Isaiah 63:7-14

New International Version

Praise and Prayer

⁷I will tell of the kindnesses^(A) of the Lord,
    the deeds for which he is to be praised,
    according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many good things^(B)
    he has done for Israel,
    according to his compassion^(C) and many kindnesses.
⁸He said, “Surely they are my people,^(D)
    children who will be true to me”;
    and so he became their Savior.^(E)
⁹In all their distress he too was distressed,
    and the angel^(F) of his presence^(G) saved them.^[a]
In his love and mercy he redeemed^(H) them;
    he lifted them up and carried^(I) them
    all the days of old.^(J)
¹⁰Yet they rebelled^(K)
    and grieved his Holy Spirit.^(L)
So he turned and became their enemy^(M)
    and he himself fought^(N) against them.

¹¹Then his people recalled^[b] the days of old,
    the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,^(O)
    with the shepherd of his flock?^(P)
Where is he who set
    his Holy Spirit^(Q) among them,
¹²who sent his glorious arm^(R) of power
    to be at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters^(S) before them,
    to gain for himself everlasting renown,^(T)
¹³who led^(U) them through the depths?^(V)
Like a horse in open country,
    they did not stumble;^(W)
¹⁴like cattle that go down to the plain,
    they were given rest^(X) by the Spirit of the Lord.
This is how you guided your people
    to make for yourself a glorious name.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 63:9 Or Savior ⁹in their distress. / It was no envoy or angel / but his own presence that saved them
Isaiah 63:11 Or But may he recall

Psalm 111

New International Version

Psalm 111^[a]

¹Praise the Lord.^[b]

I will extol the Lord^(A) with all my heart^(B)
in the council^(C) of the upright and in the assembly.^(D)

²Great are the works^(E) of the Lord;
    they are pondered by all^(F) who delight in them.
³Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
    and his righteousness endures^(G) forever.
⁴He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
    the Lord is gracious and compassionate.^(H)
⁵He provides food^(I) for those who fear him;^(J)
    he remembers his covenant^(K) forever.

⁶He has shown his people the power of his works,^(L)
    giving them the lands of other nations.^(M)
⁷The works of his hands^(N) are faithful and just;
    all his precepts are trustworthy.^(O)
⁸They are established for ever^(P) and ever,
    enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
⁹He provided redemption^(Q) for his people;
    he ordained his covenant forever—
    holy and awesome^(R) is his name.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord^(S) is the beginning of wisdom;^(T)
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.^(U)
To him belongs eternal praise.^(V)

Footnotes

Psalm 111:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the lines of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 111:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah

Galatians 4:4-7

New International Version

⁴But when the set time had fully come,^(A) God sent his Son,^(B) born of a woman,^(C) born under the law,^(D) ⁵to redeem^(E) those under the law, that we might receive adoption^(F) to sonship.^[a]^(G) ⁶Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son^(H) into our hearts,^(I) the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,^[b] Father.”^(J) ⁷So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.^(K)

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Footnotes

Galatians 4:5 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a legal term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture.
Galatians 4:6 Aramaic for Father

Matthew 2:13-23

New International Version

The Escape to Egypt

¹³When they had gone, an angel^(A) of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.^(B) “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”^(C)

¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled^(D) what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^[a]^(E)

¹⁶When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:^(F)

¹⁸“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel^(G) weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”^[b]^(H)

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel^(I) of the Lord appeared in a dream^(J) to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”^(K)

²¹So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream,^(L) he withdrew to the district of Galilee,^(M) ²³and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.^(N) So was fulfilled^(O) what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.^(P)