Occurring Scripture for the
Hour of Matins
Sunday
Lesson i
A reading from the Fourth Book of Kings
4 Kings 9:29-34
In the eleventh year of Joram the son
of Achab, Ochozias reigned over Juda, and Jehu came into Jezrahel. But
Jezabel hearing of his coming in, painted her face with stibic stone, and
adorned her head, and looked out of a window at Jehu coming in at the gate,
and said: "Can there be peace for Zambri, who killed his master?" And
Jehu lifted up his face to the window, and said: "Who is this?" And two or
three eunuchs bowed down to him. And he said to them: "Throw her down
headlong": and they threw her down, and the wall was sprinkled with her
blood, and the hoofs of the horses trod upon her. And when he had come
in, to eat, and to drink, he said: "Go, and see after that cursed woman, and
bury her: because she is a king's daughter."
Lesson ii
4 Kings 9:35-37; 10:1-3
And when they went to bury her, they
found nothing but the skull, and the feet, and the extremities of her hands.
And coming back they told him. And Jehu said: "It is the word of the Lord,
which he spoke by his servant Elias the Thesbite, saying: 'In the field of
Jezrahel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezabel, and the flesh of
Jezabel shall be as dung upon the face of the earth in the field of Jezrahel,
so that they who pass by shall say: «Is
this that same Jezabel?»'" And
Achab had seventy sons in Samaria: so Jehu wrote letters, and sent to
Samaria, to the chief men of the city, and to the ancients, and to them that
brought up Achab's children, saying: "As soon as you receive these
letters, you that have your master's sons, and chariots, and horses, and
fenced cities, and armor, choose the best, and him that shall please
you most of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and
fight for the house of your master."
Lesson iii
4 Kings 10:4-7
But they were exceedingly afraid, and
said: "Behold two kings could not stand before him, and how shall we be able
to resist?" Therefore the overseers of the house, and the rulers of the
city, and the ancients, and the tutors sent to Jehu, saying: "We are your
servants, whatsoever you command we will do, neither will we make us a king:
do all that pleases you." And he wrote letters the second time to
them, saying: If you will be mine, and will obey me, take the heads of the
sons of your master, and come to me in Jezrahel by tomorrow this time." Now
the king's sons, being seventy men, were brought up with the chief men of
the city. And when the letters came to them, they took the king's
sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent
them to him to Jezrahel.
Lesson iv
From the Sermons of Saint John Chrysostom
Sermon XXV on the Epistle to the Romans.
Let us not dream that we are ourselves
to be held less guilty, when we find that we have not been alone in sin. On
the contrary, such fellowship adds to our punishment. The serpent was more
heavily punished than Eve, and Eve than Adam, and Jezebel suffered more than
Ahab, who took the vineyard of Naboth. She had planned the whole matter, and
opened the way for her husband's crime. You also, who have caused another's
perdition, shall suffer more grievously than they shall, whom you have
ruined. Since, for a man to commit sin himself is less wicked than to
lead others into sin.
Lesson v
If, therefore, we should see others
sinning, let us not only not help them, but let us do what we are
able to draw them out of the bottomless pit of destruction, lest we should
suffer as accomplices in their trespass. Let our memory never forget that
right-awful judgment-seat, the river of fire, the chains that can never be
unlocked, the darkness that cannot be pierced, the sound of teeth gnashing,
the deadly worm. But you say "God is good." Are then all these things
just idle words? Is there no punishment for the rich man who gave no heed to
Lazarus (cf. Luke 16: 20-26)? Does the bridegroom open the door
of the marriage-chamber to the foolish virgins (cf. Matthew 25:1-
12)? Are those who have denied to Christ the necessaries of life, not
to depart from Him into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels (cf. Matthew 25:41-46)? The man that comes in to
the marriage-supper, not wearing a wedding garment, shall he, or shall he
not, be bound hand and foot, and taken away, and cast into outer darkness (cf. Matthew
22:13)? The servant that had no compassion on his fellow-servant, which owed
him a hundred pence, shall he, or shall he not, be delivered to the
tormentors (cf. Matthew 18:21-35)? It is said, concerning those who
commit adultery, that their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched (cf. Isaias
66:24; Mark 9:43 ff.). Is that not true?
