Wednesday 24 June 2026
Nativity of St John the Baptist
Wednesday of the 4th week after Pentecost
Apostles' Fast, day 17
Nativity of St John the Baptist
About Nativity of the Forerunner →
Saints commemorated
-
Synaxis of Sts Zacharias and Elisabeth
Zachariah the priest and his wife Elizabeth were the parents of John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord. Luke's Gospel presents them as an aged, childless couple, "both righteous before God"; to Zachariah, serving at the altar of incense, the archangel Gabriel announced the conception of John, and at the child's naming Zachariah's loosed tongue uttered the prophecy known as the Benedictus. Tradition, resting on the second-century Protoevangelium of James, holds that Zachariah was murdered in the temple at Herod's command for refusing to betray his son's hiding place, and that Elizabeth, who had fled with the infant John into the wilderness, reposed forty days after her husband. They are commemorated together on September 5.
-
Holy Martyrs Orentius, Pharnacius, Eros, Firmus, Firminus, Cyriacus and Longinus (3rd c.)
Seven brothers — Orentius, Pharnacius, Eros, Firmus, Firminus, Cyriacus and Longinus — served as soldiers in Thrace under Diocletian, and were famous in the ranks for their courage. When Orentius, having killed the champion of an invading Scythian host in single combat, refused to join the sacrifice offered in thanksgiving for the victory — declaring that he had conquered by the power of Jesus Christ — the seven were arrested, questioned, and with one voice confessed Christ. They were not executed but sentenced to exile in the Caucasus, and the sentence was the martyrdom: one after another they died on the road and along the eastern shore of the Black Sea, over five weeks and six hundred miles, in six different places, without complaint. The synaxaria preserve the place and the day of each death — a roll of stages that reads like an itinerary and is, in fact, the record of a company killed slowly by transportation. They are kept on June 24 in the Slavonic books and on June 25 in Greek usage.
-
Anthony of Dymsk
Anthony of Dymsk (c. 1157–1224) was a monastic founder of the Novgorod land, a disciple of Barlaam of Khutyn who, shunning the abbacy his dying elder had laid upon him, withdrew to the shore of Lake Dymskoe near Tikhvin and there founded the monastery that bears his name. The tradition remembers him for an ascetic feat unique among the Russian saints: standing to pray, through long nights, upon a stone that rose barely above the surface of the lake, so that he is honoured as a "stylite upon the waters"; and for the iron cap he wore beneath his hood, from which, laid upon the head of the sick, many afterward received healing. He reposed on June 24, 1224, and his relics were found incorrupt in 1330. He is kept on June 24, the day of his repose, and — as the spiritual son and namesake of Anthony the Great — on January 17.
-
Athanasius Parios
Athanasius the Parian (c. 1721–1813) was the second leader of the Kollyvades movement, the great schoolmaster of Chios, and the most combative theological polemicist of the Greek eighteenth century. Born on Paros and trained at Smyrna, Athos and Corfu under the best teachers of his generation, he was ordained on the Holy Mountain by Macarius of Corinth and threw himself into the Athonite dispute over memorial services and frequent communion — for which he was defrocked and excommunicated in 1776 by the Patriarchate, and vindicated and restored five years later. For twenty-five years he directed the school of Chios, teaching logic, rhetoric, metaphysics and theology to a generation of Greeks, and wrote unceasingly: manuals of rhetoric and apologetics, a compendium of Orthodox dogma, lives and services of the new martyrs, and a running war against the European Enlightenment. He died on Chios on the feast of the Forerunner's Nativity in 1813, aged ninety, and was numbered among the saints by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1995.
-
John and Jacob of Meniugi
Two small brothers of a peasant household in the Novgorod land — John, aged about five, and Jacob, aged about three — who died together about 1566–1569 in an accident so terrible that the countryside took it at once for a sign. Their bodies were found unburnt, they were buried at the church of the Medvedsky pogost, and (the local tradition says) their coffins were afterwards seen floating on the lake and were carried to the deserted place called Menyusha, where a chapel and later the Trinity monastery grew up over them. Their relics were found incorrupt and enshrined in the Trinity church at Menyusha between 1682 and 1689, and healings were reported there. The Russian Church numbers them among the righteous youths and keeps them on June 24. The record is thin, local, and partly legendary, and this entry says so.
