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ON MONDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK AT THE TRITHEKTI We sing the following troparion of the Prophecy, and after it we read the Prophecy. This we do throughout the holy Lent at the Trithekti. Tone 5. Lord, Lord, at whom all things quake and tremble before the face of your power, we fall down before you, O Immortal; we beseech you, Holy One: * Save our souls, at the prayers of your Saints. Glory. Save our souls, at the prayers of your Saints. Both now. Lord, Lord, at whom all things quake, and tremble before the face of your power; we fall down before you, O Immortal; we beseech you, Holy One: Save our souls, at the prayers of your Saints. [In Athonite use the Troparion of the Prophecy is always said like this, with the last phrase only being repeated after ‘Glory’ and the whole after ‘Both now’.] Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 1. [These titles are traditionally read by the Reader in full] The Lord knows the way of the just, and the way of the ungodly will perish. Verse: Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly.The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias. 1:1-20 A Vision which Isaias, son of Amos, saw, which he saw against Judea and Jerusalem, in the reign of Ozias and Jotham and Achaz and Ezekias, who reigned over Judea. Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, because the Lord has spoken. I begot children and exalted them, but they rejected me. An ox knows its owner, and an ass its lord’s manger; but Israel does not know me, and my people has not understood. Woe, sinful nation, people full of sins, evil seed, lawless children! You have deserted the Lord and angered the Holy One of Israel. Why would you still be smitten as you add iniquity to iniquity? The whole head is in pain and the whole heart in grief; from feet to head there is no wholeness, nothing but wound, bruise, festering sore; it is not possible to apply plaster, or oil, or bandages. Your land is desert, your cities destroyed by fire; as for your country foreigners devour it before your eyes, and it has become a desert, ravaged by foreign peoples. The daughter of Sion will be abandoned, like a tent in a vineyard and like a store house in cucumber patch, like a city besieged. And had the Lord of hosts not left us seed, we had become like Sodom and been made like Gomorrha. Hear the word of the Lord, rulers of Sodom. Attend to the law of God, people of Gomorrha. What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I am full of holocausts of rams, and the fat of rams and the blood of bulls and goats I do not want. You are not to come to appear to me; who sought these things from your hands? You shall no more come to trample my courts; if you bring flour it is vain; incense is an abomination to me. Your new moons and Sabbaths and high days I do not endure; fast and holiday and your feasts my soul hates; you have become a excess for me, I shall no longer forgive your sins. When you stretch out your hands to me, I shall turn away me eyes from you; and if you multiply supplication, I shall not listen to you; for your hands are full of blood. Wash and become clean; put away the evils from your souls; in my sight cease from your evils, learn to do good, seek out judgement, deliver the wronged, judge for the orphan and do justice to the widow. And come, let us reason together, says the Lord; and if your sins are as scarlet, I will make them white as snow, while if they are crimson, I will make them white as wool. And if you are willing and will listen to me, you eat the good things of the land; but if you are not willing, and will not listen to me, a sword devours you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this. Prokeimenon. Tone 7. Psalm 2. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice at him with trembling. Verse: Why did nations rage, and peoples meditate vain things?Then the reading from the Ladder. AT VESPERS Prokeimenon of the Evening. Tone 6. Psalm 3. Salvation is of the Lord, and your blessing upon your people. Verse: Lord, why have those who afflict me been multiplied? The Reading is from Genesis. In the beginning God made [This word is taken into the Creed: ‘Maker’]. the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was invisible [This word is also taken into the Creed] and unformed, and darkness was upon the deep and a spirit of God was being borne upon the water. And God said: Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God made a separation between the light and the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night; and there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water and let there be a separation between the water and the water; and it was so. And God made the firmament; and God made a separation between the water, which was below the firmament, and between the water which was above the firmament. And God called the firmament Heaven; and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, a second day. And God said: Let the water below heaven be gathered together into one gathering, and let dry land appear; and it was so. And the water below heaven was gathered together into their gatherings, and the dry land appeared. And God called the dry land Earth, and the accumulations of the waters he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said: Let the earth sprout herb of grass, sowing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and fruiting tree making fruit, whose seed is in it according to its kind upon the earth; and it was so. And the earth brought forth herb of grass, sowing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and fruiting tree making fruit, whose seed was in it according to its kind upon the earth, and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and morning, a third day.Prokeimenon. Tone 5. Psalm 4. The Lord will listen to me when I call upon him. Verse: When I called you listened to me, God of my justice.The Reading is from Proverbs. 