Readings for January

1st. The Circumcision of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Our Father among the Saints Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am your God. Be well pleasing before me and be blameless. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly; and you will be the father of a multitude of nations. And your name will not be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, because I have established you as father of many nations. And I will increase you very greatly, and I will establish you for nations, and kings will come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and between your seed after you for their generations as an eternal covenant, and I will be their God.’ And Abraham fell on his face and worshipped the Lord. And God said to Abraham, ‘You are to keep my covenant, you and your seed after you to their generations. And this is the covenant which you are to keep between me and between your seed after you to their generations. Every male among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the foreskin of your flesh, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and you. And every male child among you shall be circumcised at eight days for your generations. And an uncircumcised male that is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, that soul shall be wiped out from its race; because it has rejected my covenant.’

The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works. Before time[2] he established me, in the beginning before he made the earth. And before he made the deeps and before the springs of waters came forth, before the mountains were set firm and before all the hills he begets me. The Lord made countries and uninhabited places and the high inhabited parts of the earth under heaven. When he was preparing the heaven I was present with him, and when he marked out his throne on the winds. When he made the clouds on high strong and secured the fountains of the earth under heaven. When he gave his command to the sea — and the waters will not transgress his order[3] —, and when he was strengthening the foundations of the earth, I was by him arranging all things. I was the one in whom he delighted; while day by day I rejoiced in his presence at every moment.

3. The Reading is from the Wisdom of Solomon.
[Proverbs 10:31-32 & Selection][4]

The mouth of a just man distils wisdom; the lips of men know graces. The mouth of the wise meditates wisdom; justice delivers them from death. When a just man dies hope is not lost; for a just son is born for life, and among his good things he will pluck the fruit of justice. There is light at all times for the just, and they will find grace and glory from the Lord. The tongue of the wise knows what is good, and wisdom will take its rest in their hearts. The Lord loves holy hearts; while all who are blameless in the way[5] are acceptable to him. The wisdom of the Lord will enlighten the face of the understanding; for she[6] anticipates those who desire her before they know it, and is easily contemplated by those who love her. One who rises for her at dawn will not toil, and one who keeps vigil because of her will be without care. For she goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, and shows herself favourably to those on her paths. Wickedness will never prevail against wisdom. Because of this I too became a lover of her beauty and became her friend, and I sought her out from my youth, and I sought to take her as my bride, because the Master of all things loved her, for she is an initiate of the knowledge of God and one who chooses his works. Her toils are virtues; she herself teaches sobriety and prudence; justice and courage,[7] than which things nothing is more useful in human life. If anyone longs for much experience, she knows how to compare things of old and those that are to come. She knows the twists of words and the explanations of riddles. She foresees signs and wonders and the outcomes of seasons and times. And to all she is a good counsellor. Because immortality is in her, and fame in the fellowship of her words. Therefore I appealed to the Lord and besought him and said from my whole heart, ‘God of my Fathers and Lord of mercy, who made all things by your Word, and established humanity by your Wisdom to be sovereign over the creatures that had come into being by you, and to order the world in holiness and justice, give me Wisdom who sits by your throne, and do not reject me from among your children, for I am your servant and the son of your maid servant. Send her out from your holy dwelling and from the throne of your glory, that she may be present with me and teach me what is well pleasing before you. And she will guide me with knowledge and guard me with her glory. For all the thoughts of mortals are wretched and their ideas are unstable.’

Verse: I will love you, Lord, my strength; the Lord is my support and my refuge and my deliverer.

Thus says the Lord: Rejoice, thirsty desert. Let the desert be glad and flower like a lily. The deserts of Jordan will blossom and be overgrown and be glad. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it and the honour of Carmel. And my people will see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of God. Be strong, enfeebled hands and palsied knees. Give comfort and say to the faint-hearted, ‘Be strong and do not fear. See, our God is giving judgement and will give it. He himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then the lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of stammerers will speak clearly, because water has burst out in the desert and a channel in a thirsty land. And the waterless land will become pools and there will be a spring of water for the thirsty land. There will be joy of birds there, roosts of owls[9] and reed beds and pools. And there will be a pure way there, and it will be called a holy way, and no one unclean may pass along it. There will be no unclean way there. But the scattered will walk upon it and not go astray. There will be no lion there, nor will any of the evil wild beasts go up on it or be found there. But the redeemed and gathered by the Lord will walk on it. And they will return and come to Sion with joy and exultation, and everlasting joy will be upon their head. For on their head will be praise and rejoicing, and gladness will possess them. Pain, grief and sighing have fled away.

