Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger
who announces the good news, “All is well.”
He brings the good news,
announces salvation,
and tells Zion that its God rules as king.
8 Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices
and shout together joyfully.
When the Lord brings Zion back,
they will see it with their own eyes.
9 Break out into shouts of joy, ruins of Jerusalem.
The Lord will comfort his people.
He will reclaim Jerusalem.
10 The Lord will show his holy power to all the nations.
All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
A psalm.
98 Sing a new song to the Lord
because he has done miraculous things.
His right hand and his holy arm have gained victory for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known.
He has uncovered his righteousness for the nations to see.
3 He has not forgotten to be merciful and faithful
to Israel’s descendants.
All the ends of the earth have seen how our God saves ⌞them⌟.
4 Shout happily to the Lord, all the earth.
Break out into joyful singing, and make music.
5 Make music to the Lord with a lyre,
with a lyre and the melody of a psalm,
6 with trumpets and the playing of a ram’s horn.
Shout happily in the presence of the king, the Lord.
7 Let the sea, everything in it,
the world, and those who live in it roar like thunder.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands
and the mountains sing joyfully
9 in the Lord’s presence
because he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and its people with fairness.
God Has Spoken to Us Through His Son
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors at many different times and in many different ways through the prophets. 2 In these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. God made his Son responsible for everything. His Son is the one through whom God made the universe. 3 His Son is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of God’s being. He holds everything together through his powerful words. After he had cleansed people from their sins, he now holds the honored position—the one next to the majestic God [the Father] on the heavenly throne.
God’s Son Is Superior to the Angels
4 The Son has become greater than the angels since he has been given a name that is superior to theirs.
5 God never said to any of his angels,
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.”
And God never said to any of his angels,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son.”
6 When God was about to send his firstborn Son into the world, he said,
“All of God’s angels must worship him.”
7 God said about the angels,
“He makes his messengers winds.
He makes his servants flames of fire.”
8 But God said about his Son,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice.
9 You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong.
That is why God, your God,
anointed you, rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.”
10 God also said,
“Lord, in the beginning you laid the foundation of the earth.
With your own hands you made the heavens.
11 They will come to an end, but you will live forever.
They will all wear out like clothes.
12 They will be taken off like a coat.
You will change them like clothes.
But you remain the same, and your life will never end.
The Word Becomes Human
1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was already with God in the beginning.
3 Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.
4 He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.
5 The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.
6 God sent a man named John to be his messenger. 7 John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message. 8 John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.
9 The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He went to his own people, and his own people didn’t accept him. 12 However, he gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in him. 13 These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way—from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire ⌞to have a child⌟. They were born from God.
14 The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness [a] and truth.
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