SIXTH HOUR

From the womb before the Morning Star \* I have begotten you.

Prokeimenon of the Prophecy. Tone 8.

Verse: The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ‘Ask a sign of the Lord your God; in the depth or in the height.’ But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.’ And he said, ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it a little thing for you to contend with men, and how do you contend with the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey before he knows how to prefer evil or choose good. For before the child knows good or evil, he refuses the evil to choose the good. Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large new volume and write upon it in with a man’s pen, Of making a rapid plunder of spoils; for it is at hand. And get me witnesses, reliable men, Urias the priest and Zachary the son of Barachias. And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Despoil-quickly-plunder-rapidly; for before the child knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ he will take the power of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.” Know you nations and be worsted; give ear, as far as the extremity of the earth; for if again you have become strong, again you will be worsted. And whatever counsel you take, the Lord will scatter it; and whatever word you speak, it will not remain in you, for God is with us.’

89. The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias.

‘You, Lord, founded the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all grow old like a garment, like a mantle you will roll them up, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.’ But to what angel has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Therefore we must pay the closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken by angels was sure and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him.

90. The Reading is from the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews.