Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 This is what the Lord says:
“Be happy and sing for the people of Jacob.
Shout for Israel, the greatest of the nations.
Sing your praises and shout this:
‘Lord, save your people!
Save those who are left alive from the nation of Israel!’
8 Look, I will bring Israel from the country in the north.
I will gather them from the faraway places on earth.
Some of the people are blind and crippled.
Some of the women will be pregnant and ready to give birth.
A great many people will come back.
9 Those people will be crying as they come back.
But they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead those people by streams of water.
I will lead them on an even road where they will not stumble.
This is because I am Israel’s father.
And Israel is my firstborn son.
10 “Nations, listen to the message from the Lord.
Tell this message in the faraway lands by the sea:
‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will bring them back together.
And he will watch over his people like a shepherd.’
11 The Lord will bring the people of Jacob back.
The Lord will buy them back from people stronger than they were.
12 The people of Israel will come to the high points of Jerusalem.
There they will shout for joy.
Their faces will shine with happiness about all the good things from the Lord:
the grain, new wine, oil, young sheep and cows.
They will be like a garden that has plenty of water.
And the people of Israel will not be troubled anymore.
13 Then young women of Israel will be happy and dance.
The young men and old men will also dance.
I will change their sadness into happiness.
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sadness.
14 The priests will have more than enough sacrifices.
And my people will be filled with the good things I give them!” says the Lord.
12 Jerusalem, praise the Lord.
Jerusalem, praise your God.
13 He makes your city gates strong.
He blesses the people inside.
14 He brings peace to your country.
He fills you with the finest grain.
15 He gives a command to the earth,
and it quickly obeys him.
16 He spreads the snow like wool.
He scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He throws down hail like rocks.
No one can stand the cold he sends.
18 Then he gives a command, and it melts.
He sends the breezes, and the waters flow.
19 He gave his word to Jacob.
He gave his laws and demands to Israel.
20 He didn’t do this for any other nation.
They don’t know his laws.
Praise the Lord!
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. 4 In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. In his love he chose us to be his holy people—people without blame before him. 5 And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him. 6 This brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One he loves. 7 In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death. And so we have forgiveness of sins because of God’s rich grace. 8 God gave us that grace fully and freely. God, with full wisdom and understanding, 9 let us know his secret purpose. This was what God wanted, and he planned to do it through Christ. 10 His goal was to carry out his plan when the right time came. He planned that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head.
11 In Christ we were chosen to be God’s people. God had already chosen us to be his people, because that is what he wanted. And God is the One who makes everything agree with what he decides and wants. 12 We are the first people who hoped in Christ. And we were chosen so that we would bring praise to God’s glory. 13 So it is with you. You heard the true teaching—the Good News about your salvation. When you heard it, you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he had promised. 14 That Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will get what God promised for his people. This will bring full freedom to the people who belong to God, to bring praise to God’s glory.
Christ Comes to the World
1 Before the world began, there was the Word.[a] The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made through him. Nothing was made without him. 4 In him there was life. That life was light for the people of the world. 5 The Light shines in the darkness. And the darkness has not overpowered[b] the Light.
6 There was a man named John[c] who was sent by God. 7 He came to tell people about the Light. Through him all people could hear about the Light and believe. 8 John was not the Light, but he came to tell people about the Light. 9 The true Light was coming into the world. The true Light gives light to all.
10 The Word was in the world. The world was made through him, but the world did not know him. 11 He came to the world that was his own. But his own people did not accept him. 12 But some people did accept him. They believed in him. To them he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They did not become his children in the human way. They were not born because of the desire or wish of some man. They were born of God.
14 The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth. 15 John told about him. He said, “This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘The One who comes after me is greater than I am. He was living before me.’”
16 The Word was full of grace and truth. From him we all received more and more blessings. 17 The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No man has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father.[a] And the Son has shown us what God is like.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.