1:1-20 Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, who reigned in Israel, for knowing wisdom and instruction, understanding words of prudence, receiving difficulties of words, understanding true justice and directing judgement; that he might give cunning to the innocent, to a young man perception and understanding. For a wise man hearing these will be wiser, while the man of understanding will gain guidance; and will understand both parable and dark word, sayings of the wise and riddles. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; while there is good understanding for all those who do it; true religion towards God is the beginning of perception; while the godless will reject wisdom and instruction. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not reject your mother’s rules. For you will receive a crown of graces for your head and a golden collar about your neck. My son, do not let godless men lead you astray, nor be willing, if they invite you, saying: Come with us, partake of blood, let us hide unjustly a just man in the earth; let us drink him down living, like Hell, and remove his memory from the earth; and let us lay hold on his valuable property; let us fill our houses with spoils; cast in your lot with us, and let us all obtain a common purse, and let their be one wallet for us; do not go in the way with them; turn aside your foot from their paths; for their feet run to wickedness and are swift to shed blood. For nest are not unjustly spread for birds. For they share in murder, store up evils for themselves; the overthrow of lawless men is evil. These are the ways of all that accomplish lawless deeds, for by godlessness they do away with their own soul. Wisdom is praised in the streets, in the squares brings boldness. ON TUESDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK AT THE TRITHEKTI Troparion of the Prophecy. Tone 1. Because we are sojourners on earth, like all our fathers, keep the short space of our life sinless, our Saviour, * and have mercy on us, as you love humankind. Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 5. Attend to the voice of my supplication. Verse: Give ear to my words, O Lord; understand my cry.The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias. 1:19-31 & 2:1-3 Thus says the Lord: If you are willing and will listen to me, you eat the good things of the land; but if you are not willing, and will not listen to me, a sword devours you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this. How has faithful Sion, full of judgement, become a harlot city; in which justice once slept, but now murderers. You silver is worthless; your merchants mix wine with water; your rulers disobey, companions of thieves, loving bribes, running after reward, not judging for orphans, not giving judgement for widows. Because of this, thus says the Lord, the Master of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Woe to the strong in Jerusalem! For my wrath will not cease among my opponents; and I will execute judgement on my foes, and I will bring my hand upon you, and I will refine you into something pure; but the disobedient I will destroy, and remove all the lawless from you, and I will humble all the proud. And I will establish your judges as before, and your counsellors as from the beginning; and after this you shall be called a city of justice, mother city, faithful Sion; for with judgement will her captivity be saved, and with mercy. And the lawless will be crushed, and sinners as well, and those who have deserted the Lord will be utterly consumed. Therefore they will be shamed by their idols, which they wished for; and disgraced for their groves, which they desired. For they shall be a terebinth which has lost its leaves, and as a garden which has no water. And their strength will be a piece of tow and their works sparks of fire; and the lawless shall be burnt up, and sinners as well, and there shall be no one to quench the fire. [ 2:1] The word which came from the Lord to Isaias, son of Amos, concerning Judea and Jerusalem: That in the last day the mountain of the Lord will be manifest, and the house of the Lord on the peaks of the mountains; and it will be exalted high above the hills, and all the nations will come to it, and many nations will journey and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will proclaim his way to us; and we shall walk in it.Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 6. Lord, rebuke me not in your anger; nor chastise me in your wrath. Verse: Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am weak.AT VESPERS Prokeimenon of the Evening. Tone 5. Psalm 7. Lord, my God, I have hoped in you. Verse: Save me from all those who persecute me.The Reading is from Genesis. 1:14-23 God said: Let there be lamps in the firmament of heaven to give light on the earth, and to make a separation between the day and the night; and let them exist for signs and for seasons and for days and for years; and let them exist to give light in the firmament of heaven, so as to shine on the earth; and it was so. And God made the two great lamps, the great lamp to rule the day, and the lesser lamp to rule the night and the stars. And God placed them in the firmament of heaven so as to shine on the earth, and to rule the day and the night, and to make a separation between the light and the darkness; and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. And god said: Let the waters bring forth reptiles of living souls, and winged creatures flying over the earth, under the firmament of heaven; and it was so. And God made the great whales, and every soul of living reptiles, which the waters brought forth according to their kind, and every winged flying creature according to its kind. And God saw that they were good; and God blessed them and said: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the winged creatures be multiplied upon the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. Prokeimenon. Tone 5. Psalm 8. Lord, our Lord, how wondrous is your name in all the earth! Verse: For your majesty is exalted above the heavens.The Reading is from Proverbs. 