Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who bears good news and proclaims glad tidings,
announcing salvation and saying to Zion,
“Your God is king.”
8 Listen! Your watchmen raise a cry
and together they shout for joy,
for with their own eyes they clearly behold
the return of the Lord to Zion.
9 Burst forth together with songs of joy,
you ruins of Jerusalem.
For the Lord has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations.
All the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
Psalm 98[a]
Praise of the Lord, King and Judge
1 A psalm.
Sing to the Lord a new song,[b]
for he has accomplished marvelous deeds.
His right hand and his holy arm
have made him victorious.
2 The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has manifested his righteousness for all the nations to see.[c]
3 He has remembered his kindness[d] and his fidelity
to the house of Israel.
The farthest ends of the earth have witnessed
the salvation of our God.
4 Sing joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
raise your voices in songs of praise.
5 Sing praise to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and melodious singing.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully to the King, the Lord.[e]
7 [f]Let the sea resound and everything in it,
the world[g] and all its inhabitants.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands
and the mountains shout for joy.
9 Let them sing before the Lord, who is coming,
coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and the nations with fairness.[h]
Chapter 1
Prologue[a]
1 In previous times, God spoke to our ancestors
in many and various ways
through the Prophets,[b]
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us
through his Son,
whom he appointed heir of all things
and through whom he created the universe.
3 He is the reflection of God’s glory
and the perfect expression of his very being,[c]
sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Achieving purification from sins,
he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
4 So he became as far superior to the angels
as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
The Son of God, Superior to the Angels[a]
Messianic Enthronement.[b] For to which of the angels did God ever say,“You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”?[c]
6 And again, when he brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all the angels of God pay him homage.”
7 Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his servants flames of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
and a righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and detested wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness far above your companions.”
10 He also says,
“In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands
11 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12 You will roll them up like a cloak;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are ever the same,
and your years will have no end.”
A New Creation[a]
In the Beginning Was the Word[b]
Chapter 1
The Word of God, Source of Life[c]
1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the very beginning.
3 Through him all things came into existence,
and without him there was nothing.
That which came to be
4 found life in him,
and the life was the light of the human race.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has been unable to overcome it.
Faith Means Welcoming the Word of God Made Man.[d] 6 A man appeared, sent by God, whose name was John.[e] 7 He came as a witness to give testimony to the light, so that through him all might come to believe. 8 He himself was not the light; his role was to bear witness to the light.
9 The true light that enlightens everyone
was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world,
the world had come into existence through him,
yet the world did not recognize him.
11 He came to his own,
but his own did not accept him.
12 However, to those who did accept him
and who believed in his name
he granted the power to become children of God,
13 who were born not from blood
or human desire or human will,
but from God.
14 And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us.
And we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.
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