Orthodox Daily Devotional
- Orthodox Daily Devotional
Orthodox Daily Devotional
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent | Forefeast of the Annunciation
Commemorations
- Forefeast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos (celebrated tomorrow, March 25)
- Venerable Zachariah the Recluse
- St. Artemius (Artemon), Bishop of Seleucia (1st–2nd century)
- Venerable Zachariah, Ascetic, of the Kiev Caves (Far Caves, 13th–14th c.)
- Holy Martyrs Stephen and Peter of Kazan’ (1552)
Scripture Readings
Texts from The Orthodox Study Bible (Septuagint/NKJV tradition)
Isaiah 40:18–31
Sixth Hour, Great Lent Weekday
18 To whom then will you liken the Lord, and to what likeness will you compare Him? 19 Has the workman made an image, or has the goldsmith overspread it with gold, gilding it, making a likeness of Him? 20 For the workman chooses wood that will not rot, and skillfully seeks to prepare a carved image that will not totter. 21 Will you not know? Will you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Do you not know the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who possesses the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. It is He who stretches out heaven like a vault, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He makes the rulers He establishes to rule to be as nothing; He makes the earth as nothing. 24 Scarcely shall they be planted, scarcely shall they be sown, scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, when He shall also blow on them and they will wither, and the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. 25 “Now then, to whom will you liken Me, that I should be exalted?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see. Who displayed these things? He who brings forth their host by number; He who calls them all by name. From the greatness of His glory to the strength of His might, nothing escapes Your notice.
27 For why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, saying, “My way is hidden from God, and my God took away my judgment and departed”? 28 So then, have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the God who created the ends of the earth, neither hungers nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to those who do not grieve. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the elect shall be without strength. 31 But those who wait on God shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not hunger.
Genesis 15:1–15
Vespers, Great Lent — God’s Covenant with Abram
15 After these things the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield and will be your exceedingly great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “Lord, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus, the son of Masek, my domestic maidservant?” 3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed, my household servant is my heir.”
4 And immediately the Voice of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but the One who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said to him, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your seed be.” 6 And Abram believed God, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
7 Then He said to him, “I am the God who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8 And he said, “Master and Lord, how will I know I will inherit it?” 9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So he brought all these to Him and cut them in half, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 Now around sunset, a trance fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be strangers in a land not their own, and will serve them; and they will afflict and humble them four hundred years. 14 Also, the nation they serve I will judge; and afterward, they shall come out with great possessions. 15 But as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, buried in a good old age.”
Proverbs 15:7–19
Vespers, Great Lent — The Way of Wisdom
7 The lips of the wise are bound by perception, but the hearts of those without discernment are not safe.
9 The sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord, but the prayers of the upright are acceptable with Him. 10 The ways of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord, but He loves those who pursue righteousness. 11 The instruction of the simple is known by those who pass by, but those who hate reproofs will die shamefully.
12 Hades and destruction are manifest before the Lord; how can the hearts of men not be also? 13 An uninstructed man will not love those who reprove him, and he will not keep company with the wise. 14 When one’s heart is glad, his face is cheerful, but when it is in grief, his face is sad. 15 The upright heart seeks perception, but the mouth of the uninstructed will know evil things. 16 The eyes of evil men are waiting for evil things all the time, but good men are at rest continually.
17 Better is a small portion with the fear of the Lord than great treasures with lack of fear. 18 Better is a dinner of herbs with friendship and grace than a fatted calf with hostility. 19 An angry man stirs up contention, but a longsuffering man even calms the rising quarrel.
Genesis 28:10–17
Forefeast of the Annunciation — Jacob’s Ladder
10 Now Jacob went out from the Well of Oath and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. Then he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 So behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. Do not fear, the land on which you lie I will give to you and your seed. 14 Also, your seed shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “The Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 So he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Ezekiel 43:27–44:4
Forefeast of the Annunciation — The East Gate
27 “It will be when these days are over, on the eighth day, the priests shall offer your whole burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar, and I shall accept you,” says the Lord.
44:1 Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces toward the east, but it was shut. 2 So the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it, because the Lord God of Israel will enter by it; therefore, it shall be shut. 3 As for the prince, he will sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He will go in by way of the gate chamber and go out the same way.”
4 Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the house of the Lord was full of glory; and I fell on my face.