In those days, as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Whom do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ Brethren, children of the race of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us has been sent the word of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the sayings of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. Though they found no cause deserving death, yet they asked Pilate to have him done away with. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a grave. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what was promised to our ancestors, God has fulfilled for us their children by raising Jesus.

Verse: The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thundered, the Lord upon many waters.

Thus says the Lord: Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove your evil doings from your souls; before my eyes cease from your evil doings. Learn to do good; seek judgement, deliver the oppressed; give judgement for the orphan, do right for the widow. And come and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them white as snow; though they are red like crimson, I will make them white like wool. If you are willing and listen to me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you are not willing and do not listen to me, a sword will devour you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.

In those days, while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ They replied, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ Then he said, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ They answered, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ Paul said, ‘John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was coming after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men all told. He entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out boldly, and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God.

Verse: Bring to the Lord, you children of God, bring to the Lord young rams, bring to the Lord glory and honour.

Thus says the Lord: Draw water with gladness from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day, ‘Sing praise to the Lord and cry out his name. Proclaim among the Nations his glorious deeds Remind them that his name has been exalted . Sing praise to the name of the Lord, for he has done mighty things. Proclaim these in all the earth. Rejoice and be glad, you that dwell in Sion, because the Holy One of Israel has been exalted in the midst of her.

Brethren, as many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death. We were buried then with him through baptism to death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. For one who has died has been justified from sin. If then we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer lords it over him. As to dying, he died once and for all; as to living, he lives for God. Consequently, you also must consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I heard you, in a day of salvation I helped you. I fashioned you and I gave you and set you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion inheritances for the desolate s; saying to the prisoners, ‘Come forth’; to those who are in darkness, ‘Reveal yourselves.’ They shall feed along the ways, on all the paths shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall smite them, but he who has mercy on them will comfort them, and will lead them through springs of waters. And I will make every mountain a way, and every path a pasture for them. See, some shall come from afar, some from the North and from the Sea, and others from the land of the Persians. Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad; let the mountains break out into joy and the hills into justice! For God has had mercy on his people, and has comforted the lowly of his people. But Sion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me and the Lord has forgotten me.’ Will a woman forget her child, or have no mercy on the offspring of her womb? Even though a woman may forget, yet I will not forget you, says the Lord Almighty.

Child Titus, the grace of God, which brings salvation has appeared to all humankind, training us to renounce impiety and worldly desires, and in the present age to live temperately, justly, and devoutly, while we look for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself up for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own, who are zealous for good works. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, not because of any works of justice that we had done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he has poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was upon the deep and the Spirit[11] of God was 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.

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them strike camp. And you, lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, let the children of Israel go into midst of the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of Pharao, of his servants and of all the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will be glorified in Pharao and all his host, his chariots, and his horses. And all the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when am glorified in Pharao, his chariots, and his horses.’ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong south wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the water was divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the water was a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharao’s cavalry, his chariots, and his riders. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its wonted flow when day came; and the Egyptians fled into the water, and the Lord shook off the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the riders and all the host of Pharaoh that had gone after them into the sea; not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.

Moses led the children of Israel up from the Red Sea and brought them to the desert of Sour. And they marched for three in the desert and found no water to drink. They came to Merra and were unable to drink the water from Merra, because it was bitter. And so the place was named ‘Bitterness’.[12] And the people started to murmur against Moses and say, ‘What are we to drink?’ Moses cried to the Lord and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water and it became sweet. There God laid down for him[13] statutes and judgements and he tested him there and said, ‘If you listen to the voice of the Lord, your God, and do what is well-pleasing before him, heed his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring on you any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.’ And they came to Elim and there were twelve springs of water there and seventy date palms. And they encamped there by the waters. Then they moved away from Elim and the whole Assembly of the children of Israel came to desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sina.

The Lord said to Jesus, ‘This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all the children of Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And now command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, and say, “When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.”’ And when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (the Jordan overflowed all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap far off, from the city of Adami, as far as the area of Kariathiarim, and those flowing down toward the sea of the Araba, as far as the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. And the people stopped opposite Jericho. The priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood ready on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan. And all the children of Israel crossed through dry land, until the whole people had finished passing over the Jordan.

