Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
2 [a]Bethlehem Ephrathah,(A)
you are small among the clans of Judah;
One will come from you(B)
to be ruler over Israel for Me.(C)
His origin[b] is from antiquity,(D)
from eternity.[c]
3 Therefore, He will abandon them(E) until the time
when she who is in labor(F) has given birth;
then the rest of His brothers(G) will return
to the people of Israel.(H)
4 He will stand and shepherd them(I)
in the strength of Yahweh,
in the majestic name of Yahweh His God.
They will live securely,
for then His greatness will extend
to the ends of the earth.(J)
5 He will be their peace.(K)
When Assyria invades our land,(L)
when it marches against our fortresses,
we will raise against it seven shepherds,
even eight leaders of men.
Mary’s Praise
46 And Mary said:
My soul proclaims the greatness of[a] the Lord,(A)
47 and my spirit has rejoiced(B) in God my Savior,(C)
48 because He has looked with favor
on the humble condition of His slave.
Surely, from now on all generations
will call me blessed,(D)
49 because the Mighty One(E)
has done great things for me,(F)
and His name(G) is holy.
50 His mercy is from generation to generation(H)
on those who fear Him.
51 He has done a mighty deed with His arm;(I)
He has scattered the proud
because of the thoughts of their hearts;
52 He has toppled the mighty from their thrones
and exalted the lowly.
53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things(J)
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
mindful of His mercy,[b]
55 just as He spoke to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his descendants[c] forever.
Psalm 80
A Prayer for Restoration
For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”[a] A testimony of Asaph.(A) A psalm.
1 Listen, Shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock;(B)
You who sit enthroned on the cherubim,(C)
rise up(D)
2 before Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.[b](E)
Rally Your power and come to save us.(F)
3 Restore us, God;
look on us with favor,
and we will be saved.(G)
4 Lord God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
with Your people’s prayers?(H)
5 You fed them the bread of tears
and gave them a full measure[c]
of tears to drink.(I)
6 You make us quarrel with our neighbors;
our enemies make fun of us.(J)
7 Restore us, God of Hosts;
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(K)
5 Therefore, as He was coming into the world, He said:
You did not want sacrifice and offering,
but You prepared a body for Me.
6 You did not delight
in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “See—
it is written about Me
in the volume of the scroll—
I have come to do Your will, God!”(A)[a]
8 After He says above, You did not want or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law(B)), 9 He then says, See, I have come to do Your will.[b] He takes away the first to establish the second. 10 By this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.(C)
Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah 40 where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her,[a] and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.(A) 42 Then she exclaimed with a loud cry:
“You are the most blessed of women,
and your child will be blessed![b]
43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me![c] 45 She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled!”
Mary’s Praise
46 And Mary said:
My soul proclaims the greatness of[a] the Lord,(A)
47 and my spirit has rejoiced(B) in God my Savior,(C)
48 because He has looked with favor
on the humble condition of His slave.
Surely, from now on all generations
will call me blessed,(D)
49 because the Mighty One(E)
has done great things for me,(F)
and His name(G) is holy.
50 His mercy is from generation to generation(H)
on those who fear Him.
51 He has done a mighty deed with His arm;(I)
He has scattered the proud
because of the thoughts of their hearts;
52 He has toppled the mighty from their thrones
and exalted the lowly.
53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things(J)
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
mindful of His mercy,[b]
55 just as He spoke to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his descendants[c] forever.
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