Zephaniah 3:14-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
A Song of Joy
14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!(A)
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.(B)
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.(C)
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will renew you[a] in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing(D)
18 as on a day of festival.”[b]
I will remove disaster from you,[c]
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19 I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.(E)
20 At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the Lord.(F)
Luke 1:39-55
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.(A) 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?(B) 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be[a] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Mary’s Song of Praise
46 And Mary[b] said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,(C)
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,(D)
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,(E)
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;(F)
50 indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.(G)
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.(H)
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;(I)
53 he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.(J)
54 He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,(K)
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”(L)
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.