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God’s Mercy Remembered

⁷ I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
   the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us,
   and the great favour to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
   according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
⁸ For he said, ‘Surely they are my people,
   children who will not deal falsely’;
and he became their saviour
⁹   in all their distress.
It was no messenger^* or angel
   but his presence that saved them;^*
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
   he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Psalm 148

1  Alleluia.
      Praise the Lord from the heavens; ♦︎
   praise him in the heights.
2  Praise him, all you his angels; ♦︎
   praise him, all his host.
3  Praise him, sun and moon; ♦︎
   praise him, all you stars of light.
4  Praise him, heaven of heavens, ♦︎
   and you waters above the heavens.
5  Let them praise the name of the Lord, ♦︎
   for he commanded and they were created.
6  He made them fast for ever and ever; ♦︎
   he gave them a law which shall not pass away.
7  Praise the Lord from the earth, ♦︎
   you sea monsters and all deeps;
8  Fire and hail, snow and mist, ♦︎
   tempestuous wind, fulfilling his word;
9  Mountains and all hills, ♦︎
   fruit trees and all cedars;
10  Wild beasts and all cattle, ♦︎
   creeping things and birds on the wing;
11  Kings of the earth and all peoples, ♦︎
   princes and all rulers of the world;
12  Young men and women,
      old and young together; ♦︎
   let them praise the name of the Lord.
13  For his name only is exalted, ♦︎
   his splendour above earth and heaven.
14  He has raised up the horn of his people
      and praise for all his faithful servants, ♦︎
   the children of Israel, a people who are near him.
      Alleluia.

10 It was fitting that God,^* for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.^* For this reason Jesus^* is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,^{* 12}saying,
‘I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,^*
   in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.’
¹³And again,
‘I will put my trust in him.’
And again,
‘Here am I and the children whom God has given me.’

14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. ¹⁶For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. ¹⁷Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters^* in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

The Escape to Egypt

13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ ¹⁴Then Joseph^* got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, ¹⁵and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

The Massacre of the Infants

16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,^* he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.^{* 17}Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
¹⁸ ‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
   wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
   she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’

The Return from Egypt

19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ²⁰‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ ²¹Then Joseph^* got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. ²³There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’