Elias said to Elissaios, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as the Jordan’. But Elissaios said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets came and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elias took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water with it; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and the two of them crossed on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elias said to Elissaios, ‘Ask me what I may do for you, before I am taken up from you.’ Elissaios said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’ He replied, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken up from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.’ It came to pass that as they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elias was taken up in a whirlwind as if into heaven. Elissaios kept watching and crying out, ‘Father, father! The chariot of Israel and its horseman!’ But when he could no longer see him, Elissaios grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He picked up the mantle of Elias that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Elissaios took the mantle of Elias that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and they were not parted[14]. And he said, ‘Where is the God of Elias, Appho?’[15] And so Elissaios struck the waters, and the waters were parted to the one side and to the other, and Elissaios went over on dry ground.

Neeman, Governor of the King of the Assyrians, came with his chariots and horses, and halted at the door of Elissaios ‘s house. And Elissaios sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be cleansed.’ But Neeman was angry, and went away, saying, ‘Behold, I said that he will come out to me, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and lay his hand on the leprosy, and remove it from my flesh. Are not Abana and Pharphar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not go and wash in them, and be cleansed?’ So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? But he has simply said to you, “Wash, and be cleansed”?’ So he went down and plunged himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored for him like the flesh of a little child, and he was cleansed.

Jacob looked up and saw the army of God encamped around and the angels of God met him; and when Jacob saw them he said, ‘This is God’s encampment!’ So he called the name of that place Encampment. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, ‘Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; and I have sheep, oxen, asses, menservants, and maidservants; and I have sent to tell my lord Esau, in order that your servant may find favour in your sight.”’ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, ‘We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him.’ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the oxen and the sheep, into two encampments, thinking, "If Esau comes to the one encampment and destroys it, then the other encampment which is left will be saved.’ And Jacob said, ‘God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, “Return to the land of your birth and I will do you good,” let me be worthy of all the justice and all the truth which you have done to your servant, for I crossed the Jordan with only this staff of mine.

Pharao’s daughter came down to wash at the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it. When she opened it she saw the child in the basket; and it was crying. Pharao’s daughter took pity on him and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews’ children.’ Then his sister said to Pharao’s daughter, ‘Do you want me to call you a Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ And Pharao’s daughter said to her, ‘Go.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharao’s daughter said to her, ‘Look after this child, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharao’s daughter, and he became a son for her; and she named him Moses, for she said, ‘ I took him out of the water.’

Gideon said to God, ‘If you are going to save Israel by my hand, as you have said, see, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you are going to save Israel by my hand, as you have said.’ And it was so. When Gideon rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak once again; pray, let me make trial once again with the fleece; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.’ And God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Elias said to the people, ‘Come close’. And all the people came closer to him. Elias took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, ‘Israel shall be your name’. With the stones he built and repaired the altar of the Lord that had been cast down. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. Next he put the pieces of wood on the altar he had made, cut the holocaust in pieces, and laid them on the pieces of wood and piled them on the altar. He said, ‘Bring me two jars of water and pour it on the holocaust and on the pieces of wood.’ Then he said, ‘Do it a second time’; and they did it a second time. Again he said, ‘Do it a third time’; and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water. And the prophet Elias cried aloud to heaven and said, ‘Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, hear me today by fire. And let this people known that you alone the Lord. the God of Israel, that I am your servant, and that through you I have done all these things, and that you have turned back the heart of this people to you.’ Then fire from the Lord fell from heaven and consumed the holocaust and the pieces of wood; and the fire licked up the water that was in the trench, the stones, and the dust. And the people fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord indeed is God; he is God.’

The men of the city of Jericho said to Elissaios, ‘The situation of this city is good, as you see, lord; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful. He said, ‘Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.’ And he took it. Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt in it, and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; henceforth no one will die from it, no one be unfruitful because of it.’ So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word which Elissaios spoke.

