Readings for Celebrating Advent

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    for he has visited his people and redeemed them.
⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    from the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰ just as he proclaimed through the mouth of his holy prophets from age to age:
⁷¹     salvation from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us,
⁷² to show the mercy promised to our fathers
    and to remain mindful of his holy covenant,
⁷³ the oath that he swore to our father Abraham,
and to grant us that, ⁷⁴     delivered from the power of our enemies,
without fear we might worship him ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness
    in his presence all our days.
⁷⁶ “And you, my child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give his people knowledge of salvation
    through the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God
    by which the dawn from on high will break upon us
⁷⁹ to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet along the path of peace.”