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Daily Readings
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Tuesday, 1st April 2025 --- 23 Baramhat 1741
Readings for Tuesday of sixth week of Great Lent
Matins
Proverbs 8 : 12 - 21 Isaiah 44 : 1 - 8 Job 32 : 17 - end Job 33 : 1 - 33 Kings 5 : 1 - 27
Proverbs 8 : 12 - 21
Chapter 8
| 12 | "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge and discretion.
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| 13 | The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.
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| 14 | Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.
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| 15 | By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice.
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| 16 | By me princes rule, and nobles, All the judges of the earth.
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| 17 | I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.
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| 18 | Riches and honor are with me, Enduring riches and righteousness.
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| 19 | My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, And my revenue than choice silver.
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| 20 | I traverse the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice,
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| 21 | That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.
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Isaiah 44 : 1 - 8
Chapter 44
| 1 | "Yet hear me now, O Jacob My servant, And Israel whom I have chosen.
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| 2 | 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.
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| 3 | 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;
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| 4 | They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.'
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| 5 | 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.
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| 6 | "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.
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| 7 | 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.
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| 8 | 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? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one."'
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Job 32 : 17 - end
Chapter 32
| 17 | I also will answer my part, I too will declare my opinion.
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| 18 | For I am full of words; The spirit within me compels me.
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| 19 | Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent; It is ready to burst like new wineskins.
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| 20 | I will speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer.
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| 21 | Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone; Nor let me flatter any man.
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| 22 | For I do not know how to flatter, Else my Maker would soon take me away.
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Job 33 : 1 - 33
Chapter 33
| 1 | "But please, Job, hear my speech, And listen to all my words.
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| 2 | Now, I open my mouth; My tongue speaks in my mouth.
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| 3 | My words come from my upright heart; My lips utter pure knowledge.
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| 4 | The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
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| 5 | If you can answer me, Set your words in order before me; Take your stand.
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| 6 | Truly I am as your spokesman before God; I also have been formed out of clay.
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| 7 | Surely no fear of me will terrify you, Nor will my hand be heavy on you.
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| 8 | "Surely you have spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,
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| 9 | "I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.
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| 10 | Yet He finds occasions against me, He counts me as His enemy;
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| 11 | He puts my feet in the stocks, He watches all my paths.'
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| 12 | "Look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you, For God is greater than man.
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| 13 | Why do you contend with Him? For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.
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| 14 | For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it.
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| 15 | In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds,
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| 16 | Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.
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| 17 | In order to turn man from his deed, And conceal pride from man,
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| 18 | He keeps back his soul from the Pit, And his life from perishing by the sword.
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| 19 | "Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with strong pain in many of his bones,
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| 20 | So that his life abhors bread, And his soul succulent food.
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| 21 | His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
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| 22 | Yes, his soul draws near the Pit, And his life to the executioners.
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| 23 | "If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness,
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| 24 | Then He is gracious to him, and says, "Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom';
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| 25 | His flesh shall be young like a child's, He shall return to the days of his youth.
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| 26 | 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.
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| 27 | Then he looks at men and says, "I have sinned, and perverted what was right, And it did not profit me.'
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| 28 | He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, And his life shall see the light.
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| 29 | "Behold, God works all these things, Twice, in fact, three times with a man,
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| 30 | To bring back his soul from the Pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life.
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| 31 | "Give ear, Job, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will speak.
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| 32 | If you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you.
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| 33 | If not, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom."
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Kings 5 : 1 - 27
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Matins
Matins Psalm
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 35 : 13 - 13
Chapter 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.
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Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Matins Gospel
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint Luke the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all.
Luke 4 : 22 - 30
Chapter 4
| 22 | 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?"
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| 23 | 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."'
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| 24 | Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
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| 25 | 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;
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| 26 | but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
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| 27 | And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."
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| 28 | So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
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| 29 | 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.
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| 30 | Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Liturgy Gospel
Paulines Epistle
Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, appointed to the Gospel of God.
A reading from the Epistle of our teacher Paul to the Corinthians .
May his blessings be upon us.
Amen.
1 Corinthians 14 : 18 - 28
Chapter 14
| 18 | I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all;
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| 19 | 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.
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| 20 | Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.
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| 21 | 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.
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| 22 | 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.
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| 23 | 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?
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| 24 | But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all.
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| 25 | 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.
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| 26 | 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.
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| 27 | If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.
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| 28 | But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
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The grace of God the Father be with you all.
Amen.
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Catholic Epistle
A Reading from Epistle of St. James .
May his blessing be upon us.
Amen.
James 1 : 22 - end
Chapter 1
| 22 | But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
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| 23 | 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;
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| 24 | for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
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| 25 | 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.
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| 26 | 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.
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| 27 | 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.
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James 2 : 1 - 1
Chapter 2
| 1 | My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
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Do not love the world or the things in the world.
The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Amen.
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Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of our fathers the apostles, may their blessings be with us.
Acts 19 : 11 - 20
Chapter 19
| 11 | Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,
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| 12 | 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.
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| 13 | 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."
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| 14 | Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
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| 15 | And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"
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| 16 | 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.
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| 17 | 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.
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| 18 | And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.
