VESPERS

In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.  Now the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was upon the deep and the Spirit [11] of God was borne upon the water.  And God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good; and God made a separation between the light and the darkness.  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night; and there was evening and there was morning, one day.  And God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water and let there be a separation between the water and the water’; and it was so.  And God made the firmament.  And God made a separation between the water, which was below the firmament, and between the water which was above the firmament.  And God called the firmament Heaven; and God saw that it was good, and there was evening and there was morning, a second day.  And God said, ‘Let the water below heaven be gathered together into one gathering, and let dry land appear’; and it was so.  And the water below heaven was gathered together into their gatherings, and the dry land appeared.  And God called the dry land Earth, and the accumulations of the waters he called Seas.  And God saw that it was good.  And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout herb of grass, sowing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and fruiting tree making fruit, whose seed is in it according to its kind upon the earth’; and it was so.  And the earth brought forth herb of grass, sowing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and fruiting tree making fruit, whose seed was in it according to its kind upon the earth, and God saw that it was good.  And there was evening and morning, a third day.

Prokeimenon. Tone 3.

12 ** . ** The Reading is from Genesis.

The Lord said to Moses,  ‘Why do you cry to me?  Speak to the children of Israel and let them strike camp.  And you, lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, let the children of Israel go into midst of the sea on dry ground.  And I will harden the hearts of Pharao, of his servants and of all the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will be glorified in Pharao and all his host, his chariots, and his horses.  And all the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when am glorified in Pharao, his chariots, and his horses.’  Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong south wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the water was divided.  And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the water was a wall for them on their right hand and on their left.  The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharao’s cavalry, his chariots, and his riders.  And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its wonted flow when day came; and the Egyptians fled into the water, and the Lord shook off the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.  The waters returned and covered the chariots and the riders and all the host of Pharaoh that had gone after them into the sea; not so much as one of them remained.  But the children of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.

[8] Unusually this Prokeimenon is taken from two different Psalms. The prokeimenon is taken from the last half of Psalm 28:3, with a repunctuation of the Greek.

13 . The Reading is from Exodus

Moses led the children of Israel up from the Red Sea and brought them to the desert of Sour.  And they marched for three in the desert and found no water to drink.  They came to Merra and were unable to drink the water from Merra, because it was bitter.  And so the place was named ‘Bitterness’. [12]   And the people started to murmur against Moses and say, ‘What are we to drink?’  Moses cried to the Lord and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water and it became sweet.  There God laid down for him [13] statutes and judgements and he tested him there and said, ‘If you listen to the voice of the Lord, your God, and do what is well-pleasing before him, heed his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring on you any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians.  For I am the Lord who heals you.’  And they came to Elim and there were twelve springs of water there and seventy date palms.  And they encamped there by the waters.  Then they moved away from Elim and the whole Assembly of the children of Israel came to desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sina.

[10] See the note on the Prokeimenon of the First Hour.

14 . The Reading is from Exodus.

The Lord said to Jesus, ‘This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all the children of Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  And now command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, and say, “When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.”’  And when the priests who bore the a rk of the c ovenant of the Lord had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (the Jordan overflowed all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap far off, from the city of Adami, as far as the area of Kariathiarim, and those flowing down toward the sea of the Araba, as far as the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off.  And the people stopped opposite Jericho.  The priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood ready on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan.  And all the children of Israel crossed through dry land, until the whole people had finished passing over the Jordan.

15 . The Reading is from Jesus, son of Navi.

Elias said to Elissaios, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as the Jordan’.  But Elissaios said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’  So the two of them went on.  Fifty men of the sons of the prophets came and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.  Then Elias took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water with it; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and the two of them crossed on dry ground.  When they had crossed, Elias said to Elissaios, ‘Ask me what I may do for you, before I am taken up from you.’  Elissaios said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’  He replied, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken up from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.’  It came to pass that as they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elias was taken up in a whirlwind as if into heaven.  Elissaios kept watching and crying out, ‘Father, father! The chariot of Israel and its horseman!’ But when he could no longer see him, Elissaios grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.  He picked up the mantle of Elias that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.  Elissaios took the mantle of Elias that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and they were not parted [14] .  And he said, ‘Where is the God of Elias, Appho?’ [15] And so Elissaios struck the waters, and the waters were parted to the one side and to the other, and Elissaios went over on dry ground.