-
John and Longinus of Yarenga
Two men of the White Sea coast — John and Longinus — of whom nothing whatever is transmitted except how they died and what happened afterwards. Both were drowned at sea, at different times, near the village of Yarenga on the Summer Coast of the White Sea, in the middle of the sixteenth century; both bodies were washed ashore and buried by the local people where they were found; and both, from their graves, began to appear to the living, to name themselves, and to heal — above all the possessed, and sailors caught in the storms of that sea. Their relics were gathered at the church of St Nicholas at Yarenga and, on 3 July 1638, translated in procession to a new church of Zosimas and Sabbatius built for them, in a ceremony described in detail by an eyewitness. They are among the very few saints of the Russian calendar whose entire hagiography is posthumous.
-
John the Forerunner
John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord — son of the priest Zachariah and the righteous Elizabeth, kinsman of Christ, desert ascetic, preacher of repentance at the Jordan, and the one found worthy to baptize the incarnate God — is honoured by the Orthodox Church above every saint except the Theotokos. The Lord himself pronounced the verdict the Church repeats: "among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater." Last and greatest of the prophets, he pointed to the Lamb of God with his finger, rebuked a king, was beheaded for righteousness' sake, and — the tradition sings — went as forerunner even to those in Hades. His cycle of six fixed feasts, from his Conception (September 23) to the Findings of his Head, structures the whole liturgical year, and every Tuesday of the week is dedicated to him.
-
John the New of Suceava
John the New (c. 1300 – c. 1330/1332) was a Greek merchant of Trebizond who was tortured to death at Cetatea Albă — the Asprokastron of the Greeks, the Akkerman of the Turks, the Belgorod of the Slavs, at the mouth of the Dniester — for refusing to abandon Christ for the religion of its Tatar governor. Denounced out of commercial envy by the Western shipmaster who had carried him there, he was beaten with rods until his flesh came away, dragged through the streets tied to a wild horse, and beheaded in the open street; and the pillar of light that stood over his body that night is the first of the wonders reported of him. Some seventy years later Alexander the Good, Voivode of Moldavia, brought his relics to Suceava, where they remain — and where they made a foreign merchant-martyr into the heavenly patron of Moldavia and of Bukovina, "the protector of all the Moldavian land." He is honoured on June 2 for his martyrdom and, in Romanian usage, on June 24 for the bringing of his relics.
British Isles and Ireland
- St. Germoc of Cornwall (6th C)
- St. Rumold of Malines (c.7th C)
Troparia & kontakia
Apolytikion
O Prophet and Forerunner of the coming of Christ, we who honour thee with longing can find no worthy way to praise thee; for by thy glorious and venerable birth the barrenness of her that bore thee and the speechlessness of thy father are alike undone, and the incarnation of the Son of God is proclaimed unto the world.
Apolytikion
In thee, O Father, was preserved unimpaired that which is according to the image; for taking up the cross, thou didst follow after Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, for it passeth away, but to care for the soul, a thing immortal. Wherefore, O venerable Athanasius, thy spirit rejoiceth with the angels.
Apolytikion — Tone 4
Thy righteous ones, O Lord, having lived in innocence upon the earth, were shown to be vessels of thy grace, and now they stand before thee unashamed. By the prayers of the righteous youths John and Jacob, O Christ our God, have mercy upon the children of thy people and save our souls.
Apolytikion — Tone 4
Thy martyrs, O Lord, in their contest received incorruptible crowns from thee our God; for possessing thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and broke also the feeble insolence of the demons. By their supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.
Apolytikion
O Prophet and Forerunner of the coming of Christ, we who honour thee with longing can find no worthy way to praise thee; for by thy glorious and venerable birth the barrenness of her that bore thee and the speechlessness of thy father are alike undone, and the incarnation of the Son of God is proclaimed unto the world.
Apolytikion
In thee, O Father, was preserved unimpaired that which is according to the image; for taking up the cross, thou didst follow after Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, for it passeth away, but to care for the soul, a thing immortal. Wherefore, O venerable Athanasius, thy spirit rejoiceth with the angels.
Apolytikion — Tone 4
Thy righteous ones, O Lord, having lived in innocence upon the earth, were shown to be vessels of thy grace, and now they stand before thee unashamed. By the prayers of the righteous youths John and Jacob, O Christ our God, have mercy upon the children of thy people and save our souls.
Apolytikion — Tone 4
Thy martyrs, O Lord, in their contest received incorruptible crowns from thee our God; for possessing thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and broke also the feeble insolence of the demons. By their supplications, O Christ our God, save our souls.
