Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
7 For thus says Yahweh,
“Sing for joy for Jacob with gladness,
and shout out for the head of the nations.
Proclaim, praise, and say,
‘Save, O Yahweh, your people, the remnant of Israel.’
8 Look, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and I will gather them from the remotest part of the earth.
Among them the blind, and the lame,
those who are pregnant, and those who give birth,
together, a great assembly,
they will return here.
9 With weeping they will come,
and with pleas for mercy I will bring them;
I will let them walk by streams of water in a straight path.
They will not stumble in it,
for I have become to Israel a father,
and Ephraim, he is my firstborn.”
10 Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations,
and declare in the coastlands from afar, and say,
“The scatterer of Israel will gather him,
and he will keep him as a shepherd his flock.
11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob,
and he has redeemed him from the hand of the person stronger[a] than he.
12 And they will come,
and they will sing for joy on the height of Zion,
and they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh,
over the grain, and over the wine, and over the olive oil,
and over the young ones of the flock, and over the cattle.
And their life will become like a well-watered garden,
and they will never languish again.”
13 “Then the young woman will rejoice in the dancing in a ring,
and the young men and the old men together.
And I will turn their mourning to jubilation,
and I will comfort them,
and I will gladden them from their sorrow.
14 And I will saturate the appetite of the priests with fatness,
and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” declares[b] Yahweh.
12 Laud Yahweh, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion,
13 for he strengthens the bars of your gates.
He blesses your children within you;
14 he makes your border peaceful;
he satisfies you with the finest of wheat.[a]
15 He sends out his command[b] to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes;
17 he throws his hail like crumbs.
Who can stand before his cold?[c]
18 He sends out his word and melts them;
he blows his breath, the water flows.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not done so for any nation,
and they do not know his ordinances.
Praise Yah.[d]
Praise to God for Spiritual Blessings
3 Blessed is[a] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love,[b] 5 having predestined us to adoption through Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace that he bestowed on us in the beloved, 7 in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, 8 that he caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight, 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in him, 10 for the administration of the fullness of times, to bring together all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him 11 in whom also we were chosen, having been predestined according to the purpose of the One who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 that we who hoped beforehand in Christ should be for the praise of his glory, 13 in whom also you, when you heard[c] the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also when you believed you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
The Prologue to John’s Gospel
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 This one was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and apart from him not one thing came into being that[a] has come into being. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity.[b] 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome[c] it.
6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was[d] John. 7 This one came for a witness, in order that he could testify about the light, so that all would believe through him. 8 That one was not the light, but came[e] in order that he could testify about the light. 9 The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not recognize[a] him. 11 He came to his own things, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But as many as received him—to those who believe in his name—he gave to them authority to become children of God, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a husband, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about him and cried out, saying, “This one was he about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me is ahead of me, because he existed before me.’” 16 For from his fullness we have all received, and grace after grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the one and only, God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father—that one has made him[b] known.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software