16 . The Reading is from the Fourth Book of Reigns.

Neeman, Governor of the King of the Assyrians, came with his chariots and horses, and halted at the door of Elissaios ‘s house.  And Elissaios sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be cleansed.’  But Neeman was angry, and went away, saying, ‘Behold, I said that he will come out to me, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and lay his hand on the leprosy, and remove it from my flesh.  Are not Abana and Pharphar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?  Could I not go and wash in them, and be cleansed?’  So he turned and went away in a rage.  But his servants came near and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?  But he has simply said to you, “Wash, and be cleansed”?’  So he went down and plunged himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored for him like the flesh of a little child, and he was cleansed.

17 . The Reading is from the Fourth Book of Reigns

Jacob looked up and saw the army of God encamped around and the angels of God met him; and when Jacob saw them he said, ‘This is God’s encampment!’  So he called the name of that place Encampment.  And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, ‘Thus you shall say to my lord Esau:  Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; and I have sheep, oxen, asses, menservants, and maidservants; and I have sent to tell my lord Esau, in order that your servant may find favour in your sight.”’  And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, ‘We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him.’  Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the oxen and the sheep, into two encampments, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one encampment and destroys it, then the other encampment which is left will be saved.’  And Jacob said, ‘God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, “Return to the land of your birth and I will do you good,” let me be worthy of all the justice and all the truth which you have done to your servant, for I crossed the Jordan with only this staff of mine.

18. The Reading is from Genesis.

Pharao’s daughter came down to wash at the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it.  When she opened it she saw the child in the basket; and it was crying. Pharao’s daughter took pity on him and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews’ children.’  Then his sister said to Pharao’s daughter, ‘Do you want me to call you a Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’  And Pharao’s daughter said to her, ‘Go.’  So the girl went and called the child’s mother.  And Pharao’s daughter said to her, ‘Look after this child, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.’  So the woman took the child and nursed him.  And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharao’s daughter, and he became a son for her; and she named him Moses, for she said, ‘ I took him out of the water.’

19 . The Reading is from Exodus.

Gideon said to God, ‘If you are going to save Israel by my hand, as you have said, see, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you are going to save Israel by my hand, as you have said.’  And it was so.  When Gideon rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.  Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak once again; pray, let me make trial once again with the fleece; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.’  And God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

20 . The Reading is from Judges.

Elias said to the people, ‘Come close’.  And all the people came closer to him.  Elias took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, ‘Israel shall be your name’.  With the stones he built and repaired the altar of the Lord that had been cast down.  Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed.  Next he put the pieces of wood on the altar he had made, cut the holocaust in pieces, and laid them on the pieces of wood and piled them on the altar.  He said, ‘Bring me two jars of water and pour it on the holocaust and on the pieces of wood.’  Then he said, ‘Do it a second time’; and they did it a second time.  Again he said, ‘Do it a third time’; and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water.  And the prophet Elias cried aloud to heaven and said, ‘Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, hear me today by fire.  And let this people known that you alone the Lord. the God of Israel, that I am your servant, and that through you I have done all these things, and that you have turned back the heart of this people to you.’  Then fire from the Lord fell from heaven and consumed the holocaust and the pieces of wood; and the fire licked up the water that was in the trench, the stones, and the dust.  And the people fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord indeed is God; he is God.’

21. The Reading is from the Third Book of Reigns.

The men of the city of Jericho said to Elissaios, ‘The situation of this city is good, as you see, lord; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.  He said, ‘Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.’  And he took it. Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt in it, and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; henceforth no one will die from it, no one be unfruitful because of it.’  So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word which Elissaios spoke.

22 . The Reading is from the Fourth Book of Reigns.

**GREAT BLESSING OF WATERS**

23 . The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias.

