Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

60 ¶ Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

² For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

³ And the Gentiles shall walk to thy light, and the kings to the brightness of thy birth.

⁴ Lift up thine eyes round about and see: they all gather themselves together; they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

⁵ Then thou shall see, and thou shall shine, and thine heart shall marvel, and be enlarged because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall have come unto thee.

⁶ The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the LORD.

A Psalm for Solomon.

¹ ¶ Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.

² ¶ He shall judge thy people with righteousness and thy poor with judgment.

³ The mountains shall bring peace to the people and the little hills by righteousness.

⁴ He shall judge the poor of the people; he shall save the children of the destitute and shall break in pieces the violent.

⁵ They shall fear thee along with the sun and before the moon throughout all generations.

⁶ He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass as the dew that waters the earth.

⁷ In his days shall righteousness flourish and abundance of peace until there is no longer any moon.

¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹¹ Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all Gentiles shall serve him.

¹² For he shall deliver the destitute when he cries and the poor that has no helper.

¹³ He shall have mercy on the poor and destitute and shall save the souls of the poor in spirit.

¹⁴ He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight.

3 ¶ For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

² if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which has been given to me in you,

³ how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote above in a few words,

⁴ by which, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of the Christ),

⁵ which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit,

⁶ that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in the Christ by the gospel,

⁷ of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the operation of his power.

⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of the Christ

⁹ and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the ages has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

¹⁰ To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} the manifold wisdom of God,

¹¹ according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord,

¹² In whom we have security and access with confidence by the faith of him.

2 ¶ Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

² saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.

³ When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he asked them where the Christ should be born.

⁵ And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea, for thus it is written by the prophet,

⁶ And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda, for out of thee shall come a Leader that shall shepherd my people Israel.

⁷ Then Herod, calling the wise men unto him secretly, understood of them with diligence the time of the appearing of the star;

⁸ and sending them to Bethlehem, he said, Go there and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also.

⁹ ¶ When they had heard the king, they departed; and, behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went before them until it arrived and stood over where the young child was.

¹⁰ Seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

¹¹ And entering into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother; and falling down, they worshipped him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.

¹² And being warned by divine revelation in dreams that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.