Readings for March 21, 2025: Friday of the 3rd week of Great Lent

2 Lift up a standard on the mountain of the plain, exalt the voice to them, beckon with the hand, open [the gates], ye rulers. 3 I give command, and I bring them: giants are coming to fulfil my wrath, rejoicing at the same time and insulting. 4 A voice of many nations on the mountains, [even] like [to that] of many nations; a voice of kings and nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts has given command to a war-like nation, 5 to come from a land afar off, from the utmost foundation of heaven; the Lord and his warriors [are coming] to destroy all the world. 6 Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near, and destruction from God shall arrive. 7 Therefore every hand shall become powerless, and every soul of man shall be dismayed. 8 The elders shall be troubled, and pangs shall seize them, as of a woman in travail: and they shall mourn one to another, and shall be amazed, and shall change their countenance as a flame. 9 For behold! the day of the Lord is coming which cannot be escaped, [a day] of wrath and anger, to make the world desolate, and to destroy sinners out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven, and Orion, and all the host of heaven, shall not give their light; and it shall be dark at sunrise, and the moon shall not give her light. 11 And I will command evils for the whole world, and [will visit] their sins on the ungodly: and I will destroy the pride of transgressors, and will bring low the pride of the haughty. 12 And they that are left shall be more precious than gold tried in the fire; and a man shall be more precious than the stone that is in Suphir. 13 For the heaven shall be enraged, and the earth shall be shaken from her foundation, because of the fierce anger of the Lord of hosts, in the day in which his wrath shall come on.

4 And the water continued to decrease until the tenth month. 5 And in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the heads of the mountains were seen. 6 And it came to pass after forty days Noe opened the window of the ark which he had made. 7 And he sent forth a raven; and it went forth and returned not until the water was dried from off the earth. 8 And he sent a dove after it to see if the water had ceased from off the earth. 9 And the dove not having found rest for her feet, returned to him into the ark, because the water was on all the face of the earth, and he stretched out his hand and took her, and brought her to himself into the ark. 10 And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove from the ark. 11 And the dove returned to him in the evening, and had a leaf of olive, a sprig in her mouth; and Noe knew that the water had ceased from off the earth. 12 And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him again any more. 13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year of the life of Noe, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water subsided from off the earth, and Noe opened the covering of the ark which he had made, and he saw that the water had subsided from the face of the earth. 14 And in the second month the earth was dried, on the twenty-seventh day of the month. 15 And the Lord God spoke to Noe, saying, 16 Come out from the ark, thou and thy wife and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. 17 And all the wild beasts as many as are with thee, and all flesh both of birds and beasts, and every reptile moving upon the earth, bring forth with thee: and increase ye and multiply upon the earth. 18 And Noe came forth, and his wife and his sons, and his sons' wives with him. 19 And all the wild beasts and all the cattle and every bird, and every reptile creeping upon the earth after their kind, came forth out of the ark. 20 And Noe built an altar to the Lord, and took of all clean beasts, and of all clean birds, and offered a whole burnt-offering upon the altar. 21 And the Lord God smelled a smell of sweetness, and the Lord God having considered, said, I will not any more curse the earth, because of the works of men, because the imagination of man is intently bent upon evil things from his youth, I will not therefore any more smite all living flesh as I have done.

Proverbs 10

31 The mouth of the righteous drops wisdom: but the tongue of the unjust shall perish. 32 The lips of just men drop grace: but the mouth of the ungodly is perverse.

Proverbs 11

1 False balances are an abomination before the Lord: but a just weight is acceptable unto him. 2 Wherever pride enters, there will be also disgrace: but the mouth of the lowly meditates wisdom. 3 When a just man dies he leaves regret: but the destruction of the ungodly is speedy, and causes joy. 5 Righteousness traces out blameless paths: but ungodliness encounters unjust dealing. 6 The righteousness of upright men delivers them: but transgressors are caught in their own destruction. 7 At the death of a just man his hope does not perish: but the boast of the ungodly perishes. 8 A righteous man escapes from a snare, and the ungodly man is delivered up in his place. 9 In the mouth of ungodly men is a snare to citizens: but the understanding of righteous men is prosperous. 10 In the prosperity of righteous men a city prospers: 11 but by the mouths of ungodly men it is overthrown. 12 A man void of understanding sneers at [his fellow] citizens: but a sensible man is quiet.

9 All the nations are gathered together, and princes shall be gathered out of them: who will declare these things? or who will declare to you things from the beginning? let them bring forth their witnesses, and be justified; and let them hear, and declare the truth. 10 Be ye my witnesses, and I [too am] a witness, saith the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know, and believe, and understand that I am [he]: before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none. 11 I am God; and beside me there is no Saviour. 12 I have declared, and have saved; I have reproached, and there was no strange [god] among you: ye are my witnesses, and I am the Lord God, 13 even from the beginning; and there is none that can deliver out of my hands: I will work, and who shall turn it back? 14 Thus saith the Lord God that redeems you, the Holy One of Israel; For your sakes I will send to Babylon, and I will stir up all that flee, and the Chaldeans shall be bound in ships.

1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. 2 In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, 3 and their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. 4 For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality. 5 And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself. 6 As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering. 7 And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. 8 They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. 9 They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect.

Wisdom of Solomon 5

15 But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. 16 Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them. 17 He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of [his] enemies. 18 He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet. 19 He shall take holiness for an invincible shield. 20 His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise. 21 Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark. 22 And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast [as] out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them. 23 Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.

Wisdom of Solomon 6

1 Hear therefore, O ye kings, and understand; learn, ye that be judges of the ends of the earth. 2 Give ear, ye that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations. 3 For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.