1:20-33 Wisdom is praised in the streets, in the squares brings boldness. On the tops of the walls she is proclaimed, in the gates of the mighty she takes her seat; at the gates of the city she boldly declares: For as long as the innocent hold to justice, they will not be shamed; while the foolish, being ones who desire conceit, becoming ungodly, have hated perception, and have become subject to reproofs. See, I shall bring forth for you the utterance of my breath, while I shall teach you my word. Since I was calling and you did not obey, and I spoke at length and you paid no attention; but you made my counsels of no effect, you paid no attention to my reproofs; therefore I too shall laugh at your destruction; I shall rejoice when annihilation comes upon you, and disturbance arrives suddenly for you, while overthrow will come like a tempest, and when trouble and siege comes to us; or when annihilation comes to you; for it shall be, when you call upon me, that I shall not listen to you; the wicked will seek me, and not find me. For they hated wisdom, while they did not choose the word of the Lord, nor did they wish to attend to my counsels; but they derided my reproofs. Therefore they eat the fruits of their own way, and will be filled with their own ungodliness. For in return for their wronging infants, they will be slain, and examination will destroy the ungodly. While one who hears me will dwell in hope and will be still, with no fear of any evil. ON WEDNESDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK AT THE TRITHEKTI Troparion of the Prophecy. Tone 4. You know what we are made of, you know our weakness, Lover of mankind; we have sinned, but we have not forsaken you, O God, nor have we stretched out our hands to a strange god. * In your goodness, spare us, O Compassionate. Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 9. I will confess you, Lord, with my whole heart. Verse: I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing to your name, O Most High.The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias. 2:3-17 Thus says the Lord: From Sion a law will come forth, and a word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; and they will beat their swords into ploughs and their pikes into sickles, and nation will not take up sword against nation, and they shall in no way learn to war any more. And now, house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord; for he has abandoned his people, the house of Israel, because their country, like that of foreigners, has been filled as at the beginning with divinations; and many foreign children have been born to them. For their country has been filled with silver and gold, and there was no numbering their treasures; and the land has been filled with horses, and there was no numbering their chariots; and the land has been filled with abominations, the works of their hands, and they have worshipped what their fingers have made. And a man bowed down, and a man was humbled, and I will in no way pardon them. And now enter the rocks, and be hidden in the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his strength, when he arises to crush the earth. For the eyes of the Lord are exalted, but man is lowly; and the exaltation of men will be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Prokeimenon. Tone 6. Psalm 10. The Lord is just, and loves deeds of justice. Verse: I have trusted in the Lord; how will you say to my soul: Flee to the mountains like a sparrow.AT VESPERS Prokeimenon of the Evening. Tone 5. Psalm 11. Do you, Lord, guard us and keep us from this generation and for ever. Verse: Save me, O Lord, for there is not one godly man left.The Reading is from Genesis. 1:24-31 & 2:1-3 God said: Let the earth bring forth living soul according to its kind, quadrupeds, reptiles, and wild beasts of the earth according to their kind; and it was so. And God made the wild beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and all the reptiles of the earth according to their kinds. And God saw that they were good. And God said: Let us make humanity according to our image and according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of heaven and the cattle and all the earth and all the reptiles which creep upon the earth. And God made humanity, according to the image of God he made it; male and female he made them. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it; and rule the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of heaven and all the cattle and all the earth and all the reptiles which creep upon the earth. And God said: See, I have given you all seed-bearing grass, sowing seed, which is upon the whole earth; and every tree, which has in it fruit of seed-bearing seed, shall be food for you, and for all the wild beasts of the earth and for all the winged creatures of heaven, and for every reptile which creeps upon the earth, which has in itself a soul of life, and every green grass shall be food. And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made; and behold, they were very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. [ 2:1] And the heaven and the earth were accomplished, and all their array. And God accomplished on the sixth day the works which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from his works which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it; because on it he rested from all his works, which God had begun to make.Prokeimenon. Tone 6. Psalm 12. Look upon me, listen to me, Lord, my God. Verse: How long, Lord, will you forget me to the end?The Reading is from Proverbs. 