Sunday<\/p>\n
ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ON THE NEED FOR GOOD WORKS AS WELL AS FAITH \u00a0(today is his Feastday)<\/p>\n
….Consequently, we beg and beseech you, and embracing your knees implore you, that so long as we are traveling on life’s short path we may learn compunction from what we have just read, may be converted and made better; lest like Dives in the parable we should with him lament and weep, and our tears should then prove of no avail. For even though you should have father or son or anyone else whose trust is in God, yet none of these will be able to deliver you if your own deeds betray you. For that is what that judgment is; He judges solely by what you have done; and it is only by your deeds that you can be saved. In saying this I have no wish to drive you to despair, but simply to show you that we cannot afford to neglect the practice of virtue on the ground of some baseless hope, or through reliance on this man or that. If we shall be found to have been idle and negligent, then no saint, no Prophet, not even one of the Apostles, will be able to save us.<\/p>\n
Monday<\/p>\n
Exodus 5<\/p>\n
Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, \u201cThus says the Lord<\/span> God of Israel: \u2018Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 2\u00a0<\/sup>And Pharaoh said, \u201cWho is<\/i> the Lord<\/span>, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord<\/span>, nor will I let Israel go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 3\u00a0<\/sup>So they said, \u201cThe God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days\u2019 journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord<\/span> our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 4\u00a0<\/sup>Then the king of Egypt said to them, \u201cMoses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back<\/i> to your labor.\u201d <\/span> 5\u00a0<\/sup>And Pharaoh said, \u201cLook, the people of the land are<\/i> many now, and you make them rest from their labor!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 6\u00a0<\/sup>So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, <\/span> 7\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cYou shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. <\/span> 8\u00a0<\/sup>And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, \u2018Let us go and<\/i> sacrifice to our God.\u2019 <\/span> 9\u00a0<\/sup>Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Tuesday<\/p>\n Exodus 7<\/p>\n 8\u00a0<\/sup>Then the Lord<\/span> spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, <\/span> 9\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cWhen Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, \u2018Show a miracle for yourselves,\u2019 then you shall say to Aaron, \u2018Take your rod and cast it<\/i> before Pharaoh, and<\/i> let it become a serpent.\u2019\u201d <\/span> 10\u00a0<\/sup>So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord<\/span> commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.<\/span><\/p>\n 11\u00a0<\/sup>But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. <\/span> 12\u00a0<\/sup>For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron\u2019s rod swallowed up their rods. <\/span> 13\u00a0<\/sup>And Pharaoh\u2019s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord<\/span> had said.<\/span><\/p>\n Wednesday<\/p>\n Exodus 7<\/p>\n 14\u00a0<\/sup>So the Lord<\/span> said to Moses: \u201cPharaoh\u2019s heart is<\/i> hard; he refuses to let the people go. <\/span> 15\u00a0<\/sup>Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river\u2019s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. <\/span> 16\u00a0<\/sup>And you shall say to him, \u2018The Lord<\/span> God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, \u201cLet My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness\u201d; but indeed, until now you would not hear! <\/span> 17\u00a0<\/sup>Thus says the Lord<\/span>: \u201cBy this you shall know that I am<\/i> the Lord<\/span>. Behold, I will strike the waters which are<\/i> in the river with the rod that is<\/i> in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. <\/span> 18\u00a0<\/sup>And the fish that are<\/i> in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 19\u00a0<\/sup>Then the Lord<\/span> spoke to Moses, \u201cSay to Aaron, \u2018Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of<\/i> wood and pitchers of<\/i> stone.\u2019\u201d <\/span> 20\u00a0<\/sup>And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord<\/span> commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were<\/i> in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were<\/i> in the river were turned to blood. <\/span> 21\u00a0<\/sup>The fish that were<\/i> in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\n 22\u00a0<\/sup>Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh\u2019s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord<\/span> had said. <\/span> 23\u00a0<\/sup>And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. <\/span> 24\u00a0<\/sup>So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. <\/span> 25\u00a0<\/sup>And seven days passed after the Lord<\/span> had struck the river.