Readings for Tue, April 16th

Matins

Prophecies

Proverbs 8:12-21

"I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
        And find out knowledge and discretion.
        The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
        Pride and arrogance and the evil way
        And the perverse mouth I hate.
        Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
        I am understanding, I have strength.
        By me kings reign,
        And rulers decree justice.
        By me princes rule, and nobles,
        All the judges of the earth.
        I love those who love me,
        And those who seek me diligently will find me.
        Riches and honor are with me,
        Enduring riches and righteousness.
        My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
        And my revenue than choice silver.
        I traverse the way of righteousness,
        In the midst of the paths of justice,
        That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
        That I may fill their treasuries.

Isaiah 44:1-8
"Yet hear me now, O Jacob My servant,
        And Israel whom I have chosen.
        Thus says the LORD who made you
        And formed you from the womb, who will help you:
        "Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
        And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
        For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
        And floods on the dry ground;
        I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
        And My blessing on your offspring;
        They will spring up among the grass
        Like willows by the watercourses.'
        One will say, "I am the LORD's';
        Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
        Another will write with his hand, "The LORD's,'
        And name himself by the name of Israel.

"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel,
        And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
        "I am the First and I am the Last;
        Besides Me there is no God.
        And who can proclaim as I do?
        Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,
        Since I appointed the ancient people.
        And the things that are coming and shall come,
        Let them show these to them.
        Do not fear, nor be afraid;
        Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
        You are My witnesses.
        Is there a God besides Me?
       

Job 32:17-end ; Job 33:1-33

I also will answer my part,
        I too will declare my opinion.
        For I am full of words;
        The spirit within me compels me.
        Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent;
        It is ready to burst like new wineskins.
        I will speak, that I may find relief;
        I must open my lips and answer.
        Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone;
        Nor let me flatter any man.
        For I do not know how to flatter,
        Else my Maker would soon take me away. "But please, Job, hear my speech,
        And listen to all my words.
        Now, I open my mouth;
        My tongue speaks in my mouth.
        My words come from my upright heart;
        My lips utter pure knowledge.
        The Spirit of God has made me,
        And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
        If you can answer me,
        Set your words in order before me;
        Take your stand.
        Truly I am as your spokesman before God;
        I also have been formed out of clay.
        Surely no fear of me will terrify you,
        Nor will my hand be heavy on you.
        "Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
        And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,
        "I am pure, without transgression;
        I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.
        Yet He finds occasions against me,
        He counts me as His enemy;
        He puts my feet in the stocks,
        He watches all my paths.'
        "Look, in this you are not righteous.
        I will answer you,
        For God is greater than man.
        Why do you contend with Him?
        For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.
        For God may speak in one way, or in another,
        Yet man does not perceive it.
        In a dream, in a vision of the night,
        When deep sleep falls upon men,
        While slumbering on their beds,
        Then He opens the ears of men,
        And seals their instruction.
        In order to turn man from his deed,
        And conceal pride from man,
        He keeps back his soul from the Pit,
        And his life from perishing by the sword.
        "Man is also chastened with pain on his bed,
        And with strong pain in many of his bones,
        So that his life abhors bread,
        And his soul succulent food.
        His flesh wastes away from sight,
        And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
        Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,
        And his life to the executioners.
        "If there is a messenger for him,
        A mediator, one among a thousand,
        To show man His uprightness,
        Then He is gracious to him, and says,
        "Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
        I have found a ransom';
        His flesh shall be young like a child's,
        He shall return to the days of his youth.
        He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,
        He shall see His face with joy,
        For He restores to man His righteousness.
        Then he looks at men and says,
        "I have sinned, and perverted what was right,
        And it did not profit me.'
        He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit,
        And his life shall see the light.
        "Behold, God works all these things,
        Twice, in fact, three times with a man,
        To bring back his soul from the Pit,
        That he may be enlightened with the light of life.
        "Give ear, Job, listen to me;
        Hold your peace, and I will speak.
        If you have anything to say, answer me;
        Speak, for I desire to justify you.
        If not, listen to me;
        Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom."

2 Kings 5:1-27
Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman's wife. Then she said to her mistress, "If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy." And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, "Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel."
Then the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel."
So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said,


Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.


And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me."
So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."
Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean." But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, "Indeed, I said to myself, "He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.' Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, "Wash, and be clean'?" So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, "Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant."
But he said, "As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing." And he urged him to take it, but he refused.
So Naaman said, "Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. Yet in this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon--when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD please pardon your servant in this thing."
Then he said to him, "Go in peace." So he departed from him a short distance.

But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, "Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him." So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, "Is all well?"
And he said, "All is well. My master has sent me, saying, "Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments."'
So Naaman said, "Please, take two talents." And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. When he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and they departed. Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, "Where did you go, Gehazi?"
And he said, "Your servant did not go anywhere."
Then he said to him, "Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever." And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow.

Psalm

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

Psalm 35:13

But as for me, when they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own heart.

Gospel

Luke 4:22-30

So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"

He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, "Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country."' Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."

So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

Liturgy

Pauline Epistle

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

1Corinthians 14:18-28

I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.

In the law it is written:
        "With men of other tongues and other lips
        I will speak to this people;
        And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,"

says the Lord.

Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.

How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.

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.

James 1:22— & James 2:1-1

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

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

Acts 19:11-20

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"

Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Psalm

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

Psalm 42:1

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
        So pants my soul for You, O God.

Gospel

Luke 9:18-22

And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"

So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."