Readings for Fri, March 27th

Matins

Prophecies

Deuteronomy 11:29-end ; Deuteronomy 12:1-27

Now it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh? For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today. "These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things.

"But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

"You shall not at all do as we are doing here today--every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes-- for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; but in the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

"However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand. But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands. Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

"When the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, "Let me eat meat,' because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them. Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water. You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses. And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat.

Kings 17:2-24
Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there."
So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink." And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
So she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: "The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth."'
So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.
Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?"
And he said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?" And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him." Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.
And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!"
Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth."

Proverbs 5:1-12
My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
        Lend your ear to my understanding,
        That you may preserve discretion,
        And your lips may keep knowledge.
        For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey,
        And her mouth is smoother than oil;
        But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
        Sharp as a two-edged sword.
        Her feet go down to death,
        Her steps lay hold of hell.
        Lest you ponder her path of life--
        Her ways are unstable;
        You do not know them.
        Therefore hear me now, my children,
        And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
        Remove your way far from her,
        And do not go near the door of her house,
        Lest you give your honor to others,
        And your years to the cruel one;
        Lest aliens be filled with your wealth,
        And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
        And you mourn at last,
        When your flesh and your body are consumed,
        And say:
        "How I have hated instruction,
        And my heart despised correction!

Isaiah 43:1-9
But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob,
        And He who formed you, O Israel:
        "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
        I have called you by your name;
        You are Mine.
        When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
        And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
        When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
        Nor shall the flame scorch you.
        For I am the LORD your God,
        The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
        I gave Egypt for your ransom,
        Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
        Since you were precious in My sight,
        You have been honored,
        And I have loved you;
        Therefore I will give men for you,
        And people for your life.
        Fear not, for I am with you;
        I will bring your descendants from the east,
        And gather you from the west;
        I will say to the north, "Give them up!'
        And to the south, "Do not keep them back!'
        Bring My sons from afar,
        And My daughters from the ends of the earth--
        Everyone who is called by My name,
        Whom I have created for My glory;
        I have formed him, yes, I have made him."
        Bring out the blind people who have eyes,
        And the deaf who have ears.
        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."

Job 30:9-end ; Job 32:1-5

"And now I am their taunting song;
        Yes, I am their byword.
        They abhor me, they keep far from me;
        They do not hesitate to spit in my face.
        Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me,
        They have cast off restraint before me.
        At my right hand the rabble arises;
        They push away my feet,
        And they raise against me their ways of destruction.
        They break up my path,
        They promote my calamity;
        They have no helper.
        They come as broad breakers;
        Under the ruinous storm they roll along.
        Terrors are turned upon me;
        They pursue my honor as the wind,
        And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
        "And now my soul is poured out because of my plight;
        The days of affliction take hold of me.
        My bones are pierced in me at night,
        And my gnawing pains take no rest.
        By great force my garment is disfigured;
        It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
        He has cast me into the mire,
        And I have become like dust and ashes.
        "I cry out to You, but You do not answer me;
        I stand up, and You regard me.
        But You have become cruel to me;
        With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.
        You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;
        You spoil my success.
        For I know that You will bring me to death,
        And to the house appointed for all living.
        "Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins,
        If they cry out when He destroys it.
        Have I not wept for him who was in trouble?
        Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
        But when I looked for good, evil came to me;
        And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
        My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest;
        Days of affliction confront me.
        I go about mourning, but not in the sun;
        I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
        I am a brother of jackals,
        And a companion of ostriches.
        My skin grows black and falls from me;
        My bones burn with fever.
        My harp is turned to mourning,
        And my flute to the voice of those who weep.

"I have made a covenant with my eyes;
Why then should I look upon a young woman?
For what is the allotment of God from above,
And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
Is it not destruction for the wicked,
And disaster for the workers of iniquity?
Does He not see my ways,
And count all my steps?


"If I have walked with falsehood,
Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,
Let me be weighed on honest scales,
That God may know my integrity.
If my step has turned from the way,
Or my heart walked after my eyes,
Or if any spot adheres to my hands,
Then let me sow, and another eat;
Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.


"If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door,
Then let my wife grind for another,
And let others bow down over her.
For that would be wickedness;
Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.
For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,
And would root out all my increase.


"If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant
When they complained against me,
What then shall I do when God rises up?
When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?
Did not He who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?


"If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
Or eaten my morsel by myself,
So that the fatherless could not eat of it
(But from my youth I reared him as a father,
And from my mother's womb I guided the widow );
If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or any poor man without covering;
If his heart has not blessed me,
And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
If I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
When I saw I had help in the gate;
Then let my arm fall from my shoulder,
Let my arm be torn from the socket.
For destruction from God is a terror to me,
And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.


"If I have made gold my hope,
Or said to fine gold, "You are my confidence';
If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had gained much;
If I have observed the sun when it shines,
Or the moon moving in brightness,
So that my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;
This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,
For I would have denied God who is above.


"If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
Or lifted myself up when evil found him
(Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for a curse on his soul);
If the men of my tent have not said,
"Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?'
(But no sojourner had to lodge in the street,
For I have opened my doors to the traveler );
If I have covered my transgressions as Adam,
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
Because I feared the great multitude,
And dreaded the contempt of families,
So that I kept silence
And did not go out of the door--
Oh, that I had one to hear me!
Here is my mark.
Oh, that the Almighty would answer me,
That my Prosecutor had written a book!
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
And bind it on me like a crown;
I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince I would approach Him.


"If my land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
If I have eaten its fruit without money,
Or caused its owners to lose their lives;
Then let thistles grow instead of wheat,
And weeds instead of barley."

So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job. When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused.

Psalm

From the psalms of our teacher David the prophet, may his blessings be with us Amen.

Psalm 86:9 - 10

All nations whom You have made
Shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And shall glorify Your name.
For You are great, and do wondrous things;
You alone are God.

Gospel

Mark 12:28-34

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"

Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

But after that no one dared question Him.

Liturgy

Pauline Epistle

From the epistle of teacher St. Paul the apostle to the (...), may his blessings be with us Amen.

Hebrews 12:5-16

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
        "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
        Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
        For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
        And scourges every son whom He receives."

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.

The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.

Catholic Epistle

The catholic epistle from the epistle of our teacher St. (...), may his blessings be with us Amen. My beloved.

1Peter 4:15— & 1Peter 5:1-5

But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now
        "If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
        Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
        "God resists the proud,
        But gives grace to the humble."

The Acts of our fathers the Apostles, may their holy blessings be with us all. Amen.

Acts 15:36— & Acts 16:1-3

Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing." Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

Psalm

From the psalms of our teacher David the prophet, may his blessings be with us Amen.

Psalm 138:1 & Psalm 138:2

I will praise You with my whole heart;
Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
2I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

Gospel

John 8:21-27

Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come."

So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, "Where I go you cannot come'?"

And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"

And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."

They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.