ISAIAH
40:1-11
PSALM
85:7-13
ACTS
13:14B-26
LUKE
1:57-80
ISAIAH 40:1-11
Comfort,
O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out:
"In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every
valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill
be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and
the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." A voice
says, "Cry out!" And I said, "What shall
I cry?" All people are grass, their constancy is
like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the
flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the
flower fades; but the word of our God will stand
forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald
of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O
Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not
fear; say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your
God!" See, the Lord God comes with might, and his
arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his
recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a
shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and
carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother
sheep.
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PSALM
85:7-13
REFRAIN
Show us your mercy.
Show
us your mercy, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
I
will listen to what the Lord God is saying, for he is
speaking peace to his faithful people and to those who
turn their hearts to him.
Truly,
his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that
his glory may dwell in our land. R
Mercy
and truth have met together; righteousness and peace
have kissed each other.
Truth
shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall
look down from heaven. R
The
Lord will indeed grant prosperity, and our land will
yield its increase.
Righteousness
shall go before him, and peace shall be a pathway for
his feet. R
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ACTS
13:14B-26
On
the sabbath day Paul and his company went into the
synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the law and
the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a
message, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of
exhortation for the people, give it." So Paul stood
up and with a gesture began to speak: "You
Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. The God of
this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the
people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and
with uplifted arm he led them out of it. For about forty
years he put up with them in the wilderness. After he
had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he
gave them their land as an inheritance for about four
hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges
until the time of the prophet Samuel. Then they asked
for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of
the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. When
he had removed him, he made David their king. In his
testimony about him he said, 'I have found David, son of
Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out
all my wishes.' Of this man's posterity God has brought
to Israel a Saviour, Jesus, as he promised; before his
coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of
repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was
finishing his work, he said, 'What do you suppose that I
am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am
not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his
feet.' My brothers, you descendants of Abraham's family,
and others who fear God, to us the message of this
salvation has been sent."
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LUKE
1:57-80
Now
the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore
a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord
had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with
her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the
child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after
his father. But his mother said, "No; he is to be
called John." They said to her, "None of your
relatives has this name." Then they began motioning
to his father to find out what name he wanted to give
him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His
name is John." And all of them were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed,
and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all
their neighbours, and all these things were talked about
throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who
heard them pondered them and said, "What then will
this child become?" For, indeed, the hand of the
Lord was with him. Then his father Zechariah was filled
with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has
looked favourably on his people and redeemed them. He
has raised up a mighty saviour for us in the house of
his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his
holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from
our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus
he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and
has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore
to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being
rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him
without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him
all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet
of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to
prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his
people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender
mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon
us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in
the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of
peace." The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared
publicly to Israel.
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