Wednesday 4th March 2026
Lenten Fast: strict fast
Today we commemorate:
St. Gerasimos of the Jordan (475). Holy Martyrs Paul, his sister Juliana, and Quadratus, Acacius, and Stratonicus, at Ptolemaïs in Syria (273). Blessed Prince Daniel of Moscow, the wonder-worker (1303). St. Gregory, bishop of Constantia in Cyprus.
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Owen (Owin) of Lichfield, hermit (c.670). Hieromartyr Adrian and Companions, bishop of the Isle of May in Scotland (c.875).
Isaiah 5:16-26; Genesis 4:16-26; Proverbs 5:15-6:3
Isaiah 5:16-26
The Lord of hosts will be exalted in judgement, and the Holy God will be glorified in righteousness. Those who were plundered will be fed like bulls, and lambs will graze on the wastelands of those displaced. Alas for those who haul in sins as if with a long line, and transgressions as if with the rein of a heifer’s yoke, who say, ‘Let him hurry and be quick to do what he will do so that we may see it, and let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know what it is.’ Alas for those who call evil good and good evil, who make darkness light and light darkness, and turn bitter into sweet and sweet to bitter. Alas for those who are wise in their own estimation and knowledgeable in their own eyes. Alas for your mighty ones who drink wine and for your men of power who mix intoxicating drink, and for those who acquit the ungodly for a bribe and deny justice to the righteous. Therefore as stubble will be set alight by an ember from a fire or consumed by a stray spark, so will their root become like chaff and their blossom ascend like ash, for they rejected the law of the Lord of hosts and provoked the oracle of the Holy One of Israel. The Lord of hosts was enraged with anger against his people, and so he laid his hand on them and struck them; the mountains were provoked, and so their carcasses lay like dung in the middle of the road. Despite all this his anger remains and his hand is still held high.
Genesis 4:16-26
Cain then left the presence of God and settled in the land of Nod over beyond Eden. Cain knew his wife and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch, and he built a city and named the city after his son Enoch. To Enoch, Irad was born, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, Mehujael was the father of Methuselah, and Methuselah was the father of Lamech. Lamech took for himself two wives. The name of the first was Adah and the name of the second was Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabel who was the father of those who live in tents and keep livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal, and it was he who introduced the psaltery and harp. And Zillah gave birth to Tubal; he was a smith, a worker in bronze and iron. Tubal’s sister was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives, ‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me you wives of Lamech, and pay attention to what I say. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man who hurt me. Vengeance was exacted sevenfold for Cain, but for Lamech, seventy times seven.’ Now Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived and bore a son, and she named him Seth, saying, ‘God has raised up another child for me in place of Abel whom Cain killed.’ And to Seth a son was born, and he named him Enos. His hope was to call on the name of the Lord God.
Proverbs 5:15-6:3
Drink water from your own vessels and from the issue of your wells. Do not let the waters from your issue be spilt, but let them pass through into your wide roads. Let them be only for you, and let no stranger share with you. Let your issue of water be for your own, and together have joy with the wife of your youth. Let your beloved doe and the filly of your favours consort with you, and let her, your very own, lead you and be with you at all times. For being carried together by her love, you will be fully satisfied. Do not linger with a strange woman, nor be held in the arms of one who is not your own; for the ways of a man are under the eyes of God, and he observes all his paths. Transgressions ensnare a man, and each one is bound by the chains of his own sins. He dies with the undisciplined, and he is banished from the abundance of his livelihood. He perished through folly. My son, if you stand surety for your friend, you will put yourself into the hand of an enemy. For a man’s own lips are a powerful snare, and he is caught by the lips of his own mouth. My son, do what I tell you and save yourself.
The text and chapter and verse references of the Old Testament readings are those of the Septuagint