Thus says the Lord: You that thirst, go for water. And as many of you as have no money, make your way and buy. And eat and drink wine and fat without money and price. Why do you spend money on what is not food, and toil for what does not satisfy? Hear me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in good things. Give heed with your ears and follow in my ways. Listen to me and your soul will live among good things. And I will make an eternal Covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. See, I have given him as a testimony among the Nations, a ruler and commander among the Nations. See, Nations who do not know you will call upon you, and peoples who are not acquainted with you will take refuge with you, for the sake of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. Seek the Lord, and when you find him, call upon him. But when he comes near you, let the impious abandon his ways and a lawless man his plans. And return to the Lord and you will find mercy, and cry out, for he will abundantly forgive your sins. For my plans are not like your plans, nor are my ways like your ways, says the Lord. But as far as heaven is from earth, so far is my way from your ways and your thoughts from my mind. For as rain or snow comes down from heaven and does not return until it has saturated the earth and it brings forth and sprouts and gives seed to the sower and bread for food, so will my word be. Whatever comes out of my mouth will not return to me empty, until everything that I wished has been fulfilled. And I will make my ways and my commands prosper. You will go out with gladness and be taught with joy. For the mountains and hills will leap up, welcoming you with joy, and all the trees of the field will clap with their branches. And instead of brambles cypress will come up, and instead of nettles myrtle will come up. And there shall be for the Lord a name and an everlasting sign, and it will not fail.

Brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant of how our Fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. And they were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they all ate the same spiritual food. And they all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them. Now the rock was Christ.

The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of fools they seemed to have died, their departure was reckoned a disaster and their going from us a destruction; but they are in peace. For though in the sight of mortals they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. And having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good; because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. He proved them like gold in a furnace and accepted them as a sacrificial whole burnt offering. At the moment of their visitation they will shine out, and they will run like sparks through stubble. They will judge nations and hold sway over peoples, and the Lord will be their king to the ages. Those who have put their trust in him will understand truth; and the faithful in love will abide with him; because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and his visitation upon his chosen ones.

The just live forever and their reward is in the Lord, and their care with the Most High. Because of this they will receive the royal crown of majesty and the diadem of beauty from the Lord’s hand; because he will shelter them with his right hand, and shield them with his arm. He will take his zeal as his panoply and he will arm creation to repel his foes. He will put on justice as a breastplate, and wear impartial judgement as a helmet. He will take holiness as an invincible shield. He will sharpen stern wrath as a sword. The world will fight with him against the frenzied. Well-aimed bolts of lightning will go forth and will leap from the clouds to the target as from a well-strung bow. Hailstones full of wrath will be hurled from a catapult. The water of the sea will rage against them, while rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them. A spirit of power will stand against them, and will winnow them like a tempest. Lawlessness will make the whole earth a desert, and evil-doing will overturn the thrones of kings. Listen then, you kings, and understand. Learn, you judges of the ends of the earth. Give ear, you that hold sway over a multitude and boast over crowds of nations. Because your might was given you from the Lord, and your power from the Most High.

A just man[16], even if he die early, will be at rest. For an honoured old age is not so for length of time, nor is it measured by the number of years. Understanding is peoples’ true grey hairs, and a ripe old age a spotless life. Having become pleasing to God, he was loved; and while living among sinners, he was taken away.[17] He was snatched away lest wickedness pervert his understanding, or trickery deceive his soul. For the witchery of what is paltry dims what is good, and the inconstancy of desire undermines an innocent mind. Made perfect in a short time, he fulfilled long years, for his soul was pleasing to the Lord, therefore he hurried him from the midst of evil. But the peoples saw and did not understood, nor did they lay such a thing to heart, that grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his presence with his chosen ones[18].

Moses said to the sons of Israel, ‘See, I have delivered; the land before you. Go in and inherit the land which the Lord[19] swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he would give it to them and to their seed after them. And I spoke to you at that time and said, ‘I shall not be able to bear you alone. The Lord your God has multiplied you, and see, you are today like the stars of heaven in multitude. May the Lord, the God of our fathers, multiply you so that you are a thousand times more numerous, and bless you as he said to you‘. And I took from you wise, understanding and prudent men, and set them to rule over you as captains of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens and as recorders for your judges. And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear cases between your brethren, and judge rightly between a man and his brother and the stranger[20] who is with him. You shall not have respect to persons in judging. You shall hear the small as well as the great. You shall not shrink before anyone’s person; for the judgement is God’s‘‘.

