Isaiah 63:1-6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Vengeance on Edom
63 “Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah in garments stained crimson?
Who is this so splendidly robed,
marching in his great might?”
“It is I, announcing vindication,
mighty to save.”(A)
2 “Why are your robes red
and your garments like theirs who tread the winepress?”(B)
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their juice spattered on my garments,
and I stained all my robes.(C)
4 For the day of vengeance was in my mind,
and the year for my redeeming work had come.(D)
5 I looked, but there was no helper;
I was abandoned, and there was no one to sustain me,
so my own arm brought me victory,
and my wrath sustained me.(E)
6 I trampled down peoples in my anger;
I crushed them[a] in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”(F)
Footnotes
- 63.6 Heb mss: MT I made them drunk
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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Isaiah 63:7-19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s Mercy Remembered
7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us
and the great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.(A)
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not act deceitfully,”
and he became their savior
9 in all their distress.
It was no messenger or angel
but his presence that saved them;
in his love and pity it was he who redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.(B)
10 But they rebelled
and grieved his holy spirit;
therefore he became their enemy;
he himself fought against them.(C)
11 Then they[a] remembered the days of old,
of Moses his servant.[b]
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who put within them
his holy spirit,(D)
12 who caused his glorious arm
to march at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to make for himself an everlasting name,(E)
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.(F)
14 Like cattle that go down into the valley,
the spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
Thus you led your people,
to make for yourself a glorious name.(G)
A Prayer of Penitence
15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and glorious habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Your great pity and your compassion are withheld from me.(H)
16 For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our father;
our Redeemer from of old is your name.(I)
17 Why, O Lord, do you let us stray from your ways
and let our heart harden, so that we do not fear you?
Turn back for the sake of your servants,
the tribes that are your heritage.(J)
18 Your holy people took possession for a little while,
but now our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.(K)
19 We have long been like those whom you do not rule,
like those not called by your name.(L)
1 Thessalonians 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Salutation
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly(A) 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.(B) 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy from the Holy Spirit,(C) 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it.(D) 9 For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God(E) 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.(F)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.