Readings for 7 March 2028
23 February 2028 on the Old calendar
Liturgical colour: purple
Old Testament (Vespers): Genesis 4:8-15
Translation: Brenton's English Septuagint
8And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out into the plain; and it came to pass that when they were in the plain Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9And the Lord God said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? and he said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper? 10And the Lord said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood cries to me out of the ground. 11And now thou art cursed from the earth which has opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. 12When thou tillest the earth, then it shall not continue to give its strength to thee: thou shalt be groaning and trembling on the earth. 13And Cain said to the Lord God, My crime is too great for me to be forgiven. 14If thou castest me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy presence, and I shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth, then it will be that any one that finds me shall slay me. 15And the Lord God said to him, Not so, any one that slays Cain shall suffer seven-fold vengeance; and the Lord God set a mark upon Cain that no one that found him might slay him.
Old Testament (Vespers): Proverbs 5:1-15
Translation: Brenton's English Septuagint
1My son, attend to my wisdom, and apply thine ear to my words; 2that thou mayest keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives thee a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman; 3for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases thy palate: 4but afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword. 5For the feet of folly lead those who deal with her down to the grave with death; and her steps are not established. 6For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known. 7Now then, my son, hear me, and make not my words of none effect. 8Remove thy way far from her; draw not near to the doors of her house: 9lest thou give away thy life to others, and thy substance to the merciless: 10lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours come into the houses of strangers; 11and thou repent at last, when the flesh of thy body is consumed, 12and thou shalt say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart avoided reproofs! 13I heard not the voice of him that instructed me, and taught me, neither did I apply mine ear. 14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. 15Drink waters out of thine own vessels, and out of thine own springing wells.
Old Testament (Vespers): Isaiah 40:1-3, 41:17-18, 45:8, 48:20-21, 54:1
Translation: Brenton's English Septuagint
1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith God. 2Speak, ye priests, to the heart of Jerusalem; comfort her, for her humiliation is accomplished, her sin is put away: for she has received of the Lord's hand double the amount of her sins. 3The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. 41:17And the poor and the needy shall exult; for when they shall seek water, and there shall be none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord God, I the God of Israel will hear, and will not forsake them: 18but I will open rivers on the mountains, and fountains in the midst of plains: I will make the desert pools of water, and a thirsty land watercourses. 45:8Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain righteousness: let the earth bring forth, and blossom with mercy, and bring forth righteousness likewise: I am the Lord that created thee. 48:20Go forth of Babylon, thou that fleest from the Chaldeans: utter aloud a voice of joy, and let this be made known, proclaim it to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath delivered his servant Jacob. 21And if they shall thirst, he shall lead them through the desert; he shall bring forth water to them out of the rock: the rock shall be cloven, and the water shall flow forth, and my people shall drink. 54:1Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that dost not travail: for more are the children of the desolate than of her that has a husband: for the Lord has said,
Old Testament (Vespers): Malachi 3:1-3, 5-7, 12, 17-18, 4:4-6
Translation: Brenton's English Septuagint
1Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall survey the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come into his temple, even the angel of the covenant, whom ye take pleasure in: behold, he is coming, saith the Lord Almighty. 2And who will abide the day of his coming? or who will withstand at his appearing? for he is coming in as the fire of a furnace and as the herb of fullers. 3He shall sit to melt and purify as it were silver, and as it were gold: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, and they shall offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. 5And I will draw near to you in judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the witches, and against the adulteresses, and against them that swear falsely by my name, and against them that keep back the hireling's wages, and them that oppress the widow, and afflict orphans, and that wrest the judgment of the stranger, and fear not me, saith the Lord Almighty. 6For I am the Lord your God, and I am not changed: 7but ye, the sons of Jacob, have not refrained from the iniquities of your fathers: ye have perverted my statutes, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord Almighty. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 12And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a desirable land, saith the Lord Almighty. 17And they shall be mine, saith the Lord Almighty, in the day which I appoint for a peculiar possession; and I will make choice of them, as a man makes choice of his son that serves him. 18Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, and between him that serves God, and him that serves him not.
Old Testament (Vespers): Wisdom 4:7, 16-17, 19-20, 5:1-7
Translation: Brenton's English Septuagint
7But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest. 16Thus the righteous that is dead shall condemn the ungodly which are living; and youth that is soon perfected the many years and old age of the unrighteous. 17For they shall see the end of the wise, and shall not understand what God in his counsel hath decreed of him, and to what end the Lord hath set him in safety. 19For he shall rend them, and cast them down headlong, that they shall be speechless; and he shall shake them from the foundation; and they shall be utterly laid waste, and be in sorrow; and their memorial shall perish. 20And when they cast up the account of their sins, they shall come with fear: and their own iniquities shall convince them to their face. 5:1Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labours. 2When they see it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the strangeness of his salvation, so far beyond all that they looked for. 3And they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say within themselves, This was he, whom we had sometimes in derision, and a proverb of reproach: 4we fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honour: 5how is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the saints! 6Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness hath not shined unto us, and the sun of righteousness rose not upon us. 7We wearied ourselves in the way of wickedness and destruction: yea, we have gone through deserts, where there lay no way: but as for the way of the Lord, we have not known it.