Proverbs 9:1–11
Forefeast of the Annunciation — Wisdom Has Built Her House
1 Wisdom built her house, and she supported it with seven pillars.
2 She offered her sacrifices; she mixed her wine in a bowl and prepared her table. 3 She sent her servants, inviting people to the bowl with a lofty proclamation, saying, 4 “He who is without discernment, let him turn aside to me”; and to those in need of discernment she says, 5 “Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I mixed for you; 6 forsake lack of discernment, and you shall live; seek discernment so you may live, and keep straight your understanding with knowledge.”
7 He who chastises evil men shall receive dishonor to himself, and he who reproves the ungodly man shall be blamed himself. 8 Do not reprove evil men, so they may not hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. 9 Give the opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser; instruct a righteous man, and he shall continue to receive it. 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and counsel from the saints is understanding. 11 To know the law is the mark of a sound mind.
Commentary & Reflection
From The Orthodox Study Bible
On Isaiah 40:18–31 — God Beyond Compare
Isaiah’s proclamation rings across the Lenten desert: “To whom will you liken Me?” The text cuts straight at the habit of reducing God to manageable size — an image we craft, a concept we control, a deity who fits our expectations. The prophet answers every temptation to despair or self-reliance: the One who “stretches out heaven like a vault” and calls every star by name is the same One who “gives strength to the hungry.”
The closing verse (v.31) is one of the great promises of Scripture: those who wait on God shall renew their strength, shall mount up with wings like eagles. The Greek hypomenō — to wait, to remain under — implies not passive sitting but active endurance beneath the weight of trust. In the middle of Great Lent, when the body flags and the will is thin, this word arrives like water in a dry place.
On Genesis 15:1–15 — Living Faith
The OSB notes that when Abram believed God’s promise and it “was accounted to him for righteousness,” this was not a single moment of intellectual assent but the fruit of years of costly obedience — leaving Ur, walking in an alien land, holding the promise with open hands. Faith is dynamic here: it is Abraham’s entire posture toward God over decades, constantly tested, constantly renewed.
The covenant of the pieces (vv. 9–17) is a formal, solemn, liturgical act — the Lord Himself, as fire and smoke, passing between the divided animals. God binds Himself. This is not a deal between equals; it is divine condescension into covenant form, a foreshadowing of the Incarnation where God enters fully into the human condition.
On Ezekiel 43:27–44:4 — The East Gate and the Theotokos
This is the only Old Testament passage read at all four major Feasts of the Theotokos. The OSB explains the patristic reading plainly: “The east gate through which only the Lord God of Israel passes, and which remains shut after His passage, is prophetic of the Lord entering Mary’s womb and being born nine months later with her virginity remaining intact.”
Tomorrow is the Annunciation — the moment when the Word of God entered through that gate. The Church has always understood Gabriel’s greeting not as a historical footnote but as the hinge of all history. Ezekiel saw it coming six centuries before: the gate that none but the Lord passes through, the house filled with the glory of God.
On Genesis 28:10–17 — Jacob’s Ladder as Type of the Theotokos
The OSB’s section on Types of Mary in the Old Testament explicitly names Jacob’s ladder (Gn 28:10–17) as an image of the Theotokos: the ladder reaching from earth to heaven, by which angels ascend and descend, by which God speaks to man. The Church hymnography sees Mary as this ladder — she who joins earth to heaven, humanity to divinity, in the person of her Son.
Jacob wakes and says, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” On the eve of the Annunciation, we echo those words.
On Proverbs 9:1–11 — Wisdom’s House and Table
“Wisdom built her house and she supported it with seven pillars.” The patristic tradition reads Wisdom here as Christ — the eternal Logos, Wisdom of the Father — and the house He builds as the Church, and also as the body of the Theotokos. The seven pillars correspond to the seven gifts of the Spirit; the feast to which Wisdom invites is the Eucharist itself.
“Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I mixed for you.” This is the voice of Christ calling. The Forefeast of the Annunciation catches us on the threshold of the great mystery: Divine Wisdom choosing to dwell in human flesh, setting a table that changes everything.
A Word for the Day
We are in the fifth week of Great Lent — past the midpoint, the body tiring, the spirit sometimes flickering. The readings today hold two things together: the sheer majesty of God who calls the stars by name, and the tender condescension of that same God who enters through a human gate, sleeps in a human womb, and sets a table in the wilderness for the hungry.
Those who wait on God shall renew their strength.
Wait. Endure. Expect.
The Annunciation is tomorrow.
Source: The Orthodox Study Bible | Readings via OCA.org | Generated 2026-03-24