2:1-22 My son, if you accept utterance of my commandment and hide it in yourself, your ear will obey wisdom and you will apply your heart to understanding; you will apply it to the instruction of your son. For is you call upon wisdom and give your voice to understanding, while you seek perception with a loud voice, and if you seek it like silver, and search it out like treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and you will find knowledge of God; because the Lord gives wisdom and from his face <come> knowledge and understanding. And he treasures up salvation for those who act uprightly; he will protect their path, to guard the ways of just deeds; and to protect the way of those who respect him. Then you will understand justice and judgement, and direct all good courses. For if wisdom comes into the mind, while perception seems to be good to your soul, good counsel will guard you; while holy thought will watch over you, that it may deliver you from a wicked way, and from a man who speaks nothing trustworthy. Alas for those who abandon straight ways to journey in ways of darkness; who are glad at wickednesses, and rejoice at wicked perversity! Whose paths are crooked and whose tracks are winding, to take you far from the straight way, and make you a stranger to just purpose. My son, let not wicked counsel, which has abandoned teaching from her youth, and forgotten God’s testament, take you; for she has set her house next death and her door-posts [This word means literally an ‘axle’ or ‘axis’, and hence metaphorically a ‘course’ or ‘path’. But in the plural it also means ‘door-jambs’, which is how it could be taken here. The MT has ‘paths’, but, like LXX, ‘house’ in the first half. Some modern editors alter this to ‘way’] with the earthborn next Hell. All those who journey by her will not return, nor will they take straight paths; for they are not taken by years of life [This curious reading seems to mean that the they will not enjoy a long life. The sentence appears to be a translation doublet of the previous half verse.]. For if they had journeyed on good paths, they would have found smooth paths of justice. They will be good builders of the land; but the innocent will be left behind in it; because the upright will inhabit the land and the holy will be left behind in it. The ways of the ungodly will perish from the land; while the transgressors will be destroyed from it.ON THURSDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK AT THE TRITHEKTI Troparion of the Prophecy. Tone 1. Deliver us from visible and invisible foes, O Lord; may the nations never say: Where is their God? Let them know, Master, that * you overlook the sins of your people when they repent. Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 13. When the Lord turns back the captivity of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. Verse: The fool has said in his heart: There is no God.The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias. 2:11-21 The Lord alone will be exalted in that day; for the day of the Lord of hosts will be upon every one that is proud and haughty, and upon the high and lofty; and they will be humbled. And upon every cedar of Lebanon, of the high and lofty, and upon every tree of oak of Basan, and upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, and upon every high tower, and upon every high wall, and upon every ship of the sea and upon every sight of ships of beauty. And every man shall be humbled and the height of men shall fall; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And they will hide all things made with hands, bringing them into the caves and clefts of the rocks, and into the caverns of the earth, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his strength, when he arises to crush the earth. On that day a man will cast out his abominations, the silver and gold objects which they made to worship with vanities and bats; to enter the caverns of the solid rock and the clefts of the rocks and from the glory of his strength, when he arises to crush the earth. Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 14. Lord, who will dwell in your tabernacle? And who will dwell on your holy mountain? Verse: He who walks blameless, and works justice, speaking truth in his heart.AT VESPERS Evening Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 15. I will bless the Lord who has given me understanding. Verse: Guard me, O Lord, for I have hoped in you.The Reading is from Genesis. 