Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴⁶ And Mary said, My soul magnifies and extols the Lord,

⁴⁷ And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸ For He has looked upon the low station and humiliation of His handmaiden. For behold, from now on all generations [of all ages] will call me blessed and declare me happy and ^[a]to be envied!

⁴⁹ For He Who is almighty has done great things for me—and holy is His name [to be venerated in His purity, majesty and glory]!

⁵⁰ And His mercy (His compassion and kindness toward the miserable and afflicted) is on those who fear Him with godly reverence, from generation to generation and age to age.^(A)

⁵¹ He has shown strength and ^[b]made might with His arm; He has scattered the proud and haughty in and by the imagination and purpose and designs of their hearts.

⁵² He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree.

⁵³ He has filled and satisfied the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty-handed [without a gift].

⁵⁴ He has laid hold on His servant Israel [to help him, to espouse his cause], in remembrance of His mercy,

⁵⁵ Even as He promised to our forefathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.^(B)

4 But in the latter days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains; and it shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it.

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 we may walk in His paths. For the law shall go forth out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

³ And He shall judge between many peoples and shall decide for strong nations afar off, and 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.^(A)

⁴ But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken it.^(B)

⁵ For all the peoples [now] walk every man in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

¹¹ Therefore, remember that at one time you were Gentiles (heathens) in the flesh, called Uncircumcision by those who called themselves Circumcision, [itself a ^[a]mere mark] in the flesh made by human hands.

¹² [Remember] that you were at that time separated (living apart) from Christ [excluded from all part in Him], utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the [Messianic] promise [with no knowledge of or right in God’s agreements, His covenants]. And you had no hope (no promise); you were in the world without God.

¹³ But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near.

¹⁴ For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us,

¹⁵ By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace.

¹⁶ And [He designed] to reconcile to God both [Jew and Gentile, united] in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end.

¹⁷ And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off and [peace] to those who were near.^(A)

¹⁸ For it is through Him that we both [whether far off or near] now have an introduction (access) by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we are able to approach Him].

¹⁹ Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God’s own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God’s [own] household.

²⁰ You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone.

²¹ In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].

²² In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you yourselves also are being built up [into this structure] with the rest, to form a fixed abode (dwelling place) of God in (by, through) the Spirit.