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⁷ Thus says the Lord,
   the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
   the slave of rulers,
‘Kings shall see and stand up,
   princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
   the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’

Zion’s Children to Be Brought Home

⁸ Thus says the Lord:
In a time of favour I have answered you,
   on a day of salvation I have helped you;
I have kept you and given you
   as a covenant to the people,^*
to establish the land,
   to apportion the desolate heritages;
⁹ saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,
   to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They shall feed along the ways,
   on all the bare heights^* shall be their pasture;
¹⁰ they shall not hunger or thirst,
   neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
   and by springs of water will guide them.
¹¹ And I will turn all my mountains into a road,
   and my highways shall be raised up.
¹² Lo, these shall come from far away,
   and lo, these from the north and from the west,
   and these from the land of Syene.^*

¹³ Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
   break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people,
   and will have compassion on his suffering ones.

Psalm 132

1  Lord, remember for David ♦︎
   all the hardships he endured;
2  How he swore an oath to the Lord ♦︎
   and vowed a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3  ‘I will not come within the shelter of my house, ♦︎
   nor climb up into my bed;
4  ‘I will not allow my eyes to sleep, ♦︎
   nor let my eyelids slumber,
5  ‘Until I find a place for the Lord, ♦︎
   a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.’
6  Now, we heard of the ark in Ephrathah ♦︎
   and found it in the fields of Ja-ar.
7  Let us enter his dwelling place ♦︎
   and fall low before his footstool.
8  Arise, O Lord, into your resting place, ♦︎
   you and the ark of your strength.
9  Let your priests be clothed with righteousness ♦︎
   and your faithful ones sing with joy.
10  For your servant David’s sake, ♦︎
   turn not away the face of your anointed.
11  The Lord has sworn an oath to David, ♦︎
   a promise from which he will not shrink:
12  ‘Of the fruit of your body ♦︎
   shall I set upon your throne.
13  ‘If your children keep my covenant
      and my testimonies that I shall teach them, ♦︎
   their children also shall sit upon your throne for evermore.’
14  For the Lord has chosen Zion for himself; ♦︎
   he has desired her for his habitation:
15  ‘This shall be my resting place for ever; ♦︎
   here will I dwell, for I have longed for her.
16  ‘I will abundantly bless her provision; ♦︎
   her poor will I satisfy with bread.
17  ‘I will clothe her priests with salvation, ♦︎
   and her faithful ones shall rejoice and sing.
18  ‘There will I make a horn to spring up for David; ♦︎
   I will keep a lantern burning for my anointed.
19  ‘As for his enemies, I will clothe them with shame; ♦︎
   but on him shall his crown be bright.’

Imitating Christ’s Humility

2If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, ²make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. ⁵Let the same mind be in you that was^* in Christ Jesus,
⁶ who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
⁷ but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
⁸   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore God also highly exalted him
   and gave him the name
   that is above every name,
¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus
   every knee should bend,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue should confess
   that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. ⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. ⁴³When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. ⁴⁴Assuming that he was in the group of travellers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸When his parents^* saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ ⁴⁹He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’^{* 50}But they did not understand what he said to them. ⁵¹Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years,^* and in divine and human favour.