2:4-19 This is the book of the genesis of heaven and earth, when it came to pass; in the day when the Lord [The LXX uses the word Kyrios, frequently without the definite article, as here, as a proper name, the equivalent of the divine name YHWH.] God made heaven and earth and every herb of the field, before it was on the earth, and every grass of the field, before sprang up; for God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to work it. But a spring went up out of the earth and watered the face of the earth. And God fashioned man, dust from the earth, and breathed into his face a breath of life; and man became a living soul. And God planted Paradise [The word means ‘a garden’, but is taken by the Triodion as a proper name.] in Edem, to the East, and he placed there the man he had fashioned. And God again made every tree fair to behold and good to eat to spring out of the earth; and the tree of life in the midst of Paradise, and the tree of knowing what can be known of good and evil. While a river came from Edem to water Paradise; from there it divides into four heads; the name of one is Phison, this encircles all the land of Evilat, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; and there is carbuncle and the green stone. And the name of the second is Geon, this encircles the whole land of Ethiopia. And the third river is the Tigris, this is the one which flows out opposite the Assyrians. The fourth river is the Euphrates. And the Lord God took the man he had fashioned, and placed him in the Paradise of delight, to work it and guard it. And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying: From every tree in Paradise you may eat for food; but from the tree of knowing good and evil, you [This and the two following verbs are plural.] are not to eat from it; on the day you eat from it by death you will die. And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone; let us make a helper for him, corresponding to him. And God fashioned again from the earth all the flying creatures of heaven, and the wild beasts of the field; and he brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And every name that Adam called each living soul, that was its name.Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 16. Guard me, O Lord, as the apple of your eye. Verse: Listen, O Lord of my justice, attend to my supplication.The Reading is from Proverbs. 3:1-19 My son, do not forget my laws, let your heart keep my words; for they will add to you length of life and years of life and peace. Do not let mercies and faith desert you; attach them to your neck, write them on the tables of your heart, and you will find grace; and take thought for what is good before the Lord and before men. Be trusting in God with your whole heart; do not be exalted in your own wisdom. In all your ways get to know her, that you may rightly direct your ways; and your foot not stumble. Do not be prudent in your own eyes; rather fear God and keep from every wickedness; then there will be healing for your body and treatment for your bones. Honour the Lord with your just labours and offer him the first of the fruits of your justice, that your stores may be filled to abundance with corn, that your presses may be bursting with wine. My son, do not treat lightly the Lord’s discipline, nor give up when you are rebuked by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves; scourges every child he receives. Blest the man who has found wisdom, every mortal who knows prudence. For it is better to trade for her than for treasures of gold and silver. She is more precious than valuable stones; nothing evil will withstand her; she is well known to all who draw near her, nothing precious is worthy of her, for length of life and years of life are in her right hand, while in her left are wealth and glory. Justice comes from her mouth; she carries law and mercy on her tongue. Her ways are good ways and all her paths are in peace. She is a tree of life to all who lay hold of her, and to those who lean hard upon her as upon the Lord she is safe. ON FRIDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK AT THE TRITHEKTI Troparion of the Prophecy. Tone 8. In your pity, Lord, come to the help our life full of sin and our way of living empty of repentance; we know no other but you who has mastery over life and death; * save, as you love mankind. Prokeimenon. Tone 4. Psalm 17. I will love you, Lord, my strength. Verse: My God is my helper, and I will hope in him.The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias. 3:1-14 See now, the Master, Lord of hosts, will take away from Judea and Jerusalem the strong man and the strong woman, strength of bread and strength of water, giant and strong and warrior and justice, prophet and diviner, elder and captain of fifty, wondrous counsellor and wise master-builder and understanding hearer. And I will set youths as their rulers, and scoffers will lord it over them. And the people will fall, man upon man, and man upon his neighbour; the child will insult the elder, the base the honourable. Because a man will seize his brother, or one of his own father’s house and say: You have a garment, become our prince, and let my food be under you. And answering in that day he will say: I will not be your prince; for there is neither garment nor food in my house; I will not be prince of this people, because Jerusalem is forsaken and Judea has fallen and their tongues are with iniquity and they disobey what concerns the Lord; therefore now their glory has been humbled and the shame of their face has stood against them; they have declared and manifested their sin like that of Sodom. Woe to their soul, because they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just, for he is burdensome to us; therefore they eat the products of their works. Woe to the lawless: evils will happen to him according to the works of his hands. My people, your bailiffs glean you, and your creditors lord it over you. My people, those who call you blest lead you astray and disturb the path of your feet. But now he will stand up for judgement; the Lord himself will come to judgement with the elders of the people and with its rulers. Prokeimenon. Tone 6. Psalm 18. Lord, my helper and redeemer. Verse: The heavens declare the glory of God; while the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.Note that we sing the Office from the Menaion of the Saint who falls on Saturday and Sunday, at Compline, or whenever the Ecclesiarch wishes. AT VESPERS Evening Prokeimenon. Tone 5. Psalm 19. May the Lord hear you in the day of trouble. Verse: May the name of the God of Jacob shield you.The Reading is from Genesis. 