Lesson vi
But perhaps these are only threats on
God's part, you might be expected to say. So I ask you: How do you dare say
such a thing out loud, and deliver this judgment from your own imagining?
In truth, I can prove to you, from the things which God has done, that you
are wrong. If you won't believe the things to come, at least believe for
things past. Of them, at least, it cannot be said that they are nothing
but threats and mere words, for they have happened, and actually been
realized in fact. Who was He that brought in a great flood, until the whole
land was standing water, and our whole race perished, save eight persons (cf. Genesis
6-8)? Who
was He that "rained upon Sodom [and Gomorrha} brimstone and fire out of heaven"
(Genesis 19:24)? Who was He which overthrew all the host of Egypt in the Red Sea
(cf. Exodus 14:27)? Who was He which sent out a fire and consumed them that were of the
faction of Abiram (cf. Numbers 16: 35)? Who was He which sent a pestilence upon
Israel, because David had sinned, and, from the morning even to the time
appointed, "there died of the people [from Dan to Bersabee] seventy thousand men"
(2 Kings 24:15)? Was it
not God, and none other, Which brought upon them all these things, and more
also?
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to
Luke
Luke 18:9-14
At that time: Jesus spoke this parable unto
certain men who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised
others: "Two men went up into the temple to
pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee
standing, prayed thus with himself: 'O God, I give thee thanks that I am not
as the rest of men, extortionists, unjust, adulterers, as also is this
publican. I fast twice in a week: I give tithes of all that I
possess.' And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as
lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: 'O God, be
merciful to me a sinner.' I say to you, this man went down into his
house justified rather than the other: because every one that exalts
himself, shall be humbled: and he that humbles himself, shall be exalted.
An Homily of Saint Augustine, Bishop
Sermon XXXVI on the Word
of the Lord
The Pharisee might at least have said, "I am not as many men
are." But what means "other men"? All other men except
himself. "I,"
he said, "am righteous; others are sinners." "I am not as other men are,
extortionists, unjust, adulterers," and then he took occasion, from the
nearness of the publican, to plume himself "or even," said he, "as
this publican." "I am alone," he thought, "that publican" is one of the
others. My righteousness makes the gulf between me and the wicked,
such as he is.
Lesson viii
" I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of
all that I possess." If we look in his prayer to find what he went to the
Temple to pray to God for, we shall find nothing. He went up to pray, but
his prayer was not a request of anything from God, but a glorification of
himself. It was little enough not to pray to God, but he also glorified
himself and despised his neighbor. But the publican stood afar off and yet
drew nigh to God. Self-knowledge bade him keep at a distance, but his
earnestness made him close. The publican stood afar off, but the Lord was at
hand to hear him.
Lesson ix
"Though the Lord be high, yet He has respect
unto the lowly" but the proud, such as was this Pharisee, "He knows afar
off" (Psalm 137:6). He knows the proud, all the same, but they are far
off from Him. Consider now the lowliness of the publican. It was not only
that he stood afar off, but "he would not lift up so much as his eyes unto
heaven." He looked carefully, lest he should look up, he dared not to lift
up his eyes unto heaven. Self-knowledge kept him down, though hope raised
him up. Consider again, how that he "struck his breast." He afflicted
himself, and therefore the Lord had compassion upon his acknowledgment of
guilt." He struck his breast, saying 'Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.'" Hearken here to a prayer and wonder that when the sinner remembers,
God forgets.
Let us pray:
O God, who dost manifest Thy power
chiefly in showing mercy and pity: increase Thy mercy towards us, that we,
seeking the way of Thy promises, may be made partakers of Thy heavenly
treasures. Through
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Monday
Lesson i
A reading from the fourth book of Kings
4
Kings 11:1-3
And Athalia the mother of Ochozias seeing that her son was
dead, arose, and slew all the royal seed. But Josaba the daughter of king
Joram, sister of Ochozias, took Joas the son of Ochozias, and stole him from
among the king's sons that were slain, out of the bedchamber with his nurse:
and hid him from the face of Athalia, so that he was not slain. And he was
with her six years hid in the house of the Lord. And Athalia reigned over
the land.
