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⁶ Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
   I have posted sentinels;
all day and all night
   they shall never be silent.
You who remind the Lord,
   take no rest,
⁷ and give him no rest
   until he establishes Jerusalem
   and makes it renowned throughout the earth.
⁸ The Lord has sworn by his right hand
   and by his mighty arm:
I will not again give your grain
   to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners shall not drink the wine
   for which you have laboured;
⁹ but those who garner it shall eat it
   and praise the Lord,
and those who gather it shall drink it
   in my holy courts.

¹⁰ Go through, go through the gates,
   prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway,
   clear it of stones,
   lift up an ensign over the peoples.
¹¹ The Lord has proclaimed
   to the end of the earth:
Say to daughter Zion,
   ‘See, your salvation comes;
his reward is with him,
   and his recompense before him.’
¹² They shall be called, ‘The Holy People,
   The Redeemed of the Lord’;
and you shall be called, ‘Sought Out,
   A City Not Forsaken.’

Psalm 97

1  The Lord is king: let the earth rejoice; ♦︎
   let the multitude of the isles be glad.
2  Clouds and darkness are round about him; ♦︎
   righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3  Fire goes before him ♦︎
   and burns up his enemies on every side.
4  His lightnings lit up the world; ♦︎
   the earth saw it and trembled.
5  The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, ♦︎
   at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6  The heavens declared his righteousness, ♦︎
   and all the peoples have seen his glory.
7  Confounded be all who worship carved images
      and delight in mere idols. ♦︎
   Bow down before him, all you gods.
8  Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced, ♦︎
   because of your judgements, O Lord.
9  For you, Lord, are most high over all the earth; ♦︎
   you are exalted far above all gods.
10  The Lord loves those who hate evil; ♦︎
   he preserves the lives of his faithful
      and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11  Light has sprung up for the righteous ♦︎
   and joy for the true of heart.
12  Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, ♦︎
   and give thanks to his holy name.

⁴But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Saviour appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water^* of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. ⁶This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The Birth of Jesus

2In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah,^* the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,^* praising God and saying,
¹⁴ ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’^*

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.