2:20-25 & 3:1-20 And Adam gave names to all the cattle and all the flying creatures of heaven and to all the wild beasts of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself. And God put a trance upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and filled up the flesh instead of it. And God built the rib which he had taken from Adam into a woman and brought her to Adam. And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she has been taken from the Man. For this reason a man will leave behind his father and mother and be attached to his wife and they shall be two into one flesh. And they were both naked, Adam and his wife, and they were not ashamed. [ 3:1] Now the serpent was more sagacious [The word has no necessarily pejorative tone in Greek. Cf. 41:33,39] than all the beasts on the earth which the Lord God had made. And the serpent said to the woman: What is it God said: you are not to eat of any tree of Paradise? And the woman said to the serpent: From the fruit of the trees of Paradise we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of Paradise, God said: Do not eat of it, do not even touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said to the woman: By death you will not die; for God knows that on the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat and that it was pleasing for the eyes to behold and fair for understanding; and she took of the fruit and ate; and she and she gave to her husband with her and they ate. And the eyes of the two of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves themselves together and made aprons for themselves. And the heard the voice of the Lord God as he walked in Paradise in the afternoon and Adam and his wife hid from the face of the Lord God in the middle of the trees of Paradise. And the Lord God called Adam and said to him: Adam, where are you? And he said to him: I heard your voice as you walked in Paradise, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid. And God said to him: Who told you were naked, unless you have eaten of the tree of which alone I commanded you not to eat? And Adam said: The woman, whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the woman: Why did you do this? And the woman said: The serpent deceived me, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are accursed above all the cattle and all the wild beasts on the earth; on your breast and on your belly you will go, and you will eat earth all the days of your life, and I shall place enmity between you and the Woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will watch for your head, and you will watch for his heel. And to the woman he said: Multiplying I shall multiply your pains and your groaning; in pains you will give birth to children, and your recourse shall be to your husband, and he will lord it over you. While to Adam he said: Because you listened to the voice of your wife, and ate of the tree of which alone I commanded you not eat, you ate of it, the earth is accursed in your works; in pains you will eat all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it will bring up for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field; in the sweat of your brow you shall eat your bread, until you return to the earth from which you were taken; because you are earth and to earth you shall return. And Adam called his wife’s name Life [In Greek ‘Zoe’]; because she is the mother of all the living.Prokeimenon. Tone 6. Psalm 20. Be exalted, Lord, in your power; we sing and chant your mighty acts. Verse: The king will glad in your power, Lord; and rejoice greatly in your salvation.The Reading is from Proverbs. 3:19-34 God founded the earth with wisdom, he prepared the heavens with prudence. By perception the deeps were broken up, and clouds dropped rains. My son, do not let this pass by you; keep my counsel and understanding, that your soul may live and grace may be upon your neck; there will be healing for flesh and treatment for your bones, that you may walk trustingly on all your ways in peace, that your foot may not stumble; for if sit you will be fearless, if you sleep you will slumber sweetly; and you be afraid of terror coming upon you, nor of assaults of the godless coming at you; for the Lord will be on all your ways, and he will establish your foot, lest you be shaken. Do not forbear to do good to one in need, whenever your hand is able to give help. Do not, while you are able to do good, say: Go, come back again; to-morrow I shall give; for you do not know what the coming day will bring to birth. Do not plot evils against your friend who lives near you and trusts you. Do not quarrel with someone without cause, lest he work some wickedness against you. Do not gain the reproaches of wicked men, nor imitate their ways. For every transgressor is unclean before the Lord; nor does he take his seat among the just. God’s curse is in the houses of the ungodly; while the abodes of the just are blessed. The Lord resists the proud; but to the humble he gives grace. It is to be noted that on all Fridays of the holy and great Lent, at Vespers and Compline, we do not make metanias, except only for those prescribed at the Presanctified; that is the 3 after Let my prayer, the 3 after the Entrance of the Holy Gifts, and the 3 at Blessed be the name of the Lord. At Compline we sing the Canons of Repose of the current Tone in the Cemetery. The Canons of the Menaion, that is, of the current Saturday and Sunday we sing whenever the Ecclesiarch decides; the one we sing at Compline on Friday, the other at Compline on Sunday. This we do on all Friday evenings of the holy and great Lent. |
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