Lesson ii
4 Kings 11:4-7
And in the seventh year Joiada
sent, and taking the centurions and the soldiers, brought them in to him
into the temple of the Lord, and made a covenant with them: and taking an
oath of them in the house of the Lord, showed them the king's son: And he
commanded them, saying: "This is the thing that you must do: Let a third
part of you go in on the Sabbath, and keep the watch of the king's house.
And let a third part be at the gate of Sur: and let a third part be at the
gate behind the dwelling of the shield bearers: and you shall keep the watch
of the house of Messa. But let two parts of you, all that go forth on the
Sabbath, keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king."
Lesson iii
4 Kings 11:9-12
And the centurions did
according to all things that Joiada the priest had commanded them: and
taking every one their men, that went in on the Sabbath, with them that went
out on the Sabbath, came to Joiada the priest. And he gave them the
spears, and the arms of king David, which were in the house of the Lord.
And they stood having every one their weapons in their hands, from the right
side of the temple, unto the left side of the altar, and of the temple,
about the king. And he brought forth the king's son, and put the diadem
upon him, and the testimony: and they made him king, and anointed him: and
clapping their hands. they said, "God save the king."
Tuesday
Lesson i
A reading from the Fourth Book of Kings
4
Kings 12:1-3
In the seventh year of Jehu Joas began to reign: and he
reigned forty years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Sebia of
Bersabee. And Joas did that which was right before the Lord, all the days
that Joiada the priest taught him. But yet he took not away the high
places: for the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high
places.
Lesson ii
4 Kings 12:4-5
And Joas said to the priests: O
All the money of the sanctified things, which is brought into the temple of
the Lord by those that pass, which is offered for the price of a soul, and
which of their own accord, and of their own free heart they bring into the
temple of the Lord: Let the priests take it according to their order, and
repair the house, wherever they shall see any thing that needs
repairing.
Lesson iii
4 Kings 12:6-8
Now till the three and
twentieth year of king Joas, the priests did not make the repairs of the
temple. And king Joas called Joiada the high priest and the priests,
saying to them: "Why do you not repair the temple? Take you therefore money
no more according to your order, but restore it for the repairing of the
temple." And the priests were forbidden to take any more money of the
people, and to make the repairs of the house
Wednesday
Lesson i
A reading from the fourth book of Kings
4 Kings
13:14-17
Now Eliseus was sick of the illness whereof he died: and Joas
king of Israel went down to him, and wept before him, and said: "O my
father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the guide thereof." And Eliseus said
to him: "Bring a bow and arrows." And when he had brought him a bow, and
arrows, He said to the king of Israel: "Put thy hand upon the bow." And
when he had put his hand, Eliseus put his hands over the king's hands,
And said: Open the window to the east. And when he had opened it, Eliseus
said: "Shoot an arrow." And he shot. And Eliseus said: "The arrow of the Lord's
deliverance, and the arrow of the deliverance from Syria: and you shall
strike the Syrians in Aphec, till you consume them."
Lesson ii
4 Kings 13:18-20
And he said: "Take the
arrows." And when he had taken them, he said to him: "Strike with an arrow
upon the ground." And he struck three times and stood still. And the man
of God was angry with him, and said: "If you had smitten five or six or
seven times, you would have smitten Syria even to utter destruction: but now
three times shall you smite it." And Eliseus died, and they buried him.
And the rovers from Moab came into the land the same year.
Lesson iii
4 Kings 13:21; 13:24-25
And some that were
burying a man, saw the rovers, and cast the body into the sepulcher of
Eliseus. And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life,
and stood upon his feet. And Hazael king of Syria died, and Benadad
his son reigned in his stead. Now Joas the son of Joachaz, took the cities
out of the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, which he had taken out of the
hand of Joachaz his father by war, three times did Joas beat him, and he
restored the cities to Israel.
