Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 29:13-23
Therefore the LORD said: "Inasmuch as these people draw near
to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed
their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the
commandment of men,
Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among
this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise
men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be
hidden."
Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from
the LORD, and their works are in the dark; they say, "Who sees us?" and, "
Who knows us?"
Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be
esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, "He
did not make me"? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He
has no understanding"?
Is it not yet a very little while till Lebanon shall be
turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a
forest?
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and
the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and
the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel.
For the terrible one is brought to nothing, the scornful one
is consumed, and all who watch for iniquity are cut off;
who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for
him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught.
Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham,
concerning the house of Jacob: "Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall
his face now grow pale;
but when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his
midst, they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and fear
the God of Israel.
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 12:1-7
Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country,
from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show
you.
I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make
your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who
curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot
went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from
Haran.
Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son,
and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they
had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So
they came to the land of Canaan.
Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as
far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the
land.
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your
descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD,
who had appeared to him.
Old Testament Reading: Proverbs 14:15-26
The simple believes every word, but the prudent man
considers well his steps.
A wise man fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages
and is self-confident.
He who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, and a man of
wicked intentions is hated.
The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with
knowledge.
The evil will bow before the good, and the wicked at the
gates of the righteous.
The poor man is hated even by his own neighbor, but the
rich has many friends.
He who despises his neighbor sins; but he who has mercy on
the poor, happy is he.
Do they not go astray who devise evil? but mercy and truth
belong to those who devise good.
In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only
to poverty.
The crown of the wise is their riches, but the foolishness
of fools is folly.
A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness
speaks lies.
In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, and
His children will have a place of refuge.
Saints and Feasts
Prokopios the Confessor of Decapolis; Raphael of Brooklyn; Stephen the Monk
