Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

English Standard Version

A Time for Everything

3 For everything there is a season, and ^(A)a time for every matter under heaven:

²a time to be born, and a time to ^(B)die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴a time to ^(C)weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to ^(D)dance;
⁵a time to ^(E)cast away stones, and a time to ^(F)gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to ^(G)refrain from embracing;
⁶a time to seek, and a time to ^(H)lose;
a time to keep, and a time to ^(I)cast away;
⁷a time to ^(J)tear, and a time to sew;
a time to ^(K)keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸a time to love, and a time to ^(L)hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

The God-Given Task

⁹What ^(M)gain has the worker from his toil? ¹⁰I have seen ^(N)the business that ^(O)God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹¹He has ^(P)made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot ^(Q)find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

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Psalm 22

English Standard Version

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

22 ^(A)My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so ^(B)far from saving me, from the words of my ^(C)groaning?
²O my God, I cry by ^(D)day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.

³Yet you are ^(E)holy,
    ^(F)enthroned on ^(G)the praises^[a] of Israel.
⁴In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵To you they ^(H)cried and were rescued;
    in you they ^(I)trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶But I am ^(J)a worm and not a man,
    ^(K)scorned by mankind and ^(L)despised by the people.
⁷All who see me ^(M)mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they ^(N)wag their heads;
⁸^(O)“He trusts in the Lord; let him ^(P)deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he ^(Q)delights in him!”

⁹Yet you are he who ^(R)took me from the womb;
    you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
¹⁰On you was I cast from my birth,
    and from ^(S)my mother's womb you have been my God.
¹¹Be not ^(T)far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is ^(U)none to help.

¹²Many bulls encompass me;
^(V)strong bulls of ^(W)Bashan surround me;
¹³they ^(X)open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

¹⁴I am ^(Y)poured out like water,
    and all my bones are ^(Z)out of joint;
my ^(AA)heart is like ^(AB)wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵my strength is ^(AC)dried up like a potsherd,
    and my ^(AD)tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶For ^(AE)dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers ^(AF)encircles me;
they have ^(AG)pierced my hands and feet^[b]—
¹⁷I can count all my bones—
they ^(AH)stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸^(AI)they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹But you, O Lord, ^(AJ)do not be far off!
    O you my help, ^(AK)come quickly to my aid!
²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of ^(AL)the dog!
²¹    Save me from ^(AM)the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued^[c] me from the horns of ^(AN)the wild oxen!

²²^(AO)I will tell of your name to my ^(AP)brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³You who ^(AQ)fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, ^(AR)glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of ^(AS)the afflicted,
and he has not ^(AT)hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he ^(AU)cried to him.

²⁵From you comes my praise in the great ^(AV)congregation;
    my ^(AW)vows I will ^(AX)perform before those who fear him.
²⁶^(AY)The afflicted^[d] shall ^(AZ)eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
    May your hearts ^(BA)live forever!

²⁷All ^(BB)the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all ^(BC)the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
²⁸For ^(BD)kingship belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

²⁹All ^(BE)the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall ^(BF)bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not ^(BG)keep himself alive.
³⁰Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ^(BH)generation;
³¹they shall ^(BI)come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet ^(BJ)unborn,
    that he has done it.

Footnotes

Psalm 22:3 Or dwelling in the praises
Psalm 22:16 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts like a lion [they are at] my hands and feet
Psalm 22:21 Hebrew answered
Psalm 22:26 Or The meek

Isaiah 40:6-12

English Standard Version

The Word of God Stands Forever

⁶A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said,^[a] “What shall I cry?”
^(A)All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty^[b] is like the flower of the field.
⁷The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
⁸^(B)The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

The Greatness of God

⁹Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, ^(C)herald of good news;^[c]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;^[d]
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
¹⁰^(D)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
^(E)behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
¹¹^(F)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    ^(G)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
^(H)he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

¹²^(I)Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
    and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
    and weighed the mountains in scales
    and the hills in a balance?

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Footnotes

Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says
Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy
Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion
Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem

Luke 2:1-7

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]

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Footnotes

Luke 2:2 Or This was the registration before
Luke 2:5 That is, one legally pledged to be married
Luke 2:7 Or guest room

Psalm 121

English Standard Version

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

121 I ^(B)lift up my eyes to ^(C)the hills.
From where does my help come?
²^(D)My help comes from the Lord,
who ^(E)made heaven and earth.

³He will not ^(F)let your foot be moved;
he who ^(G)keeps you will not slumber.
⁴Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your ^(H)shade on your ^(I)right hand.
⁶^(J)The sun shall not ^(K)strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷The Lord will ^(L)keep you from all evil;
    he will ^(M)keep your life.
⁸The Lord will keep
    your ^(N)going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.