Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 28:14-22
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, who
rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes
through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and
under falsehood we have hidden ourselves."
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I lay in Zion a
stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.
Also I will make justice the measuring line, and
righteousness the plummet; the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and
the waters will overflow the hiding place.
Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your
agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overflowing scourge passes
through, then you will be trampled down by it.
As often as it goes out it will take you; for morning by
morning it will pass over, and by day and by night; it will be a terror
just to understand the report."
For the bed is too short for a man to stretch out on, and
the covering so narrow that he cannot wrap himself in it.
For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be
angry as in the Valley of Gibeon; that He may do His work, His awesome work,
and bring to pass His act, His unusual act.
Now therefore, do not be mockers, lest your bonds be made
strong; for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts, a destruction
determined even upon the whole earth.
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 10:32-11:9
These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to
their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were
divided on the earth after the flood.
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that
they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and
bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for
mortar.
And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a
tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest
we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which
the sons of men had built.
And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all
have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they
propose to do will be withheld from them.
"Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language,
that they may not understand one another's speech."
So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face
of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD
confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered
them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Old Testament Reading: Proverbs 13:20-14:6
He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion
of fools will be destroyed.
Evil pursues sinners, but to the righteous, good shall be
repaid.
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's
children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, and for
lack of justice there is waste.
He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him
disciplines him promptly.
The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the
stomach of the wicked shall be in want.
Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it
down with her hands.
He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, but he who
is perverse in his ways despises Him.
In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, but the lips of
the wise will preserve them.
Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; but much increase
comes by the strength of an ox.
A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness will
utter lies.
A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it, but knowledge
is easy to him who understands.
Saints and Feasts
Synaxis in honor of the Archangel Gabriel; 26 Martyrs in Crimea; Irenaeus the Hieromartyr of Hungary