Prokeimenon (Psalm 123), tone 6: Our help is in the name of the Lord, / who created heaven and earth.
Verse: As if the Lord were not in us, let Israel say, if the Lord were not in us, men would rise up against us, for they would consume us alive.
Prokeimenon (Psalm 123), tone 6: Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who created heaven and earth.
Verse: If the Lord had not been with us, let Israel say, if the Lord had not been with us when the people rose up against us, they would have swallowed us up alive.
Genesis reading. [Gen.49:33, 50:1–26]
Jacob ceased commanding his son: and when Jacob laid his nose on his bed, he died and was joined to his people. And Joseph fell on his father’s face, weeping [bitterly] for him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants to bury his father: and the buryers of Israel buried them. And he was fulfilled fourty days, for the days of burial are numbered: and Egypt wept for him for seventy days. And when the days of mourning had passed, Joseph spoke to the nobles of Pharaoh, saying: If I have found grace before you, shout for me in the ears of Pharaoh, saying: My Father I cursed me before [my] death, verb: in the tomb that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, bury me there now, for I will rise up and bury my father, and I will return. and told Pharaoh according to the word of Joseph. And Pharaoh said to Joseph: Go up, bury your father as you have been cursed. And Joseph went up to bury his father: and all the servants of Pharaoh, and the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, came together with him.
And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and all his father's house, and his kinsmen, left the sheep and the oxen in the land of Goshen. And the chariots and cavalry came together with him, and the army became very great. And he came to the Threshing Floor of Atadovo, which was half the Jordan, and wept with a great and strong cry: and you made him weep for your father for seven days. And the inhabitants of the land of Canaan saw the weeping on the Threshold of Atad, and decided: “This great lament is the Egyptians: for this reason the name of that place is called, weeping Egyptian.” There is also half the Jordan. And his sons made unto him such things as commandments unto them. And his sons took him into the land of Canaan: and buried him in a cave of the abyss, where Abraham acquired the cave for the acquisition of a tomb from Ephron the Hittite, straight Mamvri. And Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brethren, and all that came up to bury his father. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father had died, they decided: Let Joseph not remember our evil and repay us with recompense for all the evil that we showed him.
And he came to Joseph and said: Your father cursed you before he died, saying: Thus shout to Joseph: leave them the iniquity and their sin, as I have shown you the evil one, and now accept the iniquity of the servants of your father God. and Joseph wept as they spoke to him. And a message came to him: Behold, we are your servants. And Joseph said to them: Do not be afraid, for I am God. You conspire against me for evil, but God conspires for me for good, so that it may be as it is today, and many people may be fed. And I say to them: do not be afraid, I will feed you and your houses. and comfort them, and speak to them according to their hearts. And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his brethren, and all his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children until the third generation: and the son of Machir the son of Manasseh was born on Joseph's thighs. And Joseph spoke to his brethren, saying: I am dying: but God will visit you, and will bring you out from the earth, sowing you into the earth, about which God swears to our father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And Joseph cursed the sons of Israel, saying: when God visits you, lift up my bones from here with you. And Joseph died a hundred and ten years old: and he buried him and laid him in a rack in Egypt.
Reading Genesis [49:33; 50:1–26]
Jacob finished his testament to his sons and, raising his feet on the bed, died and joined his people. And Joseph, falling to his father's face, mourned him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, who were burying the dead, to prepare for the burial of his father, and they embalmed Israel. And his days were completed forty, for this is how the days of embalming are counted. And Egypt mourned for him seventy days. When the days of mourning were over, Joseph turned to Pharaoh’s nobles and said: “If I have found favor with you, bring these words to Pharaoh’s ears: “My father took an oath from me, saying: ‘In the grave that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, bury me there.’ So now I will go and bury my father and return.” And Pharaoh said: “Go and bury your father, as you swore to him.” And Joseph went to bury his father, and all the servants of Pharaoh went with him, and the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all Joseph's family, and his brothers, and all his father's house and relatives; and they left the flocks and oxen in the land of Goshen.
And chariots and horsemen went with him, and a very large procession was formed. And they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, which is on the other side of the Jordan, and they wept bitterly and greatly mourned, striking their chests, and Joseph mourned seven days for his father. And the inhabitants of the land of Canaan saw mourning at the threshing floor of Atad and said: “There is great mourning among the Egyptians”; That’s why they called that place the Lamentation of Egypt on the other side of the Jordan. And the children of Israel did for him as he commanded them. And his sons took him to the land of Canaan and buried him in a double cave opposite Mamre, which Abraham bought for burial from Ephron the Hittite. And Joseph himself returned to Egypt, and his brothers and all those who went with them to bury his father. Joseph’s brothers, seeing that their father had died, said: “Lest Joseph take revenge on us and return to us retribution for all the evil that we caused him.” And, having come to Joseph, they said: “Your father commanded us before his death, saying: “So tell Joseph:“ Forgive them the injustice and their sin, for they have done you evil.”
And now accept graciously the confession of the sin of those who honor the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. And when they came to him, they said: “Know that we are your servants.” And Joseph said to them: “Do not be afraid, for I am God’s. You planned evil against me, but God planned good for me, so that it becomes like today, so that a large people have food.” And he said to them: “Do not be afraid, I will feed you and your houses.” And he spoke to them according to their hearts and comforted them. Joseph lived in Egypt himself, and his brothers and all his father's house. And Joseph lived a hundred and ten years and saw the sons of Ephraim to the third generation. And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh were born to the tribes of Joseph. And Joseph spoke to his brothers, saying, “I am dying. God will visit you and will take you out of this land to the land that God promised to our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying: “At the visitation with which God will visit you, you too will take my bones with you from here.” And Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years, and they buried him in a tomb in Egypt.
Prokeimenon (Psalm 124), tone 4: Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion: they will not move forever in Jerusalem.
Verse: For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners for the lot of the righteous.
Prokeimenon (Psalm 124), tone 4: Those who put their trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion: he who dwells in Jerusalem will never be shaken.
Verse: For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners over the inheritance of the righteous.
Reading parables. [Proverbs 31:8–32]