Isaiah 11:1-10

English Standard Version

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of ^(A)Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
²And ^(B)the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
^(C)He shall not judge by ^(D)what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by ^(E)what his ears hear,
⁴but ^(F)with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall ^(G)strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and ^(H)with the breath of his lips ^(I)he shall kill the wicked.
⁵Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and ^(J)faithfulness the belt of his loins.

⁶^(K)The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
⁷The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
⁹^(L)They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all ^(M)my holy mountain;
^(N)for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰In that day ^(O)the root of ^(P)Jesse, who shall stand as ^(Q)a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

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1 Corinthians 15:51-57

English Standard Version

⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. ^(A)We shall not all sleep, ^(B)but we shall all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For ^(C)the trumpet will sound, and ^(D)the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and ^(E)this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

^(F)“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵^(G)“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and ^(H)the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, ^(I)who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Luke 2:1-20

English Standard Version

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 In those days ^(A)a decree went out from ^(B)Caesar Augustus that all the world should be ^(C)registered. ²This was the first ^(D)registration when^[a] Quirinius ^(E)was governor of Syria. ³And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴And Joseph also went up ^(F)from Galilee, from the town of ^(G)Nazareth, to Judea, to ^(H)the city of David, which is called ^(I)Bethlehem, ^(J)because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[b] who was with child. ⁶And ^(K)while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and ^(L)wrapped him in swaddling cloths and ^(M)laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in ^(N)the inn.^[c]

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And an angel of the Lord ^(O)appeared to them, and ^(P)the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all ^(Q)the people. ¹¹For ^(R)unto you is born this day in ^(S)the city of David ^(T)a Savior, who is ^(U)Christ ^(V)the Lord. ¹²And ^(W)this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby ^(X)wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel ^(Y)a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴^(Z)“Glory to God ^(AA)in the highest,
^(AB)and on earth ^(AC)peace ^(AD)among those with whom he is pleased!”^[d]

¹⁵When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby ^(AE)lying in a manger. ¹⁷And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But ^(AF)Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰And the shepherds returned, ^(AG)glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.