Prokeimenon (Psalm 27), tone 6: Save, O Lord, Thy people,/ and bless Thy inheritance.
Verse: To You, Lord, I will cry, O my God: do not keep silent about me.
Prokeimenon (Psalm 27), tone 6: Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance!
Verse: I will cry to You, O Lord and my God: do not remain silent with me!
Genesis reading. [Gen.4:8-15].
Cain spoke to his brother Abel: Let’s go to the field. and when he was on the ground, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. And the Lord God spoke to Cain: Where is your brother Abel? and we say, we don’t know: food is my brother’s guardian; And the Lord said: what have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the earth. And now you are cursed on the earth, even if you opened your mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand. Whenever you work on the earth, and he does not apply his strength to you, you will groan and tremble on the earth. And Cain said to the Lord God: my greatest guilt will remain with me. If you drive me out this day from the face of the earth, I will hide from your presence, and I will groan and tremble on the earth, and everyone who finds me will kill me. And the Lord God said to him: not so, whoever kills Cain will be avenged seven times. And the Lord God will set a sign on Cain, so that no one who finds it will kill him.
Reading Genesis [4:8–15]
Cain said to Abel his brother: “Let’s go to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. And the Lord God said to Cain: “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said: “I don’t know, am I my brother’s keeper?” And God said: “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood calls to Me from the earth. And now you are cursed on the earth, which opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother at your hand. When you cultivate the land, it will no longer give you its strength: you will groan and tremble with fear on the earth.” And Cain said to the Lord: “My guilt is greater than can be forgiven. If you drive me now from the face of the earth, and I hide from Your face and groan and tremble with fear on the earth, then everyone who meets me will kill me.” And the Lord God said to him: “Not so: everyone who kills Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the Lord God marked Cain with a sign so that no one he met would kill him.
Prokeimenon (Psalm 28), tone 7: The Lord will give strength to His people, / The Lord will bless His people with peace.
Verse: Bring to the Lord, sons of God; bring to the Lord, sons of rams.
Prokeimenon (Psalm 28), tone 7: The Lord will give strength to His people, the Lord will bless His people with peace.
Verse: Bring to the Lord, sons of God, bring to the Lord the sons of rams.
Reading the book of Proverbs [5:1–15]
My son! Listen to my wisdom and turn your ear to my words in order to preserve a good thought; my lips will command you knowledge. Do not listen to the worthless woman, for honey drips from the lips of a harlot wife, who temporarily anoints your throat, but later you will find her bitterer than gall and sharper than a two-edged sword, for the feet of madness bring down those who use her with death to hell, her feet are not firm, for they do not walk on the paths of life, its paths are deceitful and foolish. So, my son, now listen to me and do not despise my words. Keep your path further from her, do not approach the doors of her houses, lest you give your property to others and your life to the merciless, lest strangers be filled with your power, and the fruits of your labors pass into other people’s houses. And you will repent at the end, when the flesh of your body wears out, and you will say: “Why did I hate instruction and my heart turned away from reproof, and did not listen to the voice of my mentor and did not turn my ear to my teacher? I almost exposed myself to every kind of misfortune among the people’s assembly and society.” My son! Drink water from your vessels and from the source of your wells.