Thus says the Lord: You that thirst, go for water. And as many of you as have no money, make your way and buy. And eat and drink wine and fat without money and price. Why do you spend money on what is not food, and toil for what does not satisfy? Hear me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in good things. Give heed with your ears and follow in my ways. Listen to me and your soul will live among good things. And I will make an eternal Covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. See, I have given him as a testimony among the Nations, a ruler and commander among the Nations. See, Nations who do not know you will call upon you, and peoples who are not acquainted with you will take refuge with you, for the sake of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. Seek the Lord, and when you find him, call upon him. But when he comes near you, let the impious abandon his ways and a lawless man his plans. And return to the Lord and you will find mercy, and cry out, for he will abundantly forgive your sins. For my plans are not like your plans, nor are my ways like your ways, says the Lord. But as far as heaven is from earth, so far is my way from your ways and your thoughts from my mind. For as rain or snow comes down from heaven and does not return until it has saturated the earth and it brings forth and sprouts and gives seed to the sower and bread for food, so will my word be. Whatever comes out of my mouth will not return to me empty, until everything that I wished has been fulfilled. And I will make my ways and my commands prosper. You will go out with gladness and be taught with joy. For the mountains and hills will leap up, welcoming you with joy, and all the trees of the field will clap with their branches. And instead of brambles cypress will come up, and instead of nettles myrtle will come up. And there shall be for the Lord a name and an everlasting sign, and it will not fail.

Verse: The Lord is the defender of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

The Lord is my enlightenment and my Saviour, \* whom shall I fear?

24 . The Reading is from the 1st Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians.

Brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant of how our Fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. And they were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they all ate the same spiritual food. And they all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them. Now the rock was Christ.

17th. St Antony the Great.

** 11th. St Theodosios the Koinoviarch. Readings 25, 26 and 27, below. **

25 . The Reading is from the Wisdom of Solomon.

The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of fools they seemed to have died, their departure was reckoned a disaster and their going from us a destruction; but they are in peace. For though in the sight of mortals they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. And having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good; because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. He proved them like gold in a furnace and accepted them as a sacrificial whole burnt offering. At the moment of their visitation they will shine out, and they will run like sparks through stubble. They will judge nations and hold sway over peoples, and the Lord will be their king to the ages. Those who have put their trust in him will understand truth; and the faithful in love will abide with him; because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and his visitation upon his chosen ones.

26 . The Reading is from the Wisdom of Solomon

The just live forever and their reward is in the Lord, and their care with the Most High. Because of this they will receive the royal crown of majesty and the diadem of beauty from the Lord’s hand; because he will shelter them with his right hand, and shield them with his arm.  He will take his zeal as his panoply and he will arm creation to repel his foes.  He will put on justice as a breastplate, and wear impartial judgement as a helmet.  He will take holiness as an invincible shield. He will sharpen stern wrath as a sword. The world will fight with him against the frenzied.  Well-aimed bolts of lightning will go forth and will leap from the clouds to the target as from a well-strung bow. Hailstones full of wrath will be hurled from a catapult. The water of the sea will rage against them, while rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them. A spirit of power will stand against them, and will winnow them like a tempest.  Lawlessness will make the whole earth a desert, and evil-doing will overturn the thrones of kings.  Listen then, you kings, and understand. Learn, you judges of the ends of the earth. Give ear, you that hold sway over a multitude and boast over crowds of nations.  Because your might was given you from the Lord, and your power from the Most High.

27 . The Reading is from the Wisdom of Solomon.

A just man [16] , even if he die early, will be at rest. For an honoured old age is not so for length of time, nor is it measured by the number of years.  Understanding is peoples’ true grey hairs, and a ripe old age a spotless life.  Having become pleasing to God, he was loved; and while living among sinners, he was taken away. [17]   He was snatched away lest wickedness pervert his understanding, or trickery deceive his soul.  For the witchery of what is paltry dims what is good, and the inconstancy of desire undermines an innocent mind.  Made perfect in a short time, he fulfilled long years, for his soul was pleasing to the Lord, therefore he hurried him from the midst of evil.  But the peoples saw and did not understood, nor did they lay such a thing to heart, that grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his presence with his chosen ones [18] .

18th. Saints Athanasios and Cyril, Patriarchs of Alexandria.

Moses said to the sons of Israel, ‘See, I have delivered; the land before you. Go in and inherit the land which the Lord [19] swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he would give it to them and to their seed after them. And I spoke to you at that time and said, ‘I shall not be able to bear you alone. The Lord your God has multiplied you, and see, you are today like the stars of heaven in multitude. May the Lord, the God of our fathers, multiply you so that you are a thousand times more numerous, and bless you as he said to you‘. And I took from you wise, understanding and prudent men, and set them to rule over you as captains of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens and as recorders for your judges. And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear cases between your brethren, and judge rightly between a man and his brother and the stranger [20] who is with him. You shall not have respect to persons in judging. You shall hear the small as well as the great. You shall not shrink before anyone’s person; for the judgement is God’s‘‘ .