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| 19 | 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.
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| 20 | So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
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The word of the Lord shall grow, multiply, be mighty, and be confirmed, in the holy Church of God.
Amen.
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Synaxarium
Day 23 of the Blessed Coptic Month of Baramhat, may God make it always received, year after year, with reassurance and tranquility, while our sins after forgiven by the tender mercies of our God my fathers and brothers.
Amen.
The Twenty-Third Day of the Blessed Month of Baramhat
Departure of the Great Prophet Daniel
On this day of the last year of king
Cyrus King of Babylon, the great righteous prophet Daniel Departed. This
prophet was from the tribe of Judah, and from the posterity of king David.
He was taken captive along with the Israelites by Nebuchadnezzar, king
of Babylon when he captured Jerusalem in the year 3398 of the world. He
stayed in babylon for seventy years. This prophet was very young in age,
however, he conducted himself in virtuous life, the Holy Spirit filled
him and he prophesied in Babylon. In the fourth year of the exile, Nebuchadnezzar
the king saw a dreadful dream and was extremely frightened. When he woke
up, he forgot the detail of his dream. He gathered all the wise men of
Babylon to tell the king his dream and its meaning. If they failed to tell
the king the dream and its interpretation they would all be killed, among
those also were Daniel and the three young men. Daniel and the young men
prayed to God with supplications to reveal to them the King's dream. God
answered their prayers and revealed to Daniel the dream and its interpretation.
Daniel went to the king and told him his dream and its interpretation.
He also told him about the kings that they are about to rule after him,
and what would happen to every one of them. Nebuchadnezzar was pleased
with Daniel, and fell on his face before him. The king presented Daniel
with great gifts and appointed him over the wise men of Babylon.
After some time had passed, Nebuchadnezzar
saw another dream, and Daniel interpreted the dream for him. Daniel told
the king that because of his arrogance, God would drive him from among
men, to dwell among the beasts of the wild and would eat grass like oxen
for seven years, and then God would bring him back to his kingdom, and
all that happened to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel also explained to Belshazzar,
the son of Nebuchadnezzar, what the angel of the Lord had written on the
wall, when king Belshazzar drank wine in the gold and silver vessels of
the temple of the Lord. Daniel told the king: " O king, the Most High gave
Nebuchadnezzar your father, a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor... But
when his heart was lifted up in pride, he was deposed from his kingdom
and thrown from his throne into among the animals. And you, Belshazzar,
although you knew all what happened to your father, yet you also lifted
your heart against the Lord of heaven. They brought the vessels of the
house of the Lord before you, and you , your lords, wives and concubines
(mistresses) drank wine from these vessels... Then the fingers of a Hand
were send from the Lord, and His writing was written: "Mene, Mene, Tekel,
and Upharsin..which meant:
Mene means: God has numbered your days as a king and terminated
you rule.
Tekel means: You have been weighed in the balances of the Lord
and was found wanting.
Upharsin means: your kingdom has been divided and given to the
Medes and Persians after you.
All of them came to pass and
the king was killed with all his lords and the kingdom of the Chaldeans
ended. Darius, king of Persia, ruled after him. There was an idol in Babylon
named "Bael" which king Darius worshiped. When Daniel was asked why he
did not worship it, Daniel answered: "I do not worship something that has
no life in it." The king said to him: "He is alive for he eats and drinks
every day." Daniel told him that could not be true. The king was angry
and wanted to check the matter for himself. He put the food and the drinks
in the temple of the idol and closed the door and sealed it. On the next
day, he went to the temple, opened the door and did not find the food nor
the drinks. But Daniel with the help of some of his companions, covered
the floor of the temple with fine ashes, found the feet tracks of those
who entered the temple by night and stole the food and drinks. The king
arrested the seventy priests of the idol Bael, together with their wives
and children and tortured them until they told him about the secret entrance
to the temple. The king then ordered them all to be killed and allowed
Daniel to destroy the idol and its altar. The people rebelled against the
king and asked him to deliver Daniel to their hands. The king surrendered
to their demands and Daniel was cast into the den of lions. However God
kept Daniel safe and destroyed his enemies. Daniel saw in a vision the
kingdoms and the kings to come after him to rule the world to the end of
time. He also saw the glory of God and the Divinity of Christ the Savior.
He prophesied about His coming and His death, the destruction of Jerusalem,
and the abolition of the sacrifice and the offerings, and all has been
fulfilled. This great prophet remained in Babylon for seventy years, then
departed in peace.
May His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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Divine Psalm
Stand in the fear of God and listen to the Holy Gospel.
A reading from the Gospel according to our teacher Saint John the Evangelist.
May His Blessings be with us all. Amen.
From the Psalms of our teacher David the prophet, and the Good King.
May his blessings be with us all.
Psalms 42 : 1 - 1
Chapter 42
| 1 | As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
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Hallelujah.
Divine Gospel
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Our Lord God, Savior, and King of us all, Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Luke 9 : 18 - 22
Chapter 9
| 18 | 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?"
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| 19 | So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."
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| 20 | He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."
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| 21 | And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,
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| 22 | 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."
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And Glory be to God forever.
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Acknowledgement
Opening page