Saturday, February 20, 2021

St. Theodore the General,
Sixth Day of Great Lent

Wisdom 8:19-9:5
Isaiah 62:6-9
Romans 8:28-39
Matthew 10:16-22

Wisdom 8:19-9:5

[19] As a child I was by nature well endowed,
and a good soul fell to my lot;
[20] or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body.
[21] But I perceived that I would not possess wisdom
unless God gave her to me —
and it was a mark of insight to know whose gift she was —
so I appealed to the Lord and besought him,
and with my whole heart I said:

Chapter 9
[1] “O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy,
who hast made all things by thy word,
[2] and by thy wisdom hast formed man,
to have dominion over the creatures thou hast made,
[3] and rule the world in holiness and righteousness,
and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul,
[4] give me the wisdom that sits by thy throne,
and do not reject me from among thy servants.
[5] For I am thy slave and the son of thy maidservant,
a man who is weak and short-lived,
with little understanding of judgment and laws;

Isaiah 62:6-9

[6] Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set watchmen;
all the day and all the night
they shall never be silent.
You who put the LORD in remembrance,
take no rest,
[7] and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem
and makes it a praise in the earth.
[8] The LORD has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
“I will not again give your grain
to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners shall not drink your wine
for which you have labored;
[9] but those who garner it shall eat it
and praise the LORD,
and those who gather it shall drink it
in the courts of my sanctuary.”

Romans 8:28-39

[28] We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.
[29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
[30] And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
[31] What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us?
[32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?
[33] Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies;
[34] who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us?
[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
[36] As it is written, “For thy sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
[38] For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
[39] nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 10:16-22

[16] “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
[17] Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues,
[18] and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles.
[19] When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour;
[20] for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
[21] Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;
[22] and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible is copyright © National Council of Churches of Christ in America