28 . The Reading is from Deuteronomy.

Moses said to the sons of Israel, ‘See, the heaven and the highest heaven [21] belong to the Lord your God, the earth and all that is in them [22] . The Lord preferred your fathers, to love them, and he chose you, their seed after them, [23] above all nations, as it is at this day. So circumcise the hardness of your heart and stiffen your neck no longer. For the Lord your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality, who takes no bribe. He executes judgement for the stranger [24] , the orphan and the widow; and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. You shall fear Lord your God and serve him alone, and to him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in his name. He is your boast, he your God, who has done for you the great and wonderful things which your eyes have seen.

29 . The Reading is from Deuteronomy.

**25th. Our Father among the Saints Gregory the Theologian,

**Reading 4. **

Archbishop of Constantinople.**

20th. Our Venerable Father Efthymios.

Selection. [25]

30 . The Reading is from Proverbs.

The memory of a just man [26] is praised, and the Lord’s blessing is upon his head. Blessed is one who has found wisdom; a mortal who knows understanding. To import her is better than treasures of gold and silver. She is more valuable than precious stones; nothing of value equals her worth. Justice proceeds from her mouth; she bears law and mercy on her tongue. Therefore, my children, listen to me, for I speak weighty things. And blessed is the one who keeps my ways. For my goings out are the goings out of life, and favour is prepared from the Lord. Therefore I exhort you, and utter my voice to the children of humankind. Because I, Wisdom, have prepared counsel, knowledge and understanding. I have called on them [27] . Counsel and sureness are mine; prudence is mine, strength is mine. I love those who are my friends, while those who seek me will find grace. You innocent, then, understand cunning; you untaught, take it to heart. Listen to me, for I will speak weighty things, and I will open right things from my lips. Because my throat will meditate truth; lying lips are abominable before me. All the words of my mouth are with justice, there is nothing crooked in them nor twisted. They are all straight for those who understand, and right for those who find knowledge. For I teach you what is true, that your hope may be in the Lord and that you may be filled with spirit.

**Reading 30. **

**27th. Translation of the Relics of our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople.**

31. The Reading is from the Wisdom of Solomon.

When a just man is praised, peoples will be glad; for immortality is his memory, because it is known both to God and humankind, and his soul is pleasing to the Lord. Therefore, O men [28] , desire wisdom, and long for it and be instructed. For her beginning is love and keeping of laws. Honour Wisdom, that you may reign for ever. I will declare the mysteries of God to you and not hide them from you. Because he is both the guide of Wisdom and the One who sets right the wise. In his hand are all prudence, and knowledge of works. Wisdom, the artificer of all things, taught me, for in her is an understanding spirit, holy, brightness of the eternal light and image of the goodness of God. She makes friends of God and prophets. She is more lovely than the sun, and beyond every order of the stars. If compared to light, she is found before it. She delivered her devotees from toils, and guided them in straight paths. She gave them holy knowledge and protected them from those who lay in ambush for them. She awarded them a mighty contest, that all might know that true religion is more powerful than all, and that wickedness can never prevail against Wisdom, nor will justice in passing sentence overlook evil people. For they said in themselves, not reasoning correctly, ‘Let us overpower the just one, let us not spare his saintliness, nor feel reverence for the aged grey hairs of an elder. Let our strength be law. Let us lie in ambush for the just, for he is a hindrance to us and he is opposed to our works and alleges the sins of our upbringing. He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. He has become a reproof to our thoughts. He is grievous for us even to look at, for his life is not like others and his paths are quite different. We are reckoned by him to be counterfeit, and he keeps away from our ways as from filth. He calls the end of just people blessed. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen to him at the end. Let us examine him by insult and torture, that we may know his forbearance and make trial of his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for he will have protection from his own words.’ This was how they argued, and they were deceived, for their wickedness had blinded them. And they did not know the mysteries of God, nor did they judge that you alone are God, who have authority over life and death, who save in time of tribulation and deliver from every ill; pitying and merciful, giving grace to your holy ones, and by your right arm resisting the proud.

**Reading 3. **

[1] The text of the Menaion is more complex than some lists reveal.  In particular, verse 3 is displaced to follow v.7 and the clause ‘and he worshipped the Lord’ is added.  This difference is not noted by Wevers in his apparatus to the Göttingen edition.

30th. Assembly of the Ecumenical Teachers and Great Hierarchs, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom.

