones, learn prudence;
    O foolish men, pay attention.
⁶ Hear, for I will speak noble things,
    and from my lips will come what is right;
⁷ for my mouth will utter truth;
    wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
⁸ All the words of my mouth are righteous;
    there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
⁹ They are all straight to him who understands
    and right to those who find knowledge.
¹⁰ Take my instruction instead of silver,
    and knowledge rather than choice gold;
¹¹ for wisdom is better than jewels,
    and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
¹² I, wisdom, dwell in prudence,^[a]
    and I find knowledge and discretion.
¹³ The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
    and perverted speech I hate.
¹⁴ I have counsel and sound wisdom,
    I have insight, I have strength.
¹⁵ By me kings reign,
    and rulers decree what is just;
¹⁶ by me princes rule,
    and nobles govern^[b] the earth.
¹⁷ I love those who love me,
    and those who seek me diligently find me.
¹⁸ Riches and honor are with me,
    enduring wealth and prosperity.
¹⁹ My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
    and my yield than choice silver.
²⁰ I walk in the way of righteousness,
    in the paths of justice,
²¹ endowing with wealth those who love me,
    and filling their treasuries.

 

28 Our venerable father and confessor Basil, fellow ascetic of Procopius, who suffered much and saw the conversion of many to orthodoxy. (741)

Hebrews 3:12-16

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹² Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³ But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we share in Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end, ¹⁵ while it is said,

“Today, when you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

¹⁶ Who were they that heard and yet were rebellious? Was it not all those who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses?

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Coming of the Lord

¹³ But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.^[a] 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; ¹⁷ then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.^[b]

Mark 1:35-44

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

A Preaching Tour in Galilee

³⁵ And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him followed him, ³⁷ and they found him and said to him, “Every one is searching for you.” ³⁸ And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.” ³⁹ And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

⁴⁰ And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I will; be clean.” ⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ⁴³ And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴ and said to him, “See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.”^[a]

John 5:24-30

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, ²⁷ and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹ and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

Witnesses to Jesus

³⁰ “I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

 

27 Our venerable father and confessor Procopius the Decapolite who, at the time of emperor Leo, vigorously contended for the cult of holy images. (741)

Genesis 5:32-6:8

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

³² After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Wickedness of Mankind

6 When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God^[a] saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

⁵ The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Proverbs 6:20-7:1

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s commandment,
    and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
²¹ Bind them upon your heart always;
    tie them about your neck.
²² When you walk, they^[a] will lead you;
    when you lie down, they^[b] will watch over you;
    and when you awake, they^[c] will talk with you.
²³ For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
²⁴ to preserve you from the evil woman,
    from the smooth tongue of the adventuress.
²⁵ Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
    and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
²⁶ for a harlot may be hired for a loaf of bread,^[d]
    but an adulteress^[e] stalks a man’s very life.
²⁷ Can a man carry fire in his bosom
    and his clothes not be burned?
²⁸ Or can one walk upon hot coals
    and his feet not be scorched?
²⁹ So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
    none who touches her will go unpunished.
³⁰ Do not men despise^[f] a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry?
³¹ And if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
    he will give all the goods of his house.
³² He who commits adultery has no sense;
    he who does it destroys himself.
³³ Wounds and dishonor will he get,
    and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
³⁴ For jealousy makes a man furious,
    and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will accept no compensation,
    nor be appeased though you multiply gifts.

The False Attractions of Adultery

7 My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;

 

26 Our holy father Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza in Palestine. Born in Thessalonica, he spent five years as a hermit in Skete and as many across the Jordan, where he was notable for his kindness toward the poor. Afterwards ordained a bishop, he overturned many temples of idols and was afflicted with troubles by their attendants for a long time, until, worthy of respect, he rested in peace with the saints. (421)

The holy great martyr, Photina the Samaritan. (cf. John 4).

 

Isaiah 6:1-12

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

A Vision of God in the Temple

6 ^[a]In the year that King Uzzi′ah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.” ⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” ⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

‘Hear and hear, but do not understand;
see and see, but do not perceive.’
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people fat,
    and their ears heavy,
    and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”

¹¹ Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”

And he said:

“Until cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without men,
    and the land is utterly desolate,
¹² and the Lord removes men far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

Genesis 5:1-24

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Adam’s Descendants to Noah and His Sons

5 This is the book of the generations^[a] of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. ² Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. ³ When Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ⁴ The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years; and he had other sons and daughters. ⁵ Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.

⁶ When Seth had lived a hundred and five years, he became the father of Enosh. ⁷ Seth lived after the birth of Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and had other sons and daughters. ⁸ Thus all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

⁹ When Enosh had lived ninety years, he became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh lived after the birth of Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹ Thus all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

¹² When Kenan had lived seventy years, he became the father of Mahal′alel. ¹³ Kenan lived after the birth of Mahal′alel eight hundred and forty years, and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ Thus all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵ When Mahal′alel had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ Mahal′alel lived after the birth of Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ Thus all the days of Mahal′alel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.

