Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Mary’s Song of Praise
46 And Mary[a] said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,(A)
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,(B)
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,(C)
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;(D)
50 indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.(E)
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.(F)
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;(G)
53 he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.(H)
54 He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,(I)
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”(J)
Peace and Security through Obedience
4 In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s temple
shall be established as the highest of the mountains
and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,(A)
2 and many nations shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.(B)
3 He shall judge between many peoples
and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
neither shall they learn war any more;(C)
4 but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.(D)
5 For all the peoples walk,
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever.(E)
One in Christ
11 So then, remember that at one time you gentiles by birth,[a] called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a circumcision made in the flesh by human hands(A)— 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.(B) 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.(C) 14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us,(D) 15 abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,(E) 16 and might reconcile both to God in one body[b] through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.[c](F) 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.(G) 19 So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,(H) 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone;[d](I) 21 in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord,(J) 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually[e] into a dwelling place for God.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.