Exaposteilarion — Tone 2
The joy-bringing Nativity of the Forerunner dissolveth this day the gloom of his father's speechlessness and the barrenness of her that bore him, and it declareth the joy and gladness that are to come; wherefore all creation keepeth it as a radiant feast.
Exaposteilarion — Tone 2
The joy-bringing Nativity of the Forerunner dissolveth this day the gloom of his father's speechlessness and the barrenness of her that bore him, and it declareth the joy and gladness that are to come; wherefore all creation keepeth it as a radiant feast.
Kontakion — Tone 3
She that was barren aforetime beareth this day the Forerunner of Christ, and he is himself the fulfilment of all prophecy; for laying his hand in the Jordan upon him whom the prophets had proclaimed beforehand, he was shown forth as prophet, herald and forerunner together of the Word of God.
Kontakion — Tone 1
Zachariah the great rejoiceth with splendour, with Elizabeth his all-glorious yokefellow, for she hath worthily conceived John the Forerunner, whom the Archangel announced with rejoicing, and whom we men honour as is due, an initiate of the grace of God.
Kontakion — Tone 4
The Church of Moldavia keepeth thee as her crown and her defence, O great martyr John: for thy blood, poured out in a stranger's city, hath watered our land, and thy relics, borne home in glory, pour forth healing upon all that draw near. Wherefore we cry unto thee: rejoice, O boast of Trebizond and guardian of Suceava.
Kontakion — Tone 3
Today the prophet and priest of the Most High, Zachariah, the father of the Forerunner, hath set forth the table of his memory, nourishing the faithful and mixing for them the drink of righteousness; wherefore we hymn him as a divine initiate of the grace of God.
Kontakion — Tone 3
She that was barren aforetime beareth this day the Forerunner of Christ, and he is himself the fulfilment of all prophecy; for laying his hand in the Jordan upon him whom the prophets had proclaimed beforehand, he was shown forth as prophet, herald and forerunner together of the Word of God.
Kontakion — Tone 1
Zachariah the great rejoiceth with splendour, with Elizabeth his all-glorious yokefellow, for she hath worthily conceived John the Forerunner, whom the Archangel announced with rejoicing, and whom we men honour as is due, an initiate of the grace of God.
Kontakion — Tone 4
The Church of Moldavia keepeth thee as her crown and her defence, O great martyr John: for thy blood, poured out in a stranger's city, hath watered our land, and thy relics, borne home in glory, pour forth healing upon all that draw near. Wherefore we cry unto thee: rejoice, O boast of Trebizond and guardian of Suceava.
Kontakion — Tone 3
Today the prophet and priest of the Most High, Zachariah, the father of the Forerunner, hath set forth the table of his memory, nourishing the faithful and mixing for them the drink of righteousness; wherefore we hymn him as a divine initiate of the grace of God.
Oikos
Let us praise now the Forerunner of the Lord, whom Elizabeth bore to the priest out of a fruitless womb — yet not out of a seedless one; for Christ alone passed through the gate that none may pass. A barren woman gave John birth, but not without a husband; whereas a pure Virgin bore Jesus by the overshadowing of the Father and of the divine Spirit. Yet he that came forth of the barren woman was shown to be, for him that came forth of the Virgin, prophet, herald and forerunner together.
Oikos
Let us praise now the Forerunner of the Lord, whom Elizabeth bore to the priest out of a fruitless womb — yet not out of a seedless one; for Christ alone passed through the gate that none may pass. A barren woman gave John birth, but not without a husband; whereas a pure Virgin bore Jesus by the overshadowing of the Father and of the divine Spirit. Yet he that came forth of the barren woman was shown to be, for him that came forth of the Virgin, prophet, herald and forerunner together.
Stichera
The voice of the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled this day in the bearing of John, the greatest of the prophets. For, saith he, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way. This soldier of the heavenly King, running on before, made straight in very truth the paths of our God: a man by nature, but an angel in his manner of life; for having embraced perfect purity and temperance, he kept that which is according to nature, and fled that which is against nature, and contended beyond nature. Let us all, O faithful, imitating him in the virtues, entreat him to intercede for us, that our souls may be saved. Behold Elizabeth, speaking with the Virgin Mary: Why art thou come to me, O Mother of my Lord? Thou bearest the King, and I the soldier; thou the Giver of the Law, and I the one who shall declare it; thou the Word, and I the voice that proclaimeth the kingdom of the heavens. A star of stars, the Forerunner, is born on earth this day from a barren womb — John, the beloved of God — and he maketh manifest the dawning of Christ, the Dayspring from on high, for a straight passage for the faithful.
