Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Mary Praises God
46 Mary said,
“My soul praises the Lord’s greatness!
47 My spirit finds its joy in God, my Savior,
48 because he has looked favorably on me, his humble servant.
“From now on, all people will call me blessed
49 because the Almighty has done great things to me.
His name is holy.
50 For those who fear him,
his mercy lasts throughout every generation.
51 “He displayed his mighty power.
He scattered those who think too highly of themselves.
52 He pulled strong rulers from their thrones.
He honored humble people.
53 He fed hungry people with good food.
He sent rich people away with nothing.
54 “He remembered to help his servant Israel forever.
55 This is the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his descendants.”
The Lord Will Teach the Nations(A)
4 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be established as the highest of the mountains
and raised above the hills.
People will stream to it.
2 Then many nations will come and say,
“Let’s go to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them.”
The teachings will go out from Zion.
The Lord’s word will go out from Jerusalem.
3 Then he will judge disputes between many people
and settle arguments between many nations far and wide.
They will hammer their swords into plowblades
and their spears into pruning shears.
Nations will never fight against each other,
and they will never train for war again.
4 They will sit under their grapevines and their fig trees,
and no one will make them afraid.
The Lord of Armies has spoken.
5 All the nations live by the names of their gods,
but we will live by the name of the Lord our God forever.
God Has United Jewish and Non-Jewish People
11 Remember that once you were not Jewish physically. Those who called themselves “the circumcised” because of what they had done to their bodies called you “the uncircumcised.” 12 Also, at that time you were without Christ. You were excluded from citizenship in Israel, and the pledges [a] ⌞God made in his⌟ promise were foreign to you. You had no hope and were in the world without God.
13 But now through Christ Jesus you, who were once far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 So he is our peace. In his body he has made Jewish and non-Jewish people one by breaking down the wall of hostility that kept them apart. 15 He brought an end to the commandments and demands found in Moses’ Teachings so that he could take Jewish and non-Jewish people and create one new humanity in himself. So he made peace. 16 He also brought them back to God in one body by his cross, on which he killed the hostility. 17 He came with the Good News of peace for you who were far away and for those who were near. 18 So Jewish and non-Jewish people can go to the Father in one Spirit.
19 That is why you are no longer foreigners and outsiders but citizens together with God’s people and members of God’s family. 20 You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. 21 In him all the parts of the building fit together and grow into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 Through him you, also, are being built in the Spirit together with others into a place where God lives.
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