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⁶⁸ ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
   for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
⁶⁹ He has raised up a mighty saviour^* for us
   in the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰ as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
⁷¹   that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
⁷² Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
   and has remembered his holy covenant,
⁷³ the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
   to grant us ⁷⁴that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, ⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness
   before him all our days.
⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
   for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people
   by the forgiveness of their sins.
⁷⁸ By the tender mercy of our God,
   the dawn from on high will break upon^* us,
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
   to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

¹¹May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled^* you^* to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.^*

The Supremacy of Christ

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; ¹⁶for in^* him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He himself is before all things, and in^* him all things hold together. ¹⁸He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.