¹⁸ When Jared had lived a hundred and sixty-two years he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ Thus all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.

²¹ When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methu′selah. ²² Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methu′selah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Proverbs 6:3-20

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

³ then do this, my son, and save yourself,
    for you have come into your neighbor’s power:
    go, hasten,^[a] and importune your neighbor.
⁴ Give your eyes no sleep
    and your eyelids no slumber;
⁵ save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,^[b]
    like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶ Go to the ant, O sluggard;
    consider her ways, and be wise.
⁷ Without having any chief,
    officer or ruler,
⁸ she prepares her food in summer,
    and gathers her sustenance in harvest.
⁹ How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
¹¹ and poverty will come upon you like a vagabond,
    and want like an armed man.

¹² A worthless person, a wicked man,
    goes about with crooked speech,
¹³ winks with his eyes, scrapes^[c] with his feet,
    points with his finger,
¹⁴ with perverted heart devises evil,
    continually sowing discord;
¹⁵ therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
    in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

¹⁶ There are six things which the Lord hates,
    seven which are an abomination to him:
¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and a man who sows discord among brothers.

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s commandment,
    and forsake not your mother’s teaching.

 

25 Our holy father Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople, notable for his learning and piety. He opened the Second Nicene Council, in which the Fathers vindicated the cult of the holy images. He was called the “father of the poor.” (806) 27

Genesis 4:16-26

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹⁶ Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod,^[a] east of Eden.

Beginnings of Civilization

¹⁷ Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad was the father of Mehu′ja-el, and Mehu′ja-el the father of Methu′sha-el, and Methu′sha-el the father of Lamech. ¹⁹ And Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ²⁰ Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. ²² Zillah bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Na′amah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
    you wives of Lamech, hearken to what I say:
I have slain a man for wounding me,
    a young man for striking me.
²⁴ If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
    truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

²⁵ And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, for Cain slew him.” ²⁶ To Seth^[b] also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord.

Proverbs 5:15-6:3

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water in the streets?
¹⁷ Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed,
    and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
¹⁹     a lovely hind, a graceful doe.
Let her affection fill you at all times with delight,
    be infatuated always with her love.
²⁰ Why should you be infatuated, my son, with a loose woman
    and embrace the bosom of an adventuress?
²¹ For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he watches^[a] all his paths.
²² The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
    and he is caught in the toils of his sin.
²³ He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is lost.

Practical Admonitions

6 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,
    have given your pledge for a stranger;
² if you are snared in the utterance of your lips,^[b]
    caught in the words of your mouth;
³ then do this, my son, and save yourself,
    for you have come into your neighbor’s power:
    go, hasten,^[c] and importune your neighbor.

 

24 The first and second finding of the head of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John. Readings at Vespers. Polyeleos at Matins. Tradition tells us that the first finding was in the fourth century by two monks who came to Jerusalem. They brought the relic to the city of Emmesia. The second finding was during the fifth century.

Mitigation for wine and oil.

 

Isaiah 5:7-16

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
    is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
    are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
    but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
    but behold, a cry!

Social Injustice Denounced

⁸ Woe to those who join house to house,
    who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
    and you are made to dwell alone
    in the midst of the land.
⁹ The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
¹⁰ For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
    and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”

¹¹ Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    till wine inflames them!
¹² They have lyre and harp,
    timbrel and flute and wine at their feasts;
but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
    or see the work of his hands.

¹³ Therefore my people go into exile
    for want of knowledge;
their honored men are dying of hunger,
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
    and opened its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem^[a] and her multitude go down,
    her throng and he who exults in her.
¹⁵ Man is bowed down, and men are brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
¹⁶ But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.

Genesis 4:8-15

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁸ Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.”^[a] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. ¹¹ And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” ¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴ Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Not so!^[b] If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him.

Proverbs 5:1-15

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Warning against Impurity and Infidelity

5 My son, be attentive to my wisdom,
incline your ear to my understanding;
² that you may keep discretion,
    and your lips may guard knowledge.
³ For the lips of a loose woman drip honey,
    and her speech^[a] is smoother than oil;
⁴ but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
    sharp as a two-edged sword.
⁵ Her feet go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to^[b] Sheol;
⁶ she does not take heed to^[c] the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷ And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸ Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house;
⁹ lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless;
¹⁰ lest strangers take their fill of your strength,^[d]
    and your labors go to the house of an alien;
¹¹ and at the end of your life you groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹² and you say, “How I hated discipline,
    and my heart despised reproof!
¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴ I was at the point of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.

 

23 The holy martyr Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who is honored as a disciple of blessed John and the final witness of the apostolic age. Under the emperors Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, about the age of 90, he was given over to the flames in the amphitheater at Smyrna in Asia. Before the proconsul and the whole people, he gave thanks to God the Father because he had been deemed worthy to be numbered among the martyrs and to receive a portion from the cup of Christ. (c. 155)