Martyrs Galacteon and Wife Epistemis; Repose St Jonah of Novgorod; Holy Apostles Patrobas, Hermas, Linus, Gaius and Philologus

But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.

²⁵But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need, ²⁶since he longed for you all, and was very troubled because you had heard that he was sick. ²⁷For indeed he was sick nearly to death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow. ²⁸I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. ²⁹Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such people in honor, ³⁰because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.

But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. ⁴³Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.”

⁴⁵One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.”

⁴⁶He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.