Baruch 4:36-5:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
36 Look toward the east, O Jerusalem,
and see the joy that is coming to you from God.(A)
37 Look, your children are coming, whom you sent away;
they are coming, gathered from east and west,
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing in the glory of God.(B)
5 Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.(C)
2 Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God;
put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting,(D)
3 for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven,
4 for God will give you evermore the name,
“Righteous Peace, Godly Glory.”(E)
5 Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height;
look toward the east,
and see your children gathered from west and east
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that God has remembered them.(F)
6 For they went out from you on foot,
led away by their enemies,
but God will bring them back to you,
carried in glory, as on a royal throne.(G)
7 For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low
and the valleys filled up, to make level ground,
so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.(H)
8 The woods and every fragrant tree
have shaded Israel at God’s command.(I)
9 For God will lead Israel with joy,
in the light of his glory,
with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.
Galatians 3:23-4:7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be reckoned as righteous[a] by faith.(A) 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.(B) 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.(C) 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.(D) 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring,[b] heirs according to the promise.(E)
4 My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than those who are enslaved, though they are the owners of all the property, 2 but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. 3 So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental principles[c] of the world.(F) 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,(G) 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.(H) 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our[d] hearts, crying, “Abba![e] Father!”(I) 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir through God.[f]
Matthew 1:18-25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah[a] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit.(A) 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly.(B) 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”(C) 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 “Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.”(D) 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son,[b] and he named him Jesus.(E)
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