Stichera
The voice of the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled this day in the bearing of John, the greatest of the prophets. For, saith he, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way. This soldier of the heavenly King, running on before, made straight in very truth the paths of our God: a man by nature, but an angel in his manner of life; for having embraced perfect purity and temperance, he kept that which is according to nature, and fled that which is against nature, and contended beyond nature. Let us all, O faithful, imitating him in the virtues, entreat him to intercede for us, that our souls may be saved. Behold Elizabeth, speaking with the Virgin Mary: Why art thou come to me, O Mother of my Lord? Thou bearest the King, and I the soldier; thou the Giver of the Law, and I the one who shall declare it; thou the Word, and I the voice that proclaimeth the kingdom of the heavens. A star of stars, the Forerunner, is born on earth this day from a barren womb — John, the beloved of God — and he maketh manifest the dawning of Christ, the Dayspring from on high, for a straight passage for the faithful.
Troparion — Tone 8
With the streams of thy tears thou didst till the barren desert, and by thy sighing from the depths thou didst make thy labours bear fruit a hundredfold; and thou becamest a luminary, shining upon the whole world with miracles, O Anthony our venerable father. Intercede with Christ our God, that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 8
Given up by the sea and made known by God, O righteous John and Longinus, ye were laid in the sand of a strange shore and there glorified: for from your graves ye healed the sick and drove out unclean spirits, and ye stand by those in peril upon the waters. Wherefore we keep the day of the translation of your relics and cry: entreat Christ our God that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 4
Rejoice, O barren one, that hadst not borne until now: for behold, thou hast conceived the lamp of the Sun, who is to enlighten all the world, that lay sick with blindness. Dance, O Zachariah, and cry out with boldness: the one to be born is the Prophet of the Most High.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thou didst trade for the pearl of great price, O martyr John, and having found it thou didst gladly sell all that thou hadst: for setting at nought the threats of the tyrant and the fire he bade thee worship, thou didst confess the Light that no darkness overtakes, and wast beaten and dragged and beheaded for His name. Wherefore Christ hath given thee to Suceava as a treasure that fadeth not: intercede with Him, O athlete of the Lord, that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 4
Clothed in the vesture of the priesthood, O wise one, according to the law of God thou didst offer acceptable whole burnt offerings in a manner befitting a priest, O Zachariah; and thou wast a beacon and a beholder of mysteries, bearing in thyself the tokens of grace made manifest, O all-wise; and slain by the sword in the temple of God, O prophet of Christ, intercede together with the Forerunner that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 8
With the streams of thy tears thou didst till the barren desert, and by thy sighing from the depths thou didst make thy labours bear fruit a hundredfold; and thou becamest a luminary, shining upon the whole world with miracles, O Anthony our venerable father. Intercede with Christ our God, that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 8
Given up by the sea and made known by God, O righteous John and Longinus, ye were laid in the sand of a strange shore and there glorified: for from your graves ye healed the sick and drove out unclean spirits, and ye stand by those in peril upon the waters. Wherefore we keep the day of the translation of your relics and cry: entreat Christ our God that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 4
Rejoice, O barren one, that hadst not borne until now: for behold, thou hast conceived the lamp of the Sun, who is to enlighten all the world, that lay sick with blindness. Dance, O Zachariah, and cry out with boldness: the one to be born is the Prophet of the Most High.
Troparion — Tone 4
Thou didst trade for the pearl of great price, O martyr John, and having found it thou didst gladly sell all that thou hadst: for setting at nought the threats of the tyrant and the fire he bade thee worship, thou didst confess the Light that no darkness overtakes, and wast beaten and dragged and beheaded for His name. Wherefore Christ hath given thee to Suceava as a treasure that fadeth not: intercede with Him, O athlete of the Lord, that our souls may be saved.
Troparion — Tone 4
Clothed in the vesture of the priesthood, O wise one, according to the law of God thou didst offer acceptable whole burnt offerings in a manner befitting a priest, O Zachariah; and thou wast a beacon and a beholder of mysteries, bearing in thyself the tokens of grace made manifest, O all-wise; and slain by the sword in the temple of God, O prophet of Christ, intercede together with the Forerunner that our souls may be saved.
