TROPARION          Tone 4

From your childhood the light of truth enlightened you, O Mark,
and you loved the labor of Christ the Savior.
Therefore, you followed Peter with zeal
and served Paul well as a fellow laborer,
and you enlighten the world with your holy Gospel.

KONTAKION          Tone 2
When you received the grace of the Spirit from on high, O Apostle,
you broke the snares of the philosophers and gathered all nations into your net,
bringing them to your Lord, O glorious Mark,
by the preaching of the divine Gospel.


James 1:1-12 (Vespers, 1st reading)

1
    James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
2
    My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3
    knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4
    But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
5
    If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6
    But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7
    For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8
    he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9
    Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,
10
    but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.
11
    For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
12
    Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

James 1:13-27 (Vespers, 2nd reading)

13
    Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
14
    But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
15
    Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16
    Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
17
    Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
18
    Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19
    So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20
    for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21
    Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22
    But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23
    For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24
    for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25
    But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26
    If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
27
    Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

James 2:1-13 (Vespers, 3rd reading)

1
    My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
2
    For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,
3
    and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,”
4
    have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5
    Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
6
    But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?
7
    Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
8
    If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;
9
    but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10
    For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
11
    For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
12
    So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
13
    For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Luke 10:1-15 (Matins Gospel)

1
    After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.
2
    Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
3
    Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
4
    Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.
5
    But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’
6
    And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.
7
    And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.
8
    Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.
9
    And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10
    But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,
11
    ’The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’
12
    But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.
13
    Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14
    But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.
15
    And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.

1 Peter 5:6-14 (Epistle, Saint)

6
    Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7
    casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
8
    Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9
    Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
10
    But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
11
    To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
12
    By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.
13
    She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.
14
    Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Mark 6:7-13 (Gospel, Saint)

7
    And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.
8
    He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts –
9
    but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.
10
    Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place.
11
    And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
12
    So they went out and preached that people should repent.
13
    And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.