[2] Literally ‘before the age’, but this sounds very odd in English. However, it underlines the fact that the Greek *aion* is a ‘time’ word, rather than a ‘place’ one.

[26] See the note on Reading 6.

[3] The first part of this sentence is only found in the Alexandrinus and the reviser of the Sinaiticus. It is from the Hebrew and marked by Origen with the \*. The precise meaning of the Hebrew is unclear, and so is the Greek. The translation given above is plausible, but not necessarily correct.

[4] This elaborate reading is taken from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and lastly Wisdom, hence the title. The opening part of the text speaks both of ‘a man’ — *aner* not *anthropos* — and ‘ wise’, or ‘ just’, in the plural.

[5] Cf. Psalm 118,1.

[6] Since Wisdom is personified in these texts, the feminine has been retained in the translation, without prejudice, as the lawyers say.

[7] The four natural, or ‘cardinal’ virtues.

[9] This phrase presents considerable problems.  It does not occur in the critical texts, which simply have ‘habitations of reed’. It does, however, occur in 34:13.  It is unclear why the pious baronet, Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton, renders it ‘ready habitations’.  Does he mean ‘reedy habitations’?  The word I have rendered ‘owls’ is in Greek ‘sirens’.  In 34 the context is negative, ‘Thorns shall grow up in their cities. … They shall be habitations of *sirens* — which the pious baronet translates, both here and elsewhere, by ‘monsters’ —, and a court of ostriches.  And demons will meet with *onokentauroi* .’  Here, though, the meaning should be positive.  The coupling of ‘sirens’ and ‘ostriches’ also occurs at Job 30:29, again in a negative context. ‘I have gone groaning without being muzzled.  I stood crying out in the assembly.  I have become brother of sirens and companion of ostriches’.  On this passage St John Chrysostom says, ‘By sirens he means some form of bird that sings, like kingfishers or owls, both of which have mournful songs’. Hence I tentatively put ‘owls’ here, though perhaps the translator was thinking of the mythical Sirens, whose song was so alluring that it led mariners to their doom. A possible translation might be ‘songbirds’.

[11] A considerable problem for the translator, which I discussed at some length in a review in *Sourozh*. The Fathers themselves are not agreed, St Basil opting for ‘Spirit’, St Ephrem for ‘wind’.

[12] Neither Greek nor English can reproduce the play on the meaning of *mara*.

[13] Both the Hebrew and the Greek have singular pronouns in these verses, though the reference must be to Israel, rather than Moses only. English versions, including AV, NRSV and NAB, make this explicit by putting ‘them’ here.

[14] This clause is not in the Hebrew, nor in the uncials A and B. Rahlfs reads not *dierthi*, but *diesti*. There are a number of other small differences, but they do affect the translation.

[15] The LXX has here either *aphpho* or *appho*, both of which are odd, being simply near transliterations of the Hebrew, which means something like ‘Yea, he’, ‘Even he’. St Jerome has ‘nunc etiam’, which makes sense, but is somewhat free.

[16] Although the Greek here, as in a number of other places, has *anthropos*, I retain the translation ‘man’, since the passage is used liturgically for a male. This does not create problems, since, so far as I am aware, no female saints have readings at Vespers. Where the word is plural ‘inclusive’ words are preferred.

[17] A reference to Enoch , who was a mere stripling of three hundred and sixty five by patriarchal standards when God took him.

[18] This sentence contains no main verb in Greek, the first three verbs being aorist participles.

[19] Both the lxx and the mt have the first person in this verse. The lectionary, like a few minuscules, has the third.

[20] The Greek is ‘proselyte’, but the word in the lxx simply means someone who ‘comes to one’ from elsewhere. The French translate by ‘immigrant’, which is accurate, but gives the wrong connotation in English.

[21] Literally ‘the heaven of heaven’, but this, with the singular, sounds odd in English.

[22] The lxx has the singular here, referring to the earth.

[23] *La Bible d*‘*Alexandrie* takes *met’autous ymas* together, ‘after you’, but this is surely wrong.

[24] See the note on this word in Reading 28.

[25] I give no list of verses, since this is a most complicated selection of verses and half verses, and the numbering of the Greek and Hebrew differs.

[27] This is the punctuation of the lectionary. The natural way is to take ‘knowledge and understanding’ as objects of ‘call on’.

[28] The Greek here has *andres*, not *anthropoi.*