Psalm 146:5-10

English Standard Version

⁵^(A)Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose ^(B)hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶^(C)who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
^(D)who keeps faith forever;
⁷    ^(E)who executes justice for the oppressed,
    ^(F)who gives food to the hungry.

^(G)The Lord sets the prisoners free;
⁸    ^(H)the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
^(I)The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    ^(J)the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹^(K)The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    ^(L)he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but ^(M)the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰^(N)The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
^(O)Praise the Lord!

Read full chapter

1 Samuel 2:1-8

English Standard Version

Hannah's Prayer

2 And Hannah prayed and said,

^(A)“My heart exults in the Lord;
^(B)my horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because ^(C)I rejoice in your salvation.

²^(D)“There is none holy like the Lord:
    for there is none besides you;
    there is ^(E)no rock like our God.
³Talk no more so very proudly,
    let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
    and by him actions are weighed.
⁴^(F)The bows of the mighty are broken,
    but the feeble bind on strength.
⁵Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
    but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
^(G)The barren has borne seven,
    ^(H)but she who has many children is forlorn.
⁶^(I)The Lord kills and brings to life;
    he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
⁷^(J)The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
    ^(K)he brings low and he exalts.
⁸^(L)He raises up the poor from the dust;
    he lifts the needy from the ash heap
^(M)to make them sit with princes
    and inherit a seat of honor.
^(N)For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
    and on them he has set the world.

Read full chapter

Luke 3:1-18

English Standard Version

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^(A)Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate ^(C)being governor of Judea, and ^(D)Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ²during ^(E)the high priesthood of Annas and ^(F)Caiaphas, ^(G)the word of God came to ^(H)John the son of Zechariah in ^(I)the wilderness. ³And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^(J)a baptism of repentance ^(K)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As it is written in ^(L)the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

^(M)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^(N)‘Prepare the way of the Lord,^[a]
    make his paths straight.
⁵^(O)Every valley shall be filled,
    ^(P)and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
^(Q)and the crooked shall become straight,
    and the rough places shall become level ways,
⁶^(R)and all flesh shall see ^(S)the salvation of God.’”

⁷He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^(T)“You brood of ^(U)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(V)the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits ^(W)in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^(X)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^(Y)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(Z)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, ^(AA)“What then shall we do?” ¹¹And he answered them, ^(AB)“Whoever has two tunics^[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ¹²^(AC)Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^(AD)what shall we do?” ¹³And he said to them, ^(AE)“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^(AF)what shall we do?” And he said to them, ^(AG)“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ^(AH)wages.”

¹⁵As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^(AI)whether he might be ^(AJ)the Christ, ¹⁶^(AK)John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^(AL)he who is mightier than I is coming, ^(AM)the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^(AN)with the Holy Spirit and ^(AO)fire. ¹⁷His ^(AP)winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^(AQ)gather the wheat into his barn, ^(AR)but the chaff he will burn with ^(AS)unquenchable fire.”