Verses
Dance, O Zacharias, together with thy wife: few children ye bear, but the one is great. About the four-and-twentieth the mother brought forth the Forerunner.
Verses
Dance, O Zacharias, together with thy wife: few children ye bear, but the one is great. About the four-and-twentieth the mother brought forth the Forerunner.
Readings
Vespers
Composite 10 - Genesis 17.15-17, 19; 18.11-14; 21.1-8
1The Lord God said to Abraham: As for Sara your wife, her name shall not be called Sara, but Sarra shall be her name. I will bless her and will give you a child from her; and I will bless it and it shall be for nations and kings of nations will come from it. And Abraham fell on his face, and laughed and said in his mind; Shall a son be born in my hundredth year? And shall Sarra who is ninety bear a child? God said to Abraham: Yes; see, your wife Sarra will bear you a son and you will call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant. Now Abraham and Sarra were old, advanced in years. But Sarra laughed to herself, saying: The thing has not happened to me until now; and my lord is old. And the Lord God said to Abraham: Why did Sarra laugh to herself, saying: Shall I really give birth? For I am aged. But nothing is impossible for God. And the Lord visited Sarra, as He had said, and she conceived and bore a son to Abraham in their old age at the time the Lord had said to him. But he circumcised him on the eighth day, as the Lord God had commanded him. And Abraham was a hundred when Isaac his son was born to him. But Sarra said: The Lord has given me laughter; for whoever hears will rejoice with me. And she said: Who will announce to Abraham that Sarra is suckling a child, for I have born a child in my old age? And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham held a great banquet on the day his son Isaac was weaned.
Composite 11 - Judges 13.2-8, 13-14, 17-18, 21
1In those days there was a man of the tribe of Dan and his name was Manoe, and his wife was barren and had not borne a child. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to his wife and said to her: See, you are barren and have not borne a child or conceived a son. But now take care, and do not drink wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. Because see, you will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and no iron shall touch his head, because the child is to be a Nazarite to God from his mother’s womb. And the woman came and spoke to her husband, saying: A Man of God came to me, and his appearance was as the appearance on an Angel of God, exceedingly bright. And he said: See, you will conceive in the womb and bear a son; and now take care, and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb to the day of his death. And Manoe besought the Lord and said: My Lord, let the man of God, whom You sent, come again to us, and enlighten us what we should do for the child that is to be born. Then the Angel came to Manoe and said: Of all the things that I said to your wife, let her take care. She is not to eat anything that comes from the vine; she is not to drink wine or strong drink. And Manoe said to the Angel of the Lord: What is your name? That when your word comes to pass, we may glorify you. And the Angel of the Lord said to him: Why do you ask my name? For it is wonderful. And the Angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoe and his wife.
Composite 8 - Isaiah 40, 41, 45, 48, 54
1Thus says the Lord: Comfort, comfort my people, says God. Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem. Comfort her, because her humiliation has been completed; for her has sin has been abolished, because she has received from the Lord’s hand double for her sins. A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley will be filled and every mountain and hill made low; what is crooked will become straight, and the rough ways will be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Sion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift it up, do not be afraid. I the Lord God, I, the God of Israel, will hearken and will not forsake them; but I will open rivers from the mountains and springs in the middle of plains. I will turn the wilderness into water meadows and the thirsty earth with water courses. Let the heavens rejoice from on high and let the clouds rain justice. Let the earth sprout and blossom with mercy and justice. Announce a voice of gladness to the end of the earth and let this be heard: Say that the Lord has delivered his servant Jacob. And if they thirst through deserts, he will bring water for them from a rock. Rejoice you barren who have never given birth, break out and shout, you who have never known birth pangs, for the children of the deserted are more than those of her who has a husband.
Matins Gospel
Luke 1.24-25, 57-68, 76, 80
24And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, 25Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. 57Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. 59And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. 61And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. 64And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. 65And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judæa. 66And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. 67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 76And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 80And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
Epistle
Romans 11.2-12
2God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 7What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 9And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: 10Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. 11I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. 12Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
Romans 13.11-14.4 (Forerunner)
11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 1Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. 2For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 3Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. 4Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Gospel
Matthew 11.20-26
20Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: 21Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. 23And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. 25At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
Luke 1.1-25, 57-68, 76, 80 (Forerunner)
1Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. 5There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. 8And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, 9According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 18And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. 21And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. 22And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. 23And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. 24And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, 25Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. 57Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. 59And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. 61And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. 64And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. 65And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judæa. 66And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. 67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 76And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 80And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.