Thursday
Lesson i
A reading from the Fourth Book of Kings
4 Kings 17: 6-9
And in the ninth year of Osee, the king of the Assyrians
took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria: and he placed them in Hala
and Habor by the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes. For so it
was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who
brought them out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king
of Egypt, and they worshipped strange gods. And they walked according
to the way of the nations which the Lord had destroyed in the sight of the
children of Israel and of the kings of Israel: because they had done in like
manner. And the children of Israel offended the Lord their God with
things that were not right: and built them high places in all their cities
from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
Lesson ii
4 Kings 17: 13-15
The Lord testified to them in
Israel and in Juda by the hand of all the prophets and seers, saying:
"Return from your wicked ways, and keep my precepts, and ceremonies,
according to all the law which I commanded your fathers: and as I have sent
to you in the hand of my servants the prophets." And they hearkened
not, but hardened their necks like to the neck of their fathers, who would
not obey the Lord their God. And they rejected his ordinances and the covenant that he
made with their fathers, and the testimonies which he testified against
them: and they followed vanities, and acted vainly: and they followed the
nations that were round about them, concerning which the Lord had commanded
them that they should not do as they did.
Lesson iii
4 Kings 17: 18-21
The Lord was very angry with
Israel, and removed them from his sight, and there remained only the tribe
of Juda. But neither did Juda itself keep the commandments of the Lord
their God: but they walked in the errors of Israel, which they had wrought. And the Lord cast off all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them and
delivered them into the hand of spoilers, till he cast them away from his
face: Even from that time, when Israel was rent from the
house of David, and made Jeroboam son of Nabat their king: for Jeroboam
separated Israel from the Lord, and made them commit a great sin.
Friday
Lesson i
A reading from the fourth book of Kings
4 Kings 17:21-23
Jeroboam separated Israel from the
Lord, and made them commit a great sin. And the children of Israel
walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he had done: and they departed not
from them, till the Lord removed Israel from his face, as he had
spoken in the hand of all his servants the prophets: and Israel was carried
away out of their land to Assyria, unto this day.
Lesson ii
4 Kings 17:24-25
And the king of the
Assyrians brought people from Babylon, and from Cutha, and from Avah, and
from Emath, and from Sepharvaim: and placed them in the cities of Samaria
instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in
the cities thereof. And when they began to dwell there, they feared not
the Lord: and the Lord sent lions among them, which killed them.
Lesson iii
4 Kings 17:26-27
And it was told the king of
the Assyrians, and it was said: "The nations which thou hast removed, and
made to dwell in the cities of Samaria, know not the ordinances of the God
of the land: and the Lord hath sent lions among them: and behold they kill
them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land." And the
king of the Assyrians commanded, saying: "Carry thither one of the priests
whom you brought from thence captive, and let him go, and dwell with them:
and let him teach them the ordinances of the God of the land."
Saturday
Lesson i
A reading from the Fourth Book of Kings
4 Kings 18:1-5 1
In the third year of Osee
the son of Ela king of Israel, reigned Ezechias the son of Achaz king of
Juda. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he
reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Abi
the daughter of Zacharias. And he did that which was good before the
Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He destroyed
the high places, and broke the statues in pieces, and cut down the groves,
and broke the brazen serpent, which Moses had made: for till that time the
children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he called its name "Nohestan,"
"a brazen thing," He trusted in the Lord the God of Israel:
Lesson ii
2 Kings 18:5-8
So that after him there
was none like him among all the kings of Juda, nor any of them that were
before him: And he stuck to the Lord, and departed not from his steps,
but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. Wherefore
the Lord also was with him, and in all things, to which he went forth, he
behaved himself wisely. And he rebelled against the king of the Assyrians,
and served him not. He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all
their borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
Lesson iii
2 Kings 18:9-12
In the fourth year of king
Ezechias, which was the seventh year of Osee the son of Ela king of Israel,
Salmanasar king of the Assyrians came up to Samaria, and besieged it,
And took it. For after three years, in the sixth year of Ezechias, that is,
in the ninth year of Osee king of Israel, Samaria was taken: And the
king of the Assyrians carried away Israel into Assyria, and placed them in
Hale, and in Habor by the rivers of Gozan in the cities of the Medes: 12
Because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord their God, but
transgressed his covenant: all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded,
they would not hear nor do.