Moses said to the sons of Israel, ‘See, the heaven and the highest heaven[21] belong to the Lord your God, the earth and all that is in them[22]. The Lord preferred your fathers, to love them, and he chose you, their seed after them,[23] above all nations, as it is at this day. So circumcise the hardness of your heart and stiffen your neck no longer. For the Lord your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality, who takes no bribe. He executes judgement for the stranger[24], the orphan and the widow; and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. You shall fear Lord your God and serve him alone, and to him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in his name. He is your boast, he your God, who has done for you the great and wonderful things which your eyes have seen.

25th. Our Father among the Saints Gregory the Theologian,
Archbishop of Constantinople.

The memory of a just man[26] is praised, and the Lord’s blessing is upon his head. Blessed is one who has found wisdom; a mortal who knows understanding. To import her is better than treasures of gold and silver. She is more valuable than precious stones; nothing of value equals her worth. Justice proceeds from her mouth; she bears law and mercy on her tongue. Therefore, my children, listen to me, for I speak weighty things. And blessed is the one who keeps my ways. For my goings out are the goings out of life, and favour is prepared from the Lord. Therefore I exhort you, and utter my voice to the children of humankind. Because I, Wisdom, have prepared counsel, knowledge and understanding. I have called on them[27]. Counsel and sureness are mine; prudence is mine, strength is mine. I love those who are my friends, while those who seek me will find grace. You innocent, then, understand cunning; you untaught, take it to heart. Listen to me, for I will speak weighty things, and I will open right things from my lips. Because my throat will meditate truth; lying lips are abominable before me. All the words of my mouth are with justice, there is nothing crooked in them nor twisted. They are all straight for those who understand, and right for those who find knowledge. For I teach you what is true, that your hope may be in the Lord and that you may be filled with spirit.

27th. Translation of the Relics of our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople.

When a just man is praised, peoples will be glad; for immortality is his memory, because it is known both to God and humankind, and his soul is pleasing to the Lord. Therefore, O men[28], desire wisdom, and long for it and be instructed. For her beginning is love and keeping of laws. Honour Wisdom, that you may reign for ever. I will declare the mysteries of God to you and not hide them from you. Because he is both the guide of Wisdom and the One who sets right the wise. In his hand are all prudence, and knowledge of works. Wisdom, the artificer of all things, taught me, for in her is an understanding spirit, holy, brightness of the eternal light and image of the goodness of God. She makes friends of God and prophets. She is more lovely than the sun, and beyond every order of the stars. If compared to light, she is found before it. She delivered her devotees from toils, and guided them in straight paths. She gave them holy knowledge and protected them from those who lay in ambush for them. She awarded them a mighty contest, that all might know that true religion is more powerful than all, and that wickedness can never prevail against Wisdom, nor will justice in passing sentence overlook evil people. For they said in themselves, not reasoning correctly, ‘Let us overpower the just one, let us not spare his saintliness, nor feel reverence for the aged grey hairs of an elder. Let our strength be law. Let us lie in ambush for the just, for he is a hindrance to us and he is opposed to our works and alleges the sins of our upbringing. He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. He has become a reproof to our thoughts. He is grievous for us even to look at, for his life is not like others and his paths are quite different. We are reckoned by him to be counterfeit, and he keeps away from our ways as from filth. He calls the end of just people blessed. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen to him at the end. Let us examine him by insult and torture, that we may know his forbearance and make trial of his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for he will have protection from his own words.’ This was how they argued, and they were deceived, for their wickedness had blinded them. And they did not know the mysteries of God, nor did they judge that you alone are God, who have authority over life and death, who save in time of tribulation and deliver from every ill; pitying and merciful, giving grace to your holy ones, and by your right arm resisting the proud.

30th. Assembly of the Ecumenical Teachers and Great Hierarchs, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. [See 18 January]

[1]The text of the Menaion is more complex than some lists reveal. In particular, verse 3 is displaced to follow v.7 and the clause ‘and he worshipped the Lord’ is added. This difference is not noted by Wevers in his apparatus to the Göttingen edition.

[2] Literally ‘before the age’, but this sounds very odd in English. However, it underlines the fact that the Greek aion is a ‘time’ word, rather than a ‘place’ one.