<\/span><\/p>\n Thursday<\/p>\n Exodus 8<\/p>\n And the Lord<\/span> spoke to Moses, \u201cGo to Pharaoh and say to him, \u2018Thus says the Lord<\/span>: \u201cLet My people go, that they may serve Me. <\/span> 2\u00a0<\/sup>But if you refuse to let them<\/i> go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. <\/span> 3\u00a0<\/sup>So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. <\/span> 4\u00a0<\/sup>And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 5\u00a0<\/sup>Then the Lord<\/span> spoke to Moses, \u201cSay to Aaron, \u2018Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.\u2019\u201d <\/span> 6\u00a0<\/sup>So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. <\/span> 7\u00a0<\/sup>And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\n 8\u00a0<\/sup>Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, \u201cEntreat the Lord<\/span> that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 9\u00a0<\/sup>And Moses said to Pharaoh, \u201cAccept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that<\/i> they may remain in the river only.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 10\u00a0<\/sup>So he said, \u201cTomorrow.\u201d And he said, \u201cLet it be<\/i> according to your word, that you may know that there is<\/i> no one like the Lord<\/span> our God. <\/span> 11\u00a0<\/sup>And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 12\u00a0<\/sup>Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord<\/span> concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. <\/span> 13\u00a0<\/sup>So the Lord<\/span> did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. <\/span> 14\u00a0<\/sup>They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. <\/span> 15\u00a0<\/sup>But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord<\/span> had said.<\/span><\/p>\n Friday<\/p>\n Exodus 8<\/p>\n 16\u00a0<\/sup>So the Lord<\/span> said to Moses, \u201cSay to Aaron, \u2018Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.\u2019\u201d <\/span> 17\u00a0<\/sup>And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\n 18\u00a0<\/sup>Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast. <\/span> 19\u00a0<\/sup>Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, \u201cThis is<\/i> the finger of God.\u201d But Pharaoh\u2019s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord<\/span> had said.<\/span><\/p>\n Saturday<\/p>\n Exodus 8<\/p>\n 20\u00a0<\/sup>And the Lord<\/span> said to Moses, \u201cRise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, \u2018Thus says the Lord<\/span>: \u201cLet My people go, that they may serve Me. <\/span> 21\u00a0<\/sup>Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies<\/i> on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies,<\/i> and also the ground on which they stand.<\/i> <\/span> 22\u00a0<\/sup>And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies<\/i> shall be there, in order that you may know that I am<\/i> the Lord<\/span> in the midst of the land. <\/span> 23\u00a0<\/sup>I will make a difference[a<\/a>]<\/sup> between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be.\u201d\u2019\u201d <\/span> 24\u00a0<\/sup>And the Lord<\/span> did so. Thick swarms of flies<\/i> came into the house of Pharaoh, into<\/i> his servants\u2019 houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n 25\u00a0<\/sup>Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, \u201cGo, sacrifice to your God in the land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 26\u00a0<\/sup>And Moses said, \u201cIt is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord<\/span> our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us? <\/span> 27\u00a0<\/sup>We will go three days\u2019 journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord<\/span> our God as He will command us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 28\u00a0<\/sup>So Pharaoh said, \u201cI will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord<\/span> your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 29\u00a0<\/sup>Then Moses said, \u201cIndeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord<\/span>, that the swarms of flies<\/i> may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 30\u00a0<\/sup>So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord<\/span>. <\/span> 31\u00a0<\/sup>And the Lord<\/span> did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies<\/i> from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. <\/span> 32\u00a0<\/sup>But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sunday ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ON THE NEED FOR GOOD WORKS AS WELL AS FAITH \u00a0(today is his Feastday) ….Consequently, we beg and beseech you, and embracing your knees implore you, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-orthodox-daily-devotional","has_no_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2638"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2639,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2638\/revisions\/2639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}