Readings for April 8, 2025: Tuesday of the 6th week of Great Lent

6 And he said to me, [It is] a great thing for thee to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel: behold, I have given thee for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the end of the earth. 7 Thus saith the Lord that delivered thee, the God of Israel, Sanctify him that despises his life, him that is abhorred by the nations that are the servants of princes: kings shall behold him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him, for the Lord's sake: for the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen thee. 8 Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I succoured thee: and I have formed thee, and given thee for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit the desert heritages: 9 saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth; and [bidding] them that are in darkness shew themselves. They shall be fed in all the ways, and in all the paths [shall be] their pasture. 10 They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; but he that has mercy on them shall comfort [them], and by fountains of waters shall he lead them.

3 And the Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land of thy father, and to thy family, and I will be with thee. 4 And Jacob sent and called Lea and Rachel to the plain where the flocks were. 5 And he said to them, I see the face of your father, that it is not toward me as before, but the God of my father was with me. 6 And ye too know that with all my might I have served your father. 7 But your father deceived me, and changed my wages for the ten lambs, yet God gave him not [power] to hurt me. 8 If he should say thus, The speckled shall be thy reward, then all the cattle would bear speckled; and if he should say, The white shall be thy reward, then would all the cattle bear white. 9 So God has taken away all the cattle of your father, and given them to me. 10 And it came to pass when the cattle conceived and were with young, that I beheld with mine eyes in sleep, and behold the he-goats and the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-coloured spots. 11 And the angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob; and I said, What is it? 12 And he said, Look up with thine eyes, and behold the he-goats and the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-coloured spots; for I have seen all things that Laban does to thee. 13 I am God that appeared to thee in the place of God, where thou anointedst a pillar to me, and vowedst to me there a vow; now then arise and depart out of this land, depart into the land of thy nativity, and I will be with thee. 14 And Rachel and Lea answered and said to him, Have we yet a part or inheritance in the house of our father? 15 Are we not considered strangers by him? for he has sold us, and quite devoured our money. 16 All the wealth and the glory which God has taken from our father, it shall be our's and our children's; now then do whatsoever God has said to thee.

3 To do justly and to speak truth, are more pleasing to God than the blood of sacrifices. 4 A high-minded man is stout-hearted in [his] pride; and the lamp of the wicked is sin. 6 He that gathers treasures with a lying tongue pursues vanity [on] to the snares of death. 7 Destruction shall lodge with the ungodly; for they refuse to do justly. 8 To the froward God sends froward ways; for his works are pure and right. 9 [It is] better to dwell in a corner on the house-top, than in plastered [rooms] with unrighteousness, and in an open house. 10 The soul of the ungodly shall not be pitied by any man. 11 When an intemperate man is punished the simple becomes wiser: and a wise man understanding will receive knowledge. 12 A righteous man understands the hearts of the ungodly: and despises the ungodly for their wickedness. 13 He that stops his ears from hearing the poor, himself also shall cry, and there shall be none to hear [him]. 14 A secret gift calms anger: but he that forbears to give stirs up strong wrath. 15 [It is] the joy of the righteous to do judgment: but a holy [man] is abominable with evil-doers. 16 A man that wanders out of the way of righteousness, shall rest in the congregation of giants. 17 A poor man loves mirth, loving wine and oil in abundance; 18 and a transgressor is the abomination of a righteous man. 19 [It is] better to dwell in a wilderness than with a quarrelsome and talkative and passionate woman. 20 A desirable treasure will rest on the mouth of the wise; but foolish men will swallow it up. 21 The way of righteousness and mercy will find life and glory.