[3] The first part of this sentence is only found in the Alexandrinus and the reviser of the Sinaiticus. It is from the Hebrew and marked by Origen with the *. The precise meaning of the Hebrew is unclear, and so is the Greek. The translation given above is plausible, but not necessarily correct.

[4] This elaborate reading is taken from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and lastly Wisdom, hence the title. The opening part of the text speaks both of ‘a man’ — aner not anthropos — and ‘[the] wise’, or ‘[the] just’, in the plural.

[5] Cf. Psalm 118,1.

[6] Since Wisdom is personified in these texts, the feminine has been retained in the translation, without prejudice, as the lawyers say.

[7] The four natural, or ‘cardinal’ virtues.

[8] Unusually this Prokeimenon is taken from two different Psalms. The prokeimenon is taken from the last half of Psalm 28:3, with a repunctuation of the Greek.

[9] This phrase presents considerable problems. It does not occur in the critical texts, which simply have ‘habitations of reed’. It does, however, occur in 34:13. It is unclear why the pious baronet, Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton, renders it ‘ready habitations’. Does he mean ‘reedy habitations’? The word I have rendered ‘owls’ is in Greek ‘sirens’. In 34 the context is negative, ‘Thorns shall grow up in their cities. … They shall be habitations of sirens — which the pious baronet translates, both here and elsewhere, by ‘monsters’ —, and a court of ostriches. And demons will meet with onokentauroi [which means in classical Greek ‘tailless apes’!].’ Here, though, the meaning should be positive. The coupling of ‘sirens’ and ‘ostriches’ also occurs at Job 30:29, again in a negative context. ‘I have gone groaning without being muzzled. I stood crying out in the assembly. I have become brother of sirens and companion of ostriches’. On this passage St John Chrysostom says, ‘By sirens he means some form of bird that sings, like kingfishers or owls, both of which have mournful songs’. Hence I tentatively put ‘owls’ here, though perhaps the translator was thinking of the mythical Sirens, whose song was so alluring that it led mariners to their doom. A possible translation might be ‘songbirds’.

[10] See the note on the Prokeimenon of the First Hour.

[11] A considerable problem for the translator, which I discussed at some length in a review in Sourozh. The Fathers themselves are not agreed, St Basil opting for ‘Spirit’, St Ephrem for ‘wind’.

[12] Neither Greek nor English can reproduce the play on the meaning of mara.

[13] Both the Hebrew and the Greek have singular pronouns in these verses, though the reference must be to Israel, rather than Moses only. English versions, including AV, NRSV and NAB, make this explicit by putting ‘them’ here.

[14] This clause is not in the Hebrew, nor in the uncials A and B. Rahlfs reads not dierthi, but diesti. There are a number of other small differences, but they do affect the translation.

[15] The LXX has here either aphpho or appho, both of which are odd, being simply near transliterations of the Hebrew, which means something like ‘Yea, he’, ‘Even he’. St Jerome has ‘nunc etiam’, which makes sense, but is somewhat free.

[16] Although the Greek here, as in a number of other places, has anthropos, I retain the translation ‘man’, since the passage is used liturgically for a male. This does not create problems, since, so far as I am aware, no female saints have readings at Vespers. Where the word is plural ‘inclusive’ words are preferred.

[17] A reference to Enoch [Gen. 5,21-24], who was a mere stripling of three hundred and sixty five by patriarchal standards when God took him.

[18] This sentence contains no main verb in Greek, the first three verbs being aorist participles.

[19] Both the lxx and the mt have the first person in this verse. The lectionary, like a few minuscules, has the third.

[20] The Greek is ‘proselyte’, but the word in the lxx simply means someone who ‘comes to one’ from elsewhere. The French translate by ‘immigrant’, which is accurate, but gives the wrong connotation in English.

[21] Literally ‘the heaven of heaven’, but this, with the singular, sounds odd in English.

[22] The lxx has the singular here, referring to the earth.

[23] La Bible d‘Alexandrie takes met’autous ymas together, ‘after you’, but this is surely wrong.

[24] See the note on this word in Reading 28.

[25] I give no list of verses, since this is a most complicated selection of verses and half verses, and the numbering of the Greek and Hebrew differs.

[26] See the note on Reading 6.

[27] This is the punctuation of the lectionary. The natural way is to take ‘knowledge and understanding’ as objects of ‘call on’